I have a confession y’all…I hate bananas. Even more odd…I love making banana bread. Right? Such a contradiction. Here’s the deal: from a very young age I would complain to my parents that bananas made my mouth itch. However, this weird itching thing didn’t lend itself to showing up on an allergy test so my parents chalked it up to this little girl being her dramatic self and just not liking bananas. So be it. But I still stand by my complaint – bananas make my mouth itch and I will not eat them. As much as I personally despise the fruit…my little girl has given me a new appreciation for them. They’re natures easiest food – soft for the early eater, loaded with nutrients and no packaging required. And thanks to banana breads, I can always get the most out of my bananas without ever having to eat them. I’ll take it…just don’t make me eat it.

This particular week we had two new neighbors moving in and some bananas on their way out – score! Now, I’ve gone through my share of banana bread recipes, begging my recipients to give me their honest feedback.

Given that I’ve heard from multiple sources that this is the BEST banana bread they’ve ever had, I’m sticking with it! I mean, it claims to be the knock off recipe of Starbucks Banana Bread…so that seems pretty promising. You can find it at the bottom here or on the post I snagged it from: Heidi Bakes Banana Bread.

Once my loaves cooled, I decided to try wrapping them so that even if our new neighbors weren’t home, it would be safe to leave on their stoop.

I rolled it in wax paper, making sure the end landed on the bottom.

Then I cut a little piece of my burlap stash and pulled off some of the ends so it was a bit frayed. This didn’t go all the way around – just covered the top and sides a bit.

I pulled some string out of my stash but you could also use cooking twine. Don’t worry about doing any crazy measurements on the string – the longer the better I think because you can just keep wrapping it. Make sure the string is ready because you’ll do the typical gift wrap fold on the sides and kind of hold it with your finger while you wrap the string around – that’s what will hold the ends down. If your coordination isn’t working with you just use a tiny bit of tape!

You could easily leave it here, tie it off in a bow and slap a note on it. Super cute and rustic right? I had some flowers in the house and choose to add them to it for some color.

I added a small tag and wrote a personal note on the back including our address so they’d know who dropped it off if they were busy unpacking 🙂

Looking for some other bread and loaf cake wrapping ideas? Here’s some of my other favorite ways to go about it!

– Patterns & Prosecco – 

– Pretty Providence – 

– Pen N’ Paper Flowers – 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons buttermilk or milk
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease one loaf pan.
2. Mix sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, buttermilk, and bananas in a mixing bowl. Combine completely.
3. Add in flour, soda, and salt, and 1/2 cup of the walnuts.
4. Pour into the pan, sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts over the top of the batter slightly pressing in the walnuts.
5. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Use a toothpick to check if it is cooked internally.
6. Cool and remove from the pan.