Banana Bread

This is one of my older recipes. I first made this in college, and this is my first baking recipe that was truly my own creation. It stemmed out of necessity because I would buy bunches of bananas at one time and I couldn't eat them fast enough. So I decided to over ripen them and turn it into bread. Basically, I ate a lot of banana bread in college. The bananas really should be over ripe, almost mostly brown or have LOTS of brown spots so the sugars are as naturally developed as possible. And I would recommend using an electric mixer or stand mixer to make this...even though back in college I was making this by hand.

Makes 1 loaf

3 bananas, very over ripe.
1 stick of butter at room temperature
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg - freshly grated with a microplane if possible
1/4 tsp cinnamon to top the bread
Pam nonstick cooking spray

In a separate medium bowl peel the bananas and mash them together. Set aside.

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and eggs until incorporated. Add the sugars and vanilla and continue beating. Add the baking soda and powder and salt. Now add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, and completely mix in. By the time you reach three cups, the dough should appear pretty dry. Now add in the mashed bananas and continue to mix. Add in the cinnamon and nutmeg and stir until fully incorporated.

Prepare a loaf pan by coating it with Pam cooking spray.

Take a spatula to slowly pour the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Scrape completely. Sprinkle a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon on top of the dough. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Do not disturb. After baking for an hour, take a knife and insert in the middle and pull out to check. If the knife is clean, it is done.