Banana Bread

I like my bananas green, with a little bite to them, while my husband prefers them when the skins start to spot and turn brown. So while it seems as though we'd be the perfect banana couple, we're shamefully wasteful when it comes to bananas. If they don't get eaten right away, they develop into the invisible fruit on the counter and by the time we notice them again they're past the point where anyone in our house will eat them, except the dog, who loves them unreservedly and is always thankful to have fruit of any kind shared with him. Even grossly overripe fruit.

I finally figured out, however, how quick banana bread is to make, and how wonderful slices of banana bread taste in the morning when you're sick to death of cereal. This new oven in my new kitchen is making baking possible, for the first time in four years, and I'm tackling baking with a new fervor. (A couple of weeks ago I made the Magnolia Bakery's vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting, and two days later I baked chocolate chip cookies, which I then made into cookie sandwiches using the rest of the frosting. I was like super-duper baking lady.) This recipe, from Simply Recipes, is quick and makes for really moist bread which is only made better with the addition of toasted walnuts or chocolate chips.

Banana Bread

3 - 4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 c. melted butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix melted butter into mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and sugar. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and fold in to batter. Mix in the flour last. Pour mixture into a buttered 4 x 8 in. loaf pan.
Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a baking rack.