Let’s be honest- baking terrifies me. I failed math all thru school so it makes sense that I wouldn’t be into something so precise.

BUT, I opened up requests to Alex’s co workers and I got a “banana nut bread!” from the peanut gallery . I am NOT one to turn down a challenge so I immediately accepted and pretended it would be a breeze.

Since it’s pumpkin season and people go nutty over pumpkin, I decided I’d add that to the bread, since these types of breads can be very dry and I figured the pumpkin may help that issue. I searched my cooking bible (Pintrest) and came up with this base recipe for a starting place.

Apparently the flour Gods felt like blessing me cause this stuff turned out pretty darn well.

typical Wifey mess and glass of Rose

I borrowed Martha Stewart’s recipe for the frosting, and added a pumpkin twist. And it really was pretty easy to make…so now, I’m sharing it with you.

this little beggar was dying to lick the spoon

Banana Nut Pumpkin Wifey Bread

What You Need:

• measuring devices- tsp, tbsp and 1 cup
• three or four bowls
• a whisk
• a loaf pan- I use disposable so I can give them away, bought from my local grocery store
• cooking spray
• a can of pumpkin- NOT THE PIE FILLING- it looks the same, but just get the 100% plain pumpkin
• 3 really ripe bananas. like brown, if you can’t find them and are in a pinch- buy what you can find and put them in a closed paper bag to help ripen them
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons  sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (throw them in your pre heated oven and put a pat of butter on top and let them bake for 5 mins or so)

Frosting:

• half a small tub of cream cheese and half a small tub of pumpkin cream cheese
• 8 tbs of butter (yes EIGHT)
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

What To Do:

• preheat your oven to 350
• spray your loaf pan with the cooking spray
• make your dry bowl of: flour, salt,pumpkin pie spice and baking soda
• in another bowl crack your eggs and sugar with a whisk until they are “fluffy” (I did for about 5 mins before my arm felt like it was going to fall off and it all worked out)
• add bananas  to the fluffy bowl and mash ’em down
• add pumpkin, vanilla and sour cream  to the fluffy bowl and mix until everything is one big happy batter
• slowly (or fold) add your dry bowl and the nuts if you’re using them…mixing as you do this to evenly distribute
• pour into your pan and bake for roughly 45 mins. You should be able to stick a fork in there to test and have it come out clean when it’s done
• let cool,  then frost that bad boy up (or frost right away and throw in the freezer for 10 mins) and serve or stash for tomorrow’s breakfast!

What To Do For The Frosting:

• while your cake is baking’, combine your two cream cheeses into a bowl and use a spatula to mix and soften them until they are bffs
• throw the butter in the microwave for :15 seconds so it’s soft and then dump that in the bowl with the cream cheese as you keep stirring.
• Martha says to “sift” the powdered sugar in, but The Wifey ain’t got time for that- so I just added it and continued to stir and it turned out perfectly
• finally, add your vanilla and stir it all in there. at this point I was using a whisk to get the job done, and boy- did it!

DISCLAIMER:

I am not a food photog and when I take pics of food- they look weird so you will have to take my word for it when I tell you it’s a messy masterpiece

I’ll be making this soon for the YouTube Channel in case anyone needs a step by step (ooo baby) tutorial.