Bananarama

Without fail, I will return from the store each week with too many bananas. In my head our home is filled chewing chimps and banana cream pies, the rotting fruit on my kitchen counter would indicate otherwise. Since I hate to waste food we eat a LOT of banana bread in the hot dish household. My standard recipe boasts a delightfully crisp top that gives way to a perfectly moist interior, "ripe" with the flavor of bananas. Sounds fantastic, right? Well it is, but after 100 loaves even bread perfection grows stale. To my husbands dismay I tend to tinker with the recipe, changing the type of flour or fat, adding what ever fruits may be keeping my bananas company on the counter. Oh how hopefully I served this latest incarnation, praying that it would free me from my husbands unwavering devotion to The Standard, the bread by which all others are judged. My husband declared it a flop. I fear that I may deem his taste buds a flop! Should I take advice from a man who puts this much butter on his bread? I think not.

Don't judge us. Judge our bread!

The Reining Champ

The Contender
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Heat oven to 350. Grease the bottoms only of two loaf pans. Beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flours, baking soda, and salt until just moistened. Stir in the nuts and coconut. Pour into pans. Sprinkle tops of bread with sugar and bake for about an hour.