Banana Walnut Bread

Arrange a rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, letting the excess hang over the long sides to form a sling. Spray the inside with cooking spray.

Place the melted butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl and whisk until well combined.

Add the beaten eggs and whisk until completely combined and the mixture is smooth.

Whisk 1/4 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract into the batter.

Mash in the bananas. Peel 3 very ripe, medium bananas and add them to the bowl. Using the end of the whisk or a dinner fork, mash them into the batter. Leave the bananas as chunky or as smooth as you prefer. If you prefer an entirely smooth banana bread, mash the bananas separately until no more lumps remain, and then whisk them into the batter.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Switch to using a spatula and gently stir until the ingredients are just barely combined and no more dry flour is visible.

Fold in the nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top of the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees 50-65 minutes, until the top is caramelized dark brown with some yellow interior peeking through and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Baking time will vary slightly depending on the moisture and sugar content of your bananas — start checking around 50 minutes and then every 5 minutes after.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Set the loaf, still in the pan, on a wire cooling rack. Let it cool for 10 minutes — this helps the loaf solidify and makes it easier to remove from the pan.

Remove from pan and cool another 10 minutes. Grasping the parchment paper sling, lift the loaf out of the pan and place on the cooling rack. Cool for another 10 minutes before slicing.