This recipe here holds dear to my heart. I started mashing bananas for this recipe when I was about 10 years old for my mom. I knew that from then on, when mom was making banana bread, my job was to mash those bananas until smooth. And I enjoyed it! She put me in charge of it ever since. Of course, throughout the years, I moved on up to beating the walnuts and mixing some of the other ingredients—helping with what I thought was A LOT. Today, she makes a batch (what she would consider four large loaves and ten small loaves) in one session. Her banana bread is highly requested—which makes my job a demanding one. As I’ve gotten older—31 now—I’ve realized just how close this recipe has brought us. This is a time for us to bond. I will forever love this simple recipe because of the closeness it brings to my mother and me. I wouldn’t change my job for the world, and I can't wait for the next batch.

–Tori Rodriquez, Development Coordinator, PBS

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, stir oil, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and mashed banana together until mostly smooth.

4. Add in dry ingredients slowly with buttermilk until a uniform batter comes together.

5. Stir in chopped walnuts by hand.

6. Pour into prepared loaf pan and top with more nuts.

7. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean with a few moist crumbs.

8. Cool at least 15 minutes before removing from hot pan and slicing.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup salted butter, softened

• ¼ cup canola oil

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 whole bananas, mashed

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¼ cup buttermilk

• ¾ cup walnuts, chopped