Delicious and Easy Banana Bread

Friday, I had to work from home. My husband (who normally works from home) had a trade show, which put me on bus drop off and pick up duties. And with all the construction going into downtown Montreal, my workday would have been significantly shortened in order for me to be there for the kids.

Luckily, my bosses have always been super flexible and when its planned in advance – my work from home days are super productive – conference calls, a to-do list, etc. I usually get so much done. On top of that, the lack of a commute gives me more energy later in the day for doing things like…baking!

We had 3 overripe bananas and I was super excited to have an excuse to bake. So off to Pinterest I went – looking for simple, but yummy banana bread recipes. I didn’t want to take away from the banana taste, but I wanted to add a little something extra. And what did I have a lot of in the pantry? Cinnamon!

So I went to work gathering my ingredients…trying to get it done between work and then my friend coming over with her kids…I knew I had everything on hand – the ingredients were super simple.

3 Over Ripe Bananas
3/4 c. of sugar
1 egg
1/3 c. of butter melted
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of baking soda
pinch of salt
1-1/2 c. of flour
another 1/4 c. of sugar
1 tbsp. of cinnamon

Awesome – I was pulling things out of my baking cabinet all at once…except…where was my vanilla? It must have been there somewhere…I looked behind everything and pulled most things out. This was so weird because I always have TONS of vanilla. What was I going to do?

Luckily, I have A-MAZING neighbours. I texted one to see if she had any and voila – I got a jar full of authentic Dominican Vanilla. Straight from the caribbean country. See? Ask and you shall receive – and maybe even things better than you expected. This vanilla had a wonderful coconut-ty aroma that was awesome. So if you can get your hands on some – do it!

In terms of how to make the bread…

First you need to set the oven at 350 degrees.

Combine the bananas, mashed up of course, with the melted butter, the 3/4 c. of sugar, egg and vanilla. and mix it all up.

Then you add in the baking soda, then the salt – but don’t mix it.

After, slowly add in the flour – but don’t over-mix it – just make sure its all combined and there is no dry flour.

Then add about half the mixture to a greased bread pan.

Combine the other sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and add half of it to the mixture already in the pan. I swirled it a bit before adding the rest of the mixture.

Then I swirled it a bit more (just a bit – don’t mix it), then sprinkled more on top. I ended up not using all of it because it seemed a bit much – but it all depends on how much sugar you like.

Finally, pop that pan in the over for about an hour. Start checking the bread at about 50 mins. Use a toothpick (or skewer) to poke in the bread and see if it comes out clean. Its done when it comes out clean.

Looks yummy, doesn’t it? Well it was! Even the family can’t get enough. I truly enjoy when I can make things from scratch for my family. We all have that “sweet tooth” but so many store-bought treats have so many bad things in them. I’m always worried about the chemicals and preservatives rather than the amount of sugar. Everything in moderation, right?

So there you have it – a super easy, super tasty banana bread that you can whip up in a flash. With ingredients you likely have in your home (or your neighbours home) – its sure to be a family favourite that you can make in a pinch. 🙂

Thanks for reading and happy baking!!