Orange Ginger Banana Bread

I've said a few times already, I'm not a great baker. My cookies are passable and cakes are questionable, so I was hesitant to try turning my spotty bananas into anything but future smoothies. Whatever it was that insisted I try my hand at banana bread, probably my stomach, I'm so glad I did. I finally baked something sweet and delicious! I started out with a simple recipe from the Food Network and added a few things.

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar (or 2/3 agave nectar*)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs (or 3 Monica sized eggs)
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground ginger 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange extract
1/2 cup of crushed pecans

*All About Agave has a helpful agave substitute guide here.

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Mix the butter and sugar in a mixer until it's fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.

In another bowl, mash up the bananas, add the milk, and spices. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients.

Add the banana mixture slowly to the mixing bowl, stirring slowly. Add the dry ingredients and mix until the flour disappears. Fold in the pecans.

Pour the batter into the greased pan, and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Flip it out of the pan, and allow it to cool before you slice it up.

This turned out oh so chewy and moist. It's best fresh out of the oven with some melty butter. In the future, I think I'd splurge on some orange zest and freshly grated ginger. It would also be good with some ice cream on top, vanilla bean or dulce de leche... That reminds me, I should get some ice cream.