Banging Banana Bread

The Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite baking blogs. Any time I'm in the mood to try something new, I immediately check out Deb's immense (and brilliantly organized) collection of recipes.

So when John mentioned that he's a big fan of banana bread, I went immediately to TSM and found exactly what I was looking for. This a great recipe for beginner bakers. All you have to do is mash some bananas, melt some butter and the rest is all mixing stuff together. Easy! Fun! Tasty!

The fella likes to slather his slices with butter, but it's pretty yummy just on its own.

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted salted butter
• 3/4 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

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Melt the butter
• Mash the bananas (I use a potato masher but you can you use a spoon)
• Add the butter and mash some more
• Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, then the spices.
  
• Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and incorporate into the batter
  
• Add the flour last and 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.
  

Note: I usually let it cool enough to take it out of the pan, but I think it tastes better if eaten fairly soon after that when its still somewhat warm. Or you could eat it straight out of the oven, just don't burn the top of your mouth.

Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen, natch.