Best Banana Bread Ever

I don't know about the weather where you live, but here, it's been so rainy, then crazy sunny, then rainy again... I feel all mixed up. I needed comfort. I turned to this banana bread.

Okay, also, I had ripe bananas laying around and then hubby brought home literally twice as many bananas in a new bunch. We had to do something with those bananas.

So, I mash up two recipes as usual... this one from Half Baked Harvest (recommend you make that one if you're trying to keep someone stuck on your couch for years because it's INSANE in the best way) and this one from Coco and Ash, which I started making since it had oats in it and I loved telling myself those little bits of oats were increasing my breast milk supply. 

As this is quickly turning into a slippery slope of justification, and good banana bread needs no other justification outside of possessing bananas, I will jump into the recipe/instructions.

Ingredients required: 

• 1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup quick-cook oats
• 1/4 cup canola oil (or melted butter)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1-2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1-2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp softened butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. First, preheat your oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment or silipat, and lay your bananas out. Drizzle them with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. I was lucky enough to find some raw local honey. It is so amazingly floral and delicious.

2. Go do something else. Even once these bananas are done, you need them to cool down a little. So chill out. Good things take time.

3. Take those mother suckers outta the oven and once they're cooled, mash them up in a bowl. You can use this same bowl for your wet ingredients. Lower your oven temp to 350°.

4. Mix your dry ingredients and wet ingredients (except the topping) in separate bowls. Carefully incorporate the drys into the wets (just mostly so you don't create a full Scarface-looking situation in your kitchen). If you want to use nuts, this is when you can fold them in the batter. It's totally fine to have big banana chunks. Those are called DELICIOUS. 

5. Mix up the topping ingredients- I fully pre-melt my butter in the microwave to pretty much liquid and then use a fork to combine the ingredients until they are chunky crumblies.

6. Pour half the banana bread batter into your pre-greased bread tin, then sprinkle the topping over the halfway point. Then pour the remainder of the batter and finish off with the rest of the topping. 

7. Bake at 350°for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. You will need to insert this toothpick, first. It does not come out of the bread batter magically on it's own. This bread is good, but not that good. Okay, but it's seriously really good. Go try it. 

Hope you enjoy,

- Big A.