banana bread

We have had major problems with fruit flies this week. I have no idea how they got started, but they've been threatening to take over the house. As such, I decided it was time to clean the kitchen top to bottom, ajax the drains, and get rid of all fruits and vegetables on the counters. Lucky for us, we had a nice little collection of spotted bananas that were just begging to be made into banana bread. It's not hard at all, especially when you have a little person to smash your bananas for you. Smashie smashie.

We decided to bake four mini loaves instead of one big loaf, and they were absolutely delicious, and cute to boot.

We used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen (love that site) and it was perfect. It smelled perfect, it looked perfect, and the tiny loaves made adorable presents to share with our neighbors. (I know! Who knew I could be social?) This is definitely going to be my go-to banana bread recipe. Much better than any I have tried before. I should probably go eat another piece, just to be sure, though.

Banana Bread
Smitten Kitchen

3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted salted butter
3/4 to 1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 1/2 cup of flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla, then the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

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