Banana Bread

Success at quick breads has been rather elusive to me. They're supposed to be so quick, right, and easy. Yet, somehow, it seems that something always goes slightly wrong with my quick breads. My number one problem seems to be a big gloppy undone chunk in the middle of the bread. Should I use two smaller pans perhaps? Yes-I have thought of this before, but in the heat of the moment, I forget all about that and just dump in into one. Then I watch as, once again, the outside of the bread turns increasingly brown while the top middle keeps jiggling. I panic and pull it out before the crust goes cajun, then chop out the offending section. The rest of the bread tastes just lovely, but a loaf with a large chunk cut out of it would make a rather odd offering at a potluck or to a hostess. When those bananas overripen or the garden fills with zucchini, I will try try again, and maybe one of these times I'll get it right. Please feel free to offer consolation or advice.

At any rate......here is the recipe I used. It was delicious, except for that one part.

*the piece in front is from the end of the loaf-no mushy part!*

Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 T sour milk* or buttermilk
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts

-cream the sugar and butter together until smooth
-add eggs, banana and milk, stirring well
-add dry ingredients and mix until well combined
-stir in nuts
-bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour
(or until the crust is in danger of burning and the middle is still jiggling around, which is what usually happens to me-it's a good thing I can bake a darn good pie!)

*to make sour milk, just add a dash of vinegar to the milk and let stand for 10 minutes