Bad Bananas? Make Banana Bread

I've been watching my bananas go from an unripe greenish-yellow to a perfect bright yellow to a past-their-prime yellow-brown over the past week or so. And while it frustrates me that my family is not eating bananas in mass supply, I realize that all is not lost. I'll make some awesome banana bread and we'll feast on that for a few days!

Bananas are a terrific snack and a wonderful food for so many reasons. They're a weekly purchase at the grocery store for us and I use them for smoothies (see: http://meredithsfoodforlife.blogspot.com/2008/05/breakfast.html) or for a quick pick me up.

http://www.chiquita.com/


Banana Bread
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
2-3 very ripe, mashed bananas (equals about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl. In a mixing bowl, mix together the egg and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, add vanilla and mix another 10 seconds. Add in the oil and mix until well incorporated. Mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture then the milk followed by another 1/3 of the flour. Finally mix in the mashed banana and then the remaining 1/3 of the flour. Pour equally into two pans and bake about 55-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Additions:
* 1 cup of chopped walnuts (replace milk with 1 1/4 cup, if using nuts)
* 3/4 cup of chocolate chips sprinkled on top of the loaves about 30 minutes into baking