Baked Sunday Mornings: Honey Banana Poppy Seed Bread

AN EASY, DELICIOUS BANANA BREAD--MOIST, SWEET, AND HEARTY

It seems that at the end of every week I have bananas in my fruit bowl that are on the verge of becoming over ripe.  At this point the bananas find their way into smoothies or protein shakes or I snatch them for baking.  Today my kitchen had 6 such bananas, allowing for a double batch of today's "Baked" recipe.

I did not fill my loaf pans too full, giving me enough batter for two smaller loaves which always seem to be "needed" by my grandkiddies who ask for treats as they walk through the front door.

Instead of poppy seeds, which would be a wonderful addition to this bread, I chose, instead, to incorporate chopped toasted walnuts; a more traditional inclusion.  (No that's not true.  I was baking on auto pilot, added the walnuts and forgot the poppy seeds until I cleaned up my mess and had to put the poppy seeds away.)   I usually say that banana bread is best when a day old, but this bread sliced well piping hot out of the oven, is moist, and sweetly delicious from the first bite.  I don't think there will be any  of this bread left for a second day try.

I also like the addition of honey to this recipe which keeps the bread moist and gives a natural sweetness along with the bananas to this bread.  The only other change I made was to add vanilla to this recipe...just because I like it.

This recipe is definitely a keeper.  I'm with the Baked Boys, you can never have too much good banana bread and it's fun to collect several recipes that can be cherished, each offering a slightly different version of this classic sweetbread.