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Message: [QUOTE="JohnnyP, post: 35034, member: 2656"] I've been playing with this recipe for 45 years. Makes 5 loaves using the aluminum foil pans. 10 or so very ripe bananas (I use about 8 cups of puree) 5 eggs 1 pound softened butter 4 cups chopped walnuts (about 1 pound) 4 1/2 cups flour 3 1/2 cups white sugar 1 table spoon baking soda 1 tea spoon salt Convection bake at 330°F (regular bake at 350°) about an hour. Bake until internal temp is 195° for very moist, or up to 215° for drier bread. Don't be fooled and take it out too early or it will fall in the middle. Use a meat thermometer. I don't know if it makes any difference, but the original recipe called for melted butter. Also, I add a table spoon of baking powder as well. In my youth, I just thought it would make it better. Is it helping or hurting? It's been so long since I tried it without. Lately I have been evaporating the puree a bit to concentrate the banana flavor and remove the moisture to prevent it from falling. My question is: The bread is a little fragile. Do I need to develop gluten? I may be hindering that with the way I mix. I know the standard thing to do is mix all wet ingredients, then add the flour, but I have been adding the puree at the end. From what I have been reading, the butter prevents gluten from forming, so would it be better to add the puree before the flour? Thanks for any suggestions. [/QUOTE]