I never used to be a huge banana bread fan, but Mikey Jr LOVES it so I have made it frequently for him over the years, especially when we have bananas that have gone brown.  This recipe is so fantastically yummy that it makes me actually want to buy too many bananas so that I know I will have brown ones soon!  It has the most amazingly wonderful, tender, moist texture and the perfect balance of sweetness making it my number one go-to recipe for banana bread.

Did you know the more ripe your bananas are, the more flavorful your bread will be?  Are they almost black?  PERFECT!  Your bread will be moist and delicious!  You can do several different variations of this bread.  I usually add just chocolate chips for my loaves, but you can absolutely substitute walnuts or pecans, or do a combination of chocolate chips and nuts or nothing at all!  This recipe makes two loaves.

A couple of tips for this recipe:

• If you don’t have half and half you can use milk in it’s place.
• 3 medium bananas usually give me about a cup of mashed banana.
• If you don’t remember to take your eggs out of the refrigerator, just place them in a bowl of warm water for a minute or two and they will be room temp.
• If your butter is not room temperature you can use the defrost setting on your microwave for about 30 seconds, (power level 3) to soften your butter.
• I always sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips over the top of the loaves before baking – it just helps them look beautiful!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup half and half mixed with 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2-1/3 cups AP flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 medium size ripe bananas, mashed in a small bowl with a fork till nice and mushy (about 1 cup)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional Mix-Ins:

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9×5 sized loaf pans with the baking non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Put 1 Tbsp lemon juice in your half cup measure and fill the rest of the way with half and half.  Set aside for 5 minutes.
3. In your mixer, cream butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes
4. Beat in your eggs one at a time.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 
6. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low until just combined. 
7. Add in the mashed bananas, milk mixture and vanilla and mix well.
8. At this point stir in your mix-ins.  (You can do mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, a combination of both or nothing at all.)  
9. Pour batter evenly into the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  
10. Let cool for at least 15 minutes then run a knife around the edge and remove from pans. 
11. Let cool completely then slice and enjoy!