I have a special fondness for banana nut bread.  Not only is it a delicious comfort food, but I have several memories associated with the bread that spans a period of time in my life from my high school days to the present day with my family.

I first baked (and tasted) banana nut bread in my high school Home Economics class.  I remember cooking and baking different dishes in class, but out of all of them, my favorite was baking banana nut bread loaves.  I can still remember tasting the distinct flavor of the sweet bananas and the crunchiness of the walnuts and surprised by how easy is was to make the recipe, using a few basic ingredients that are common in any household kitchen and of course the buttermilk.  I believe that the buttermilk is the secret ingredient to this recipe, as it is what makes the muffins so moist.  I kept the recipe long after graduating from high school and would bake the bread frequently until for some unknown reason I stopped.

It was not until we moved to our current home many, many years later (I was now married with children) that I found the recipe again and began baking the bread again. However, this time, for practicality reasons, I would bake them in a muffin tin and made muffins instead of loaves. I also opted to use cupcake liners, although not necessary.  Additionally, I began to roast the walnuts in the oven for five minutes and chopped them once cooled.  I read somewhere that by doing so it would enhance the nuttiness flavor of the nuts and bring out a buttery flavor of them.  This I found to be true and highly recommend this extra step.

One day my youngest son, then six years old, now twenty-three, asked me to add chocolate chips to the muffins.  I obliged and ever since then, I always make two batches of muffins- one batch of the original banana nut and the other batch of banana nut chocolate chip.  The new version of the banana nut recipe was a hit.

I often bake these muffins and take them to work for meetings or just as a “pick me up” at work for my staff to enjoy with coffee.  To this date, I still have family members who give me their over ripened bananas and ask me to make muffins for them.

Through the years, I’ve always enjoyed baking, and making these banana nut chocolate chips muffins are probably the item I bake the most. I especially love to bake in the fall and winter and during cold nights as the oven warms up the house.  Additionally, nothing beats the smell of bread baking in the oven.  The smell is so welcoming and to me evokes the memories I have associated with family.

My children are all grown and still ask me, “Mom, why do your muffins taste so good?” and I always reply, “Because I make them with love.”  The banana nut bread recipe has evolved from the original one I made long ago in high school to the one I call my own.  I will be posting the recipe for the cookbook. So, if you have any overripe bananas in your house and are thinking about what to do with them… get some buttermilk and bake some muffins.