I’ve worn pants every day this week and I’ve turned the heat on in my apartment twice, so I think fall, or what passes for fall in Alabama, might finally be here. I’m very excited, because that means it’s time for warm comfort foods. And there’s no warmer comfort food for me than banana bread. 

I know, most people go for pumpkin spice lattes, or pumpkin bread or pumpkin-anything this close Halloween, but as I’ve said before, pumpkin’s not my thing. Banana bread, though – that’s always a win for me. The smell of baked bread is just so comforting to me, and sitting on the couch reading a book as I wait for the bread to bake is the cure to all my stress. 

Since it’s bread, it does take a while to bake: About 50 minutes to an hour to be exact, so you can settle in with a book or catch up on a TV show once you put it in the oven. You’ll know it’s done when you stick a toothpick in and it comes out clean. 

You can make this as just straight up banana bread or you can add a little something to it. For mine, I added chocolate chips to one half and chopped walnuts to the other half. If you’re just using one add-on, you can mix it in with the dough before you put it in the pan. But if you’re using two like me, add your toppings after you put the bread in the pan and use a spatula or a spoon to carefully mix it in with part of the dough. 

Oddly enough, right after I put the bread in the oven, my boyfriend actually sent me a Twitter moment consisting of people talking about how nuts don’t belong in baked goods. Normally, I would agree. Nuts in brownies are kind of odd to me, but if there’s any place nuts do belong in baked goods, it’s banana bread. Admittedly, I don’t like a whole lot of nuts in mine, but if you love walnuts, add them in to your heart’s content. 

And the best part about making banana bread during an Alabama fall is that it can be served hot or cold. So as the weather swings back and forth, you can always have a little touch of autumn at whatever temperature you prefer. 

What you need 

3 ripe bananas

5 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon baking soda 

Pinch of salt 

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 1/2 cups of flour 

1/4 cup of walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

How to make it 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Either line a 4×8 bread pan with wax paper or coat sides with butter.

Peel and mash bananas in a medium bowl until smooth.

Melt butter and mix in with bananas. 

Stir in baking soda and salt. 

Beat the egg and then mix that in along with vanilla extract. 

Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time. 

Stir in preferred additional topping. 

Pour batter into bread pan. 

Bake for 50 minutes. 

Let cool and enjoy.