When Starbucks started changing their pastry recipes and removing artificial ingredients, they had this recipe card at the counter for their banana walnut bread:

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 1/8 c sugar

1/2 c vegetable oil

2 Tbsp buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 ripe medium-large bananas (mashed)

1/2 c + 1/3 c chopped walnuts

Pre-heat the oven to 325°.  Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan and dust with flour.  Blend together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.  Mix together the egg, sugar and vegetable oil until combined.  Add the flour mixture and when blended add the buttermilk, vanilla and mashed bananas and mix until combined.  Fold in 1/2 c chopped walnuts and pour batter into prepared loaf pan.  Top batter with remaining 1/3 c chopped walnuts.  Bake for 45-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from pan.

This recipe is fairly straightforward, but I made a few slight modifications (see my notes below!)

The finished product: delicious and moist banana walnut muffins:

The dishful thinker’s tips:

• I went with muffins instead of a loaf (which yielded 17 cupcake-sized muffins).  This brings the baking time down about 10-15 minutes (this batch was done in roughly 35-40 minutes).
• Don’t have any buttermilk on hand?  After a quick Google search, I found that I could add vinegar to milk and create a sufficient substitute.  I added about 1/8 tsp of white vinegar to 2 tbsp of milk and was ready to go.
• I’ve had the in-store version of this bread and I actually prefer the homemade version better. Shouldn’t it taste the same?  This is Starbucks’ recipe, after all!
• This is my favorite recipe to make when I realize I have overripe bananas on my kitchen counter.  A much better (and delicious) alternative to tossing perfectly good food:)