Cranberry, Pecan Banana Bread

This is one of my favorites, the mild flavor of the banana mixed with the tart cranberry and crunchy pecans....yum. In an earlier post I was explaining how hard it is to bake in Bogotá at such a high altitude - well now you can see for yourselves. My delicious banana bread looks like a flat brick :) I have made this in Miami and it rises over the loaf pan and looks beautiful. My little brick was still delectable though - I love to slice it, spread with a little butter and toast it until crispy.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temp
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups cranberries, dried
6 cardamom pods, crushed

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325º
2. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.
3. Cream together butter & sugar. Beat in eggs.
4. Stir in baking soda and salt into flour - mixing well.
5. Fold in banana; stir in vanilla
6. Add cranberries and pecans into batter. Add the cardomom.
7. Transfer batter to loaf pans evenly. Bake about 50 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.