The Best Banana Bread

Neither of my kids like bananas. When Molly was a baby and young toddler she would eat her "nana" but now she wont go near it. Lucy has spit them out from Day 1! I have bought bananas many times to try them out again and they always end up not eaten and made into banana bread. For a long time I couldn't find a good recipe. Some were too dry, some never seemed to cook evenly and ended up raw in the middle, and other required 1,600 bowls with sifted dry ingredients slowly poured into the wet mixture and gently folded in. Who has time for that???

I finally found a good recipe after about 10 batches of mushy, flavorless bread ended up in the garbage. I usually double this recipe and make a loaf to eat and a loaf to freeze. We always add a handful of mini chocolate chips and and a handful of craisins to ours to make it extra delicious.

I mix everything with my Kitchenaid mixer and the only other bowl required in for melting the butter. I use the butter bowl later for beating the eggs. Only 2 bowls to clean!  I set my timer for 1 hour but it usually takes about 1 hour 15 minutes to cook through.

Smash bananas in mixer.

Mix in melted butter, then sugar, beaten egg and vanilla. 

Add flour. I add it all at once and don't worry about sifting.  Also add pinch of salt and baking soda.

Mix well.

Add in extras, if you wish. We love adding mini semi sweet chocolate chips and craisins and sometimes add walnuts.  Mix just until everything is incorporated well. 

Pour into greased bread pan. I double the recipe to make an extra!

These bread pans are well loved. They belonged to my husbands grandmother and I love that they look extremely used! I could easily go buy new pans for a few dollars but I won't! 

Bake for 1 hour at 350 and then test the center to make sure they are cooked all the way through. Mine usually take 10-15 minutes extra!

To freeze my extra loaf I wrap it in plastic wrap, then foil, then place in a freezer bag. To thaw I just set it on the counter the night before we want to eat it.

My kids love this for breakfast. We cut a slice and pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds to warm it up and make the chocolate a little gooey. 

Perfection!

2 to 3 very ripe bananas, peeled

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar 

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

2 In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

3 Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

4 Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F (175°C), or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

5 Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack. Remove the banana bread from the pan. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)

*recipe from simplyrecipes.com