[ recipe ] :: stupid easy banana bread

Confession: I cannot bake.

However, I've started to bake muffins or bread every Sunday to eat for breakfast throughout the week. Not only is this more economical than buying breads or bagels, it is much healthier since you can pick and choose the ingredients yourself. (Read: no artificial crap.) I've had great success with blueberry muffins and decided to try making banana bread.

Bananas were on sale for $0.44/lb two weeks ago, so I bought 10 pounds.

Yes. 10 pounds of bananas. The Hubs thinks he is a monkey. This is pretty much what happens when I bring bananas into the house:

We ate one bunch (about 2 lbs) throughout the week as snacks, and I chopped froze the rest to use in smoothies. However, one lonely bunch of bananas was left on the counter. After about a week, they had gotten mushy and spotted.

Now, the old Maggie White (in her wasteful post-college days) would have tossed them. But no. I now see disgusting, smooshy bananas and think: banana bread! My mom used to bake banana bread, and the one trick I picked up on was this: The more mushy and spotted your 'nanas are, the sweeter and more lovely they get for baking.

Gross! But yummy. All at the same time.

I scoured the internet for recipes, but almost all of the banana bread recipes had fancy-schmancy ingredients...like honey or vanilla extract or raisins. Raisins?! No. I wanted a simple recipe that didn't take away from the delicious flavor of bananas. Now, I do recommend adding chopped nuts (walnuts especially) to your bread because it tastes awesome, but I am poor and a bag of walnuts costs $5.99. Alright, I'm not too broke to spend $6 on chopped nuts but my inner-miser won't  let me.

So here's my modified version of banana bread. It's so simple, it's stupid easy to make!

Ingredients: 

4 bananas, very ripe and well mashed
1 cup sugar (or Splenda)
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce)
2 cups flour (1 cup can be whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions: 

Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl, then add sugar (or Splenda), eggs, and oil, mixing well each time. Add flour, baking soda, and salt to banana mixture. Pour in a lightly greased 5x9 loaf pan. Bake 60-70 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a fork inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

You may want to adjust your sugar level, since the more ripened bananas get much sweeter. For extra crunch and flavor, try adding 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the mix. Semisweet chocolate chips are also an amazing addition!

Try not to eat it all at once. If you're feeling really naughty, top hot slices with honey or blueberry preserves. Delish! The best thing is, this bread freezes well and lasts up to a week in the fridge.

What's your favorite non-traditional bread? I think I'll try zucchini bread next time, seeing as how I have 5 pounds of grated zukes in my freezer!

- Maggie White