Becky's Favorite Banana Bread

Once upon a time, a former neighbor shared her banana bread recipe with me. I am thankful to Becky Jackson for providing me with the only banana bread recipe I'll ever use. This banana bread is so incredibly moist that it's hard to imagine someone would bake banana bread any other way. Her recipe includes suggestions for add-ins. I've prepared this recipe a time or two before and I've always added in chocolate chips (I use the mini kind). I've also tossed in toasted coconut. And one day I'll try nuts. If you enjoy a nice slice of banana bread, this one tops the one they sell at Starbucks. Simple to make and easy enough to freeze - if you can manage to get it in the freezer before someone eats it!

Enjoy!

Heat oven to 325F. Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.

Mix together in a med bowl:
* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt

In another bowl, cream together:
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup white sugar

Add to butter/sugar:
* 2 eggs, slightly beaten
* 2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 bananas - I mash them with a potato masher or fork)
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1/2 cup light sour cream

Gently mix dry ingredients into wet - do not overmix.

Optional (add some, none, or all):
* 3/4 cup chocolate or butterscotch chips
* Toast 1 cup shredded coconut in a hot, ungreased frypan. Add 3/4 of coconut to batter, and sprinkle the rest on top of the loaves before baking.
* 3/4 cup raisins or dried berries

Fill pans 2/3 full. Bake about 60-70 min or until knife comes out clean.

What to do with 4 1/2 # of Zucchini?

One of my neighbors was going out of town last weekend and needed to unload some of her abundance of homegrown vegetables. When presented with over four pounds of zucchini, the first recipe that popped into my head was zucchini bread. I've had two zucchini bread recipes sitting in my recipe book for a long time. It was time to try them both out and have a taste test. But...things didn't go as expected.

The first loaves of bread I baked looked delicious. I took a recipe from allrecipes.com that got rave reviews. It turned out to be too cakey in consistency and too mild in flavor for my liking. The second recipe came out of one my Mother-in-Law's recipe books. Although the second batch had more flavor, it lacked the moistness of the first batch. My son loved then both, so it wasn't a total waste.

Overall, I wasn't impressed by either recipe so I decided not to share any to my neighbor who was kind enough to give me the zucchini in the first place.