Yeasted Banana Pecan Bread

I’ve been wanting to make a bread like this for a while – using the flavors of sweet banana and nutty pecans in a yeasted bread, rather than a quick bread. Actually, I read a book about 12 years ago that mentioned a bread like this, and I’ve been wanting to make one like it ever since then 🙂 . So what better time than now?

And it came out great ~ a nice yeasty bread with a subtle banana flavor, complemented by the chunks of pecans. It was great straight from the oven, and really great with some Earth Balance and peanut butter. I can imagine all sorts of flavors of bread now…

Yeasted Banana Pecan Bread

1 1/2 cups of warm water, warm non-dairy milk, or some combination of both
1 package dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
2 1/2 – 3 more cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Put the warm water/milk into a bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit for about 5 minutes, until the yeast starts to bubble.

Stir in 2 cups of flour and add the bananas and pecans. Add the remaining flour and salt and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Cover and place in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 1 – 1 1/2 houurs. Punch down, and put in greased loaf pans. 1 pan will give a larger tall loaf, and 2 will give smaller loaves – I used 2. Cover and let rise again for an hour or more.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it.

This makes a dense, chewy loaf of bread that is great by itself or with whatever toppings you’d like. What do you think would go great on it?