confession: i am a over-ripened banana hoarder. at the first sign of brown speckles, i think to myself, “yay, banana bread.” of course, i could buy bananas and let them ripen (instead of using them for oatmeal), but what’s the fun in that? something about rescuing what would be trash-able produce makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

i have tried other banana bread recipes but continually come back to this one. it’s from “the green cookbook,” as we call it in our house, from which most recipes call for lard or crisco. really? crisco in banana bread? this one, gladly, does not include shelf-stable animal fat and has received a few tweaks from me over the years. i even know it by heart now, something i never thought would happen. this time i added frozen blueberries, bc antioxidants are good for you and i dare you to show me something that isn’t better with blueberries. i also subbed applesauce for the oil and while i wasn’t overly excited about it upon first taste, the next day the bread turned sort of dense and really moist, without being at all heavy. delish. recipe below the jump.

“green cookbook” banana bread, spruced up by yours truly

1 3/4 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 c sugar
1/2 c oil (or applesauce)
2 eggs

3 bananas (or however many you have)
1 tsp vanilla

measure and sift the first (dry) group of ingredients into a bowl, set aside.

in a mixing bowl, add the next three and beat until frothy (don’t over beat!) and add the vanilla and bananas. next add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl gradually.

optional: fold in blueberries (or nuts, raisins, raspberries, etc) after everything is mixed together.

add mixture to a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for an hour. resist burning hands and mouth for a sample upon baking completion.

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