Everyday Banana Bread

Like most kids, my kids go through food phases.  There was a time when they both could down a whole banana in the blink of an eye.  Now, I'm lucky to get 2 bites out of them.  So  today with a bunch of bananas quickly becoming overripe, hubby calls to me as he leaves for work "see if you can get the kids to eat those bananas".  Yes.  Easier said then done I believe.

Now I'm not one who has much of a fancy for bananas.  I think the taste is quite overpowering so I won't have it in smoothies or in a sundae.  But I WILL have it in the form of banana bread.  In fact, I LOVE banana bread.  Here's a simple recipe that even the kids will enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce (or 1 to-go cup)

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (around 3 large overripe bananas)

DIRECTIONS 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.  

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.

In a medium sized bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla.  Add the beaten eggs, mashed bananas and applesauce until well combined.  

Pour banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine.  Be careful to not over mix, just mix to moisten. Pour batter into loaf pan.   

Bake for 60 minutes in preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let bread cool for 10 minutes.  I like to serve this while still warm though, and with butter for the extra wow factor.

I call this "Everyday Banana Bread" because it's easy enough to make everyday, and it tastes so good, you could have a slice every day too.  I adjusted the recipe so that it doesn't use an overwhelming amount of banana, and instead incorporated some applesauce, which we always have on hand for the kids.  However, feel free to substitute out the applesauce for another 1/2 cup of mashed bananas if you desire a stronger banana flavor.

Enjoy!

xo,

Carly