Banana Bread

I think most people would agree that banana bread is a staple must-have recipe. Sometimes you just need a little comfort food, and banana bread just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! I have a trick that I have done for years to help my banana bread be super moist and super full of flavor. First, freeze your bananas and get the peels good and brown. Then, when you're ready to use the bananas, defrost them in a mixing bowl full of water. When you're ready to put them in your batter, just rip off the tip, and squeeze it out along with all the juices...it's actually quite fun! (My kids get a kick out of that part).

Alright, onto my all-time favorite banana bread recipe (and it took me going through a few others to get to this one.)

Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS:

- 1/2 cup softened butter (if I have it on hand, then instead I use 1/2 cup coconut oil)

- 1 cup white sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 tsp. lemon juice

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 tsp. baking soda

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 1/2 cup sour cream

- 1 cup mashed bananas (frozen, then thawed in water)

- cinnamon & sugar mixture (optional for dusting the pan with)

DIRECTIONS:

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with Pam and if you want to, sprinkle the bottom with cinnamon and sugar. There will be a little batter left over (this recipe is silly because it's too much for one loaf, and not quite enough for 2 loaves). Anyways, so I usually make a couple of mini loaves as well.

In a large bowl, cream together the oil and sugar. Add the eggs, lemon juice and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and then mix that into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, mix in the sour cream and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes (depending on the depth of your bread). A toothpick inserted should come out clean. Cool in loaf pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.