Cream Cheese Walnut Banana Bread

Oh, my this is yummy. Great for OAMC, since it makes two loaves, you can freeze one and still have one to smear butter all over. This is not a diet friendly recipe! :) The riper the bananas, the better the flavor and the easier to mash (my peels were practically brown).

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 24
• Yields: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2  cups sugar
• 2  eggs
• 3  cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups  mashed bananas (about 4 medium)
• 1  cup  chopped walnuts
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 2 loaf pans (8x4-inch).
2. Beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth using a stand mixer until creamy.
3. While the mixer is still on, add the sugar slowly, letting it combine.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, again letting each egg combine before adding the next.
5. Combine the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. At this point make sure everything else is ready to combine, because once the flour hits the batter, you want to mix as little as possible. Add the flour slowly to the mixture as the mixer is going.
6. Turn off the mixer and add the bananas, nuts, and vanilla. Turn the mixer on briefly to combine.
7. Spoon the batter into the loaf pans and bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean (or slightly damp if you like your banana bread slightly on the undercooked side, with a gummy top *yum*).
8. Cool in the pan at least 10 minutes, remove and cool on a rack for at least 30 more minutes if you want nice clean slices.
9. Note, you do not need a stand mixer to make this recipe. You could even do all this mixing by hand, it will just take longer. Simply add everything in little bits (maybe 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup at a time) and stir in between until it is mixed. Do not over beat once you have added the flour though, or the bread will be tough.