Those Bananas....

Do you buy bananas but never eat all of them? I do. I like bananas but I don't love bananas. I buy a bunch when I shop to have ready for a snack, smoothie, whatever. But most of the time, they sit on my counter until they are overripe. I've tried extending the life of the banana by freezing them but I find really ripe bananas don't make great frozen bananas.

So, what to do with those bananas? Make banana bread! While grabbing a banana as snack doesn't alway sound great, having a slice of banana bread with afternoon tea or breakfast is a nice way to change things up.

Making bread may sound intimidating but quick breads like banana bread are just that, quick and easy. No yeast to worry about or a lot of time required. And, it freezes nicely to enjoy later.

I learned to love banana bread from my mother. I never asked but she must have had the same issue with buying too many bananas (or maybe she just bought too many as an excuse to make bread!). We didn't have bananas around a lot but when they were, it seemed like they ended up in banana bread. I'm not sure where my mom's recipe came from but it was super moist and sweet with just the right amount of banana taste.

As I've gotten older, I have found the recipe from Joy of Cooking to be my favorite (recipe included below). It still has that sweet banana flavor but is a little lighter in texture like cake. Oh....I'm not a fan of nuts in bread, so I exclude those from my version.

It's fun to do different things besides a standard loaf, too. Make muffins instead or use mini loaf pans to make smaller loaves for gifts for friends/neighbors. Just adjust the cooking time to the recipe.

Next time you have a few bananas on your counter looking like they are ready for the garbage, that's when they are ready for banana bread. Enjoy!