.: evil jungle prince :.

Breakfast this morning was this delicious banana bread chock full of crunchy macadamia nuts. What a flavor and texture combination! Biting into this moist, succulent, tropical tasting bread transported me immediately back to Honolulu. How I miss being there! This was a great accompaniment to my morning espresso, as well.

The idea for this recipe began at Costco. Last month's trip to Costco was my first and wow did it amaze me. I was unduly impressed by the selection and quality of foods they had available at super-low prices. One such item was a coffee-can sized cannister of macadamia nuts for $8.00 -- zoinks! (Usually this would buy you a measly 10-15 macadamia nuts at the grocery store in a baking powder sized can. What a discrepancy!) Suddenly finding myself in macadamia nut heaven, I set about looking for a good recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour bread pan. In a mixer, mix 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup light brown sugar until creamy.

2. In a separate bowl, combine 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Blend ingredients into sugar/butter mixture.

3. Next add 2 cups mashed bananas, two eggs (I used whites only and it turned out great), and 3/4 macadamia nuts (I broke mine up slightly so they wouldn't be too chunky). Bake for one hour or until a stick comes out clean. (For convection ovens, a full hour is probably not necessary.)

This was a great recipe that I'll definitely prepare again. By the way, I took the remainder of the baklava to work and it was a big hit. (Unlike the poutinga bread pudding, which nodbody commented on -- hehe.)