Bittman's Banana Bread

Life gave me borderline-rotten bananas the other day. So I made Mark Bittman's banana bread. Minus the coconut, unfortunately, because I didn't have any on hand. The only other thing I would do differently next time is to take it out of the oven after 50 minutes instead of 55. The gooier the better!

Banana Bread

Time: about 1 hour.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, plus some for greasing the pan
1 1/2 cups (about 7 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour*
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup grated dried unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven the 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x50-inch loaf pan.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients. Cream the butter and beat in the eggs and bananas. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients; do not mix more than necessary. Gently stir in the vanilla, nuts, and coconut.

3. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until nicely browned. A toothpick inserted into the center of the bread will come out fairly clean when it is done, but because of the bananas this bread will remain moister than most. Do not overcook. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. To store, wrap in waxed paper.