Everyone needs a basic banana bread recipe to fill the house with an irresistible aroma.  Particularly when trying to sell the house.  My Mother always told me to bake a cake when selling a place, and make sure it had cinnamon and spice in it.  She said it made a house smell like home, made it inviting.

Coming back to the perfect banana bread now, it should be moist, rich and studded with nuts.  Is there a secret to scrumptious banana bread – beyond bananas of course?  Squash.  No really.  Mashed squash adds depth, a beautiful golden colour and contrary to what one might think, it doesn’t taste in the finished loaf.  It also allows for less oil to a loaf without compromising on crumb and quality.  Enough talk, more recipe!

Yield: 1 loaf

What you need:

• 1 cup mashed banana, the riper and blacker the better
• 1 cup well-cooked and mashed winter squash or pumpkin (if desired, it can be substituted with an equal amount of mashed sweet potato or 3/4 cup more mashed banana or applesauce)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).  Grease and flour a 9″x5″ loaf pan, or use a silicone pan to make life easier.
2. In a small bowl, beat together the banana, squash, maple syrup and oil until smooth.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, spices, salt, baking powder and soda.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to mix.  You just want the everything even, make sure not to over-mix.
5. Fold in the nuts.
6. Pour everything into the loaf pan and bake 1 hour, or as required for a tester to come out clean.
7. Cool on a rack before removing from the pan and slicing.

Variation:

• Instead of using a loaf pan, use muffin tins and bake the muffins 22-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.