Ubiquitous Banana Bread

Bananas and bittersweet

Despite the fact that banana bread and banana bread recipes seem to be everywhere, all the time, I will share mine here, if for no other reason than for the sake of full disclosure: I bake a batch of banana bread at least once a month, so how could I maintain a baking/random ramblings/food love blog without a banana bread post?

Not so attractive at this point

The man in my life eats a banana every morning. Bananas are tasty and good for you, after all. Still, he can't keep up with supply, and several mushy bananas find themselves in the deep freeze awaiting their fate at the hands of my potato masher and 350-degree oven. Some end up in muffins, others in quick bread studded with bittersweet chocolate chunks.

So, if for some inexplicable reason you can't find your own trusty, go-to banana bread recipe, have a go at this one. It makes four (4) mini-loaves, which I find more manageable than full-size loaves for our household of two.

Banana Bread with Bittersweet Chocolate Chunks
4 large over-ripe bananas, mashed

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

scant 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chunks (feel free to add chopped walnuts or pecans, instead of or in combination with the chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour baking tins (my mini-loaf pans are about 3 x 5 1/2 inches).

Whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside.

Mix mashed bananas with eggs, sugar and wet ingredients, combining thoroughly.

Fold wet ingredients and chocolate chunks into dry to combine, but don't overwork your batter.

Fill prepared tins about 3/4 of the way and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Leave in pans to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

When cool, wrap in layer of plastic wrap and layer of aluminum foil. It's best to leave them alone for about a day before scarfing. Also, these breads freeze well.

P.S. Some folks use mini-chocolate chips in their banana bread, if they use chocolate at all. This method is not for me. I like to go whole hog and prefer an infrequent burst of bittersweet to overabundant mini-chippage.