My favorite Banana Bread

This post is dedicated to my niece, Elisa.....who has asked me to send her this recipe no less than 10 times. So dear,...here you have it, where you can always find it :-)

Whoever came up with banana bread as a solution to overripe fruit was genius. Like spaghetti sauce, there are likely upward of a million banana bread recipes out there, but this one is my personal favorite. I know, I haven't had them all, so how can I say that? Some things hold special places purely because of history and sometimes despite personal history, it's still just the best... At least that's what everyone who tastes this recipe tells me :-)....Banana bread in our house growing up was more cake than bread, which pleases me to this day. I'm not a fan of nuts in banana bread, but this recipe would support really any addition that you desire.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Butter 1 cup Sugar 1 teaspoon Vanilla 1 whole Egg 1 cup Overripe Banana, Mashed 1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon Salt 2 cups Flour 1 teaspoon Cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder 1 teaspoon Baking Soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and whip until well combined

3. Add vanilla, egg, water and banana and cream well

4. Add remaining dry ingredients and blend just until combined. This shoud be the consistency of a thick cake batter. If you find it too thick, add a touch more water to thin.

5. Pour Batter into to two greased loaf pans.

5. Bake on the center rack for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out crumb free.

6. Cool completely on a wire rack and

A few notes:

Mixing your batter too long after you add the dry ingredients will encourage gluten to develop in the dough, resulting in a tougher or chewier loaf. While this is a desired quality in yeasted breads, this is not the goal with banana bread. It is best with muffins and these types of bread to avoid mixing too much after the addition of dry ingredients.

I often use more cinnamon than is called for, but that is dependent on personal preference. I have also added ginger and nutmeg depending on my mood. Feel free to add whatever spices please your palate.

When baking these loaves, the top will become quite dark in color. If they look like they're getting too dark, you may want to cover them with foil for the last 10 minutes