The Mushier the Better

So as I pad into the kitchen this morning to make my toast- what do I spy? Over-ripe bananas! I mean, these things are pretty much mush at this point. Perfect! I go look over some of my favorite recipes, and decide to go for banana bread. I've made so many muffins/cupcakes recently that I thought a loaf would be a nice change of pace. This recipe that I use is great because it's so basic. You nearly always have the ingredients on hand (the bananas being the thing you probably won't have), and it's so simple it's really fun to play with. You can add nearly anything and it's delicious.

Recipe: Banana Banana Bread

Makes: 1 loaf

Recipe originated from: Allrecipes.com ( http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx )

Compliments: When you cut a piece stick it in the microwave for a few seconds to get it warm. Honestly it doesn't need any butter or honey on it because it's so moist as is, but if you want to make it dessert then try that.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

So this time I added grated chocolate (probably about 8 oz), a handful of raisins, and made a streusel topping (1/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped nuts, 2 tbsp butter cut in). It's really yummy. Oh, and I used 6 bananas. I usually don't measure out the mush, but just use what I have. It's not necessarily how many bananas you have, but how ripe they are. Sometime you can buy a bag of brown bananas at the store for a discounted price. Get them! They have tons of flavor and can be frozen to store! That way when you want to make banana bread or banana turnovers or banana ice cream or bananas foster you can just pull out how many you need and let them defrost for 15-20 minutes. Then you're set to go!

Abby xx