I've been making the Joy of Cooking's banana bread recipe for about 10 years now. I first made it with a hand-crank mixer, which gave me blisters like you wouldn't believe. I also managed to use those first batches as trade for full meals that I couldn't afford at the time. Who said that the barter system was dead?
For those of you wondering what the recipe is (as written), here ya go.
Now, this is a perfectly good recipe. But I'm not one who enjoys a huge chunk of banana in only some of my bites. I like to go all out with the banana-y flavor. I also happen to enjoy cinnamon and chocolate. I mean, who doesn't? So let's start with the recipe modifications:
1) Toss your mushy bananas into the mixing bowl along with the flour, sugar, etc. Then mix that in with your electric mixer. This will almost turn the bananas into a puree, and really spread the flavor.
2) Toss in some cinnamon. I don't really measure, I just mix enough in that it adds JUST a touch of cinnamon flavor.
3) Mix in around 4-5 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips per loaf. You can't go wrong here. Just spoon them in and mix.
The end result in your bread pan should look like this.
Bake away just like the recipe tells you, and then slice into a warm loaf of heaven when done (and slightly cooled). If it's fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips are amazing.
