Orange Glazed Banana Nut Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I love it when voyages of discovery in the kitchen lead me to something that is new, different and delicious. With the little ones here, I've had to deal with an amazing number of bananas at various stages of brown and nasty decay. As you've probably guessed, I've made an assortment of muffins, cakes and bread to prevent them from becoming fodder for the compost pile. Now, I'll grant you that there is nothing new about banana bread, but the orange and nut glaze that tops this one takes it out of the "same ole, same ole" category and puts it in a league of its very own. This simple confection, actually more like a cake than a bread, takes all of 15 minutes to prepare, and I promise those of you who try the recipe will consider it time well spent. The glaze, which would work well with pound cake or other plain quick breads, is a stunner, pure and simple. Not only did it have my socks going up and down, my kitchen assistant, a certain four year old who will leave here with my heart in his hands, had those hands full with a fat slice of the cake he got to glaze when he gave the ultimate review. "Deeelicious". I also got a kiss. Now I don't often get kisses for my banana bread and I must say it was a lovely reward. I suggest you give this one a try. Here's the recipe.

Orange Glazed Banana Nut Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Beverly Sprague

Ingredients:
Bread
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 package (8-oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans, divided
Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Directions:
1) Grease two 8-in.x 4-in. loaf pans. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper; grease paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas and vanilla.
3) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another bowl; gradually add to creamed mixture. Fold in reserved 1 cup pecans.
4) Scrape batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle with remaining nuts. Bake for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
5) In a small bowl, whisk glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).







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