Best Ever Banana Bread

So Layla is very fond of bananas and, as a result, I always have bananas in varying stages of ripeness in my house. Over the weekend though a bunch of them got ripe at once and by Monday, they were too soft for just eating out of hand. That's when they're perfect for banana bread! There are so many banana bread recipes out there but I turned to one of my trusted sites, Sally's Baking Addiction, to check out her "best ever" banana bread recipe. Now I'm always hesitant when something purports to be "the best" of anything. That's a mighty high standard being set, but I guess "Moderately Decent Banana Bread" just wouldn't sell. Since I intended the bread to be a snack for our construction crew, I hoped it would be at least "better than the average" banana bread.


Here's the cast.


Dry ingredients were combined in a bowl.


I honestly don't know why I sometimes contemplate creaming things by hand when I have the KitchenAid. Why do I insist on making things more difficult? I don't know. The mixer came out...I was glad. Butter and brown sugar!


Eggs are added one by one...


And, since this is a quick bread, acid is needed to get the baking soda going. You can use yogurt but I had sour cream instead.


I added vanilla and tossed the bananas in as I went. I just kind of smooshed them between my fingers and added them to the mixer.


The dry ingredients were added until just combined.


The mixture was smoothed into a greased loaf pan and baked at 350F for an hour. I checked it with a toothpick and decided to give it a few minutes more.


It was beautifully browned and smelled great!


Unfortunately I had to slice it while the loaf was still very hot so the slices aren't very pretty. It was very moist and the banana flavor definitely came through. Because I wasn't sure if any of the guys had a nut allergy, I didn't add any. The texture would have been nice but the flavor didn't need boosting. The best ever? Can't say, but pretty darn good!


Here's the promised link:

 Best Ever Banana Bread

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