Banana Bread

My dad hated buying bananas because more often than not we'd let them sit around until they were too mushy to eat and then we'd throw them out.  I think he still hates buying bananas to this day. 

Luckily I now know that mushy bananas can be transformed into banana bread!  You have to make sure the bananas are ripe.  We're talking LOTS of brown spots cuz that means the starches have turned to sugars. 

Random story- we went to Hawaii in high school for a school trip and we went to this "secret island" somewhere.  After playing in the sun and surf I remember eating multiple pieces of banana bread at a little snack stand nearby.  Mmmm...

Usually I'd add chocolate chips but I decided to try the recipe as written.  I appreciated the simplicity.  Thanks to Elise from Simply Recipes for posting it!

Banana Bread

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.
Yield: Makes one loaf.