This is my favorite basic banana bread.  Last time I made it I was out of vanilla, so I subbed almond extract and cardamom and ended up baking one of my favorite loaves ever.

A single batch of this nearly overfills my standard loaf pan, especially if you include the nuts. Last time I had a lot of bananas, so scaled up the recipe by a third, then split into two loaves. Worked great. (Room for more batter if ever want/need to scale up to 1.5X sometime.)

• 2 C. very ripe bananas, mashed; about 4 or 5 medium bananas (455 g.)
• 1/2 C. vegetable oil (99 g.)
• 1 C. sugar  (200 g)
• 2 large eggs
• 3 T. milk
• 3/4 t. almond extract or 1 t. vanilla
• 3/4 t. cardamom or 1 t. cinnamon
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (250 g.)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas, add the oil, sugar, eggs, milk, and extract, stir to combine.
3. Mix in the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. (and nuts, if using.) Make sure ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.