Midnight Banana Bread

We really don’t eat bananas all that much but a couple weeks back I bought a bundle of them to add to our St. Patty’s Day fruit rainbow platter.  We didn’t end up using them so they have been sitting in our fruit bowl browning to perfection.  Initially I thought I was going to make peanut butter banana waffles (YUM!) this past weekend but Saturday and Sunday came and went.  Knowing that the bananas probably wouldn’t last until the following weekend, I decided to make banana bread…at 11pm last night :0)

What you will need…

– 2 cups flour (sifted)
– 1 tsp baking soda
– pinch of salt

Mix in a small bowl and set aside

– 4 1/2 bananas, overripe & mashed (1 banana equals approximately 1/2 cup- FYI)
– 3/4 cup brown sugar
– 1 stick of butter, softened
– 2 eggs, beaten
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 1 tsp cinnamon

*Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then add the eggs, vanilla and cinnamon.  When all the ingredients have been well blended, add the bananas and beat for 30 seconds.

Using a wooden spoon, add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pan and pop it in the 350 degree over for 60 – 65 minutes!  You will know it is ready when you can stick a toothpick (I used a kabob stick) into the center and it comes out clean.

Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then flip it upside down and remove the bread.  MMMMMM! ….so good and the house still smells great!

Next time, I am going to add about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to spice things up a bit :0)