Pineapple Banana Hummingbird Mini Loaves

Source:  Pineapple can

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
4 eggs
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained, 1 cup liquid reserved
2 medium bananas well mashed
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 t cinnamon

Preheat 350 F

Combine cakes mix, dry instant pudding, cinnamon, reserved pineapple juice, eggs and oil for two minutes. or until blended.  Add crushed pineapple,  bananas and nuts, mix until just blended.
Pour prepared batter into 5 mini loaf pans sprayed with nonstick spray.
Bake 40 miutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely.

I know my posts have been spotty lately.  And there really haven't been many dessert recipes, despite my self proclaimed fondness for them.  Blame some hecticness in my personal life, but mostly, blame my oven.  It's been having issues ....such as not turning on, or turning on intermittently.  It's hard to bake that way.  Nevertheless, I took another shot at it today.

I am always looking for recipes using standard cake mixes.  Things that jazz them up, and make them seem/taste like real home made desserts.  As a side note, really, how hard is it to throw together the dry mix of a cake batter ....so why we think it's such a time saver??  But I did have high hopes that the pudding would give the cake a rich and velvety texture.  I also had some ripe, very ripe bananas and was excited to find a recipe other than a banana bread to use them in.  I was picking my daughter up from her grandparents today, and thought it would be nice to take a little something for them, and this dessert looked perfect for it.  Finally, who doesn't like anything baked in a mini loaf pan.  I mean how cute are they??  And, surely, there cannot be many calories in such a teeny tiny little slice,  right?  So you can have 2, 3......

So obviously, this was a ridiculously easy recipe to put together. You just dump everything in the mixer, and then you throw it in the oven.  Could not be simpler.

Mine took just a little bit longer than 40 minutes to bake - -but then again, I have issues with my oven.

So this is very good.  Distinct banana flavor but not as pronounces and one tone as in a regular banana bread.  Has a lovely rich texture (most likely from the vanilla pudding), and the occasional bite of pineapple provides little bursts of freshness and tartness.  Excellent variation on a standard banana bread, would be nice addition to a brunch.