Spiced Banana/Pecan Buckwheat Bread

     We needed something to nosh on while our family gathered to help Grandpa sort through a lifetime of belongings as he prepares for his move to his new apartment.  So I made this quick bread, and now I'm posting the recipe at my sister-in-law's request.
     Like the previous recipe I posted, this one comes from Daniel Leader's Bread Alone.  He gives credit to Carol Guthrie, who helped him develop this and several other quick bread recipes in the book.
     I altered the recipe to my own taste for even wholer, more natural ingredients.  I substituted some of the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour and half of the white sugar with sucanat, which is real, unbleached sugar that adds both color and a subtle molasses flavor to the finished loaf.  For a slight tang, I used buttermilk in place of plain milk.  And I couldn't resist spicing it up with generous amounts of cinnamon and ginger.
     This bread tastes like a homey cake and needs no embellishment.  My husband, however,  likes it with cream cheese.

4 1/2 oz. King Arthur White Whole-Wheat Flour
8 oz. Hudson Cream All-Purpose Flour
5 oz. Hodgson Mill Whole-Grain Stone-Ground Buckwheat Flour
3 t. Baking powder
3/4 t. Baking soda
1 t. Redmond Sea Salt
2 t. Ground cinnamon
2 t. Ground ginger
3/4 C. Unsalted butter
3/4 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Sucanat
3 Large eggs
3/4 C. Buttermilk
2 C. Mashed, very ripe bananas
6 oz.  Toasted pecans

     Preheat oven to 350 F.  Generously grease and flour a bread pan.  (Leader calls for a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan, but my batter overflowed this size pan, so I would recommend using a slightly larger pan.)
     Toast the pecans for a few minutes in the preheated oven.  
     Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda,  salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl.
     Using a hand or a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugars in another large bowl.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after adding each egg.  Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, one third of each at a time.
     Fold in the bananas and toasted pecans.
     Pour batter in the greased and floured pan.  Leader suggests a 60 minute baking time, but my bread took 85 minutes to bake until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean.  Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.
     Wrap the cooled bread tightly in plastic wrap.  The loaf is even better if allowed to age a day before slicing.