Banana Walnut Cake

So whenever there are bananas that are beginning to go bad in my house, my Mom always gives them to me with her signature "You know what to do" look. This time I had 6 black, spotty, mushy bananas which I calculated out to be three batches of banana walnut cake. Yup, you heard me right. I tripled the recipe below.

Which really was a shame because I forgot to add the baking soda and was left with tray upon tray of weirdly-textured banana nut muffins. Oops. The first time I made this was in the 7th grade, so I really have no idea who to give credit to for the recipe. I do promise that the cake is awesome if it's followed correctly!

Banana Walnut Cake

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 mashed bananas, very ripe
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. First, take the walnuts and put them into the food processor. Pulse it to make sure the walnuts get are chopped into small pieces.  Measure 1 cup of chopped walnuts and set aside.
3. Take your two ripe bananas and mash together using a fork. Try to get the bananas as smooth as possible with a paste like consistency.
4. Next mix the flour, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, buttermilk, and baking soda together thoroughly.
5. Crack the eggs and beat them using a wire whisk. To the eggs add the vanilla, bananas, and walnuts.
6. Place all the ingredients into one large bowl and combine using a wire whisk. You may also need to use a rubber spatula to make sure the flour is evenly distributed in the entire batter.
7. Pour into a 9 x 13 greased pan. Cook at 350 degrees F for about 35 minutes.
8. Cook until the top is brown and springs back when touched. Cut into squares and serve.

Tips:

If your bananas aren't squishy to the touch, an easy way to make the bananas bake-worthy is to squish them in the skin! Apply slight pressure to the peel and squeeze the banana until you feel the banana starting to become mushy. Make sure to keep the skin intact during this process because the banana will get everywhere if the peel explodes.  

Also feel free to bake them in muffin pans, but remember that baking time will be much shorter! If you have the mini-mini pans then expect 10-15 minutes and the regular muffin size should take 15-20 minutes. 

Also, don't forget the baking soda.