Don’t know what to do with your overripe bananas? Make banana bread!

Aside from having overripe bananas, the remaining ingredients for banana bread are staple items that you’ll most likely already have on hand. Which makes this the perfect bread to bake for any occasion.

Banana bread is great for breakfast, brunch, dessert, parties, pot-lucks, and also makes the perfect gift. Wrap your bread in plastic wrap, tie a ribbon around it, and you have the perfect gift to give to a friend or loved one.

There are several different variations of banana bread dependent upon what you add to your batter before baking. I myself am a fan of just plain banana bread and my favorite banana bread recipe is found in the Southern Living Heirloom Recipe Cookbook.

If you like Banana Nut Bread and prefer a little crunch to your bread, you can adjust this recipe by adding ¾ cups of your favorite (chopped) nuts – walnuts, pecans, almonds, or cashews are all great options.

For the chocolate lovers that prefer Chocolate Banana Bread, another delicious addition to this recipe would be to add ¾ cup of chocolate chips. Get creative and add whatever inspires you!

Now let’s get to baking! Here’s what you’ll need…

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

3. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

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4. Add vanilla and eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

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6. Add flour mixture to batter and mix just to combine.

7. Add bananas. Mix well.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan.

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9. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil during last 15 minutes to prevent excess browning, if necessary.

10. Check doneness by inserting a wooden pick and center comes out clean and sides pull from pan.

11. Once loaf is done baking, cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

12. Remove from pan and cool an additional 30 minutes on wire rack before slicing.

13. Serve with butter and enjoy!