Whole-wheat Banana Nut Bread

Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma Baking (The Best of the Kitchen Library). Recipe is halved, and vanilla extract added.

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups whole-wheat (wholemeal) flour, plus extra for dusting
(I used atta)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp, plus extra for greasing
1 cup sugar
2 large ripe bananas mashed
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan and dust with flour.
In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until blended (use a hand-blender). Beat in the banana, then beat in the eggs until completely mixed. Add the vanilla at this point. The mixture might look lumpy and curdled. That is okay.
Stir in the nuts. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir until just blended.
Pour and scrape the batter into the pan, and spread evenly. Bake until a thin wooden skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.