The saying goes that the third time’s a charm but in some cases it is much more! For example baking a banana bread:)

   I am a big fan of homemade cakes, cookies, pies…anything that is sweet and try to get something going on in the oven whenever I can. Which, now that I think, is actually not that often since Neel is not crazy about all the unhealthy savory stuff I just mentioned (good for him!) and our little guy likes dark chocolate cakes only. So, it’s me who ends up eating the larger share of whatever I bake and that, in spite of my undying love for all things sweet, is far from ideal!

   Anyways, as is the case generally in our home, a couple of bananas from the bunch always get ‘lost’ in the fruit basket on top of the fridge (!!) and are discovered only after the whole kitchen starts to smell of invisible bananas;) And when they are retrieved they are of a color that is far removed from the typical yellow..they are closer to black! And the options at that point are tossing them in the trash can or making delicious banana breads, which, needless to say, I love:)

   And I have tried what it would seem countless recipes to get that perfect (for me) banana bread but have generally ended up with a less- than- desired result. And then one day, I stumbled upon this recipe from here and it was the best one I had tasted. It was moist and delicious and the best part was, our son, who hates even the sight of bananas, asked for a third helping!

Here is the recipe, in case you have not tried it already:)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( I skipped this since my son is allergic…I added a few black raisins)
• 2 medium very ripe bananas (I mashed those, the recipe calls for sliced)

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts (if using) and bananas. If you are using raisins like I did, add them at this point as well. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.  
3. Bake at 350 degrees F  for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do! If you have other recipes, do share those too:)