Banana bread

Unlike our lime tree that has only given us one lime in two years, our banana tree blesses us with two separate crops of bananas each year....with each crop having at least a few bushels. Twice a year, we have at least 50-75 bananas that are ripe all at the same time. After giving a lot away, we are still left with a freezer full of bananas.

Here is a pic and link from our first banana cutting last year.

What to do with tons of frozen bananas? Banana bread, of course.

Since we have lived here in Senegal, I have made 1-2 loaves of banana bread each week. We usually have one on hand in our house, and the others we give to our staff, guards, or neighbors.

Statistically speaking, that means I have made about 150 loaves of banana bread in the last two years. I have tried dozens and dozens of recipes. I have used recipes from my favorite cooks and chefs.

In my '150 loaves in two years' opinion, banana bread is best when it is kept simple.

In my recipe box, I have kept an old folded piece of paper with a banana bread recipe written on it. I have no idea who it is from. I thought is was Betty Crocker, but it's not. Maybe it's my grandmothers....I don't know. But it's simple, and delicious.

Banana Bread:

4 ripe bananas, mashed *if using frozen bananas, you will need to add 1 more cup of flour

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar, + 1 tsp to sprinkle on top of loaf

1 beaten egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350. Mash bananas in a large bowl. Add sugar, egg, vanilla, and sprinkle in salt and baking soda. Add flour and stir well.

Butter a loaf pan and pour in. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

**Chocolate chunk banana bread: Crumble 1 chocolate bar and set aside. Follow recipe above, then just pour 3/4 of the batter into pan. Then sprinkle in chocolate. Top with rest of batter and sprinkle with sugar.