Blueberry Banana Buttermilk Bread

So you make a recipe that calls for 1 cup of buttermilk and then you think to yourself, what am I going to do with the rest of this cartoon. It sits in the fridge, gets shuffled around to make room for other food, and finally goes bad... Well not anymore, this recipe allows you to use that buttermilk and those over-ripe bananas that no one wants to eat. Add some fresh or frozen blueberries, some almond extract and you have a delicious breakfast bread that is sure to satisfy.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup blueberries, plus more to top the bread

Cooking Spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two non-stick loaf pans with cooking spray. 

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy for about 3-5 minutes. On low speed, add one egg at a time until combined. Next add the buttermilk, vanilla extract and almond extract, mix on low speed till combined. Mix in the mashed bananas on medium speed. Gradually add in the flour mixture on low speed until just combined, making sure not to over-mix as this will make the bread tough. With a spatula, gently fold in 1 cup of blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans and top with a few blueberries. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the bread comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool for about 15 minutes. Then remove the bread from the loaf pans, place on a wire baking rack and allow to cool completely. Enjoy!

Note: The loafs of bread are relatively small as you can see from the picture above; if you would prefer to make one big loaf of bread that would be fine as well, just make sure to cook the bread longer in the oven.