Best Ever Banana Bread

Today I am bringing you a classic banana bread recipe, just in time to whip some up for a weekend brunch! This recipe is easy to follow and customize. I used pecans and cinnamon to give it a little extra flavor, but you can easily leave it out or substitute chocolate chips or walnuts if that's more your speed.
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First a quick tip about the bananas. You must have very brown, overripe bananas to get a sweet, banana flavor in the bread. If you're anything like my husband and I, you always seem to have a banana or 2 that don't quite get eaten before they turn too brown and mushy. 1 or 2 overripe bananas isn't enough to make a full recipe, but it can be if you just toss the left overs in the freezer! I did this for the first time this month, and finally had 2 in the freezer and 2 overripe bananas on my counter. I pulled the frozen bananas out of the freezer and put them in the refrigerator last night, thinking they would thaw out nicely. I woke up to this:
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GROSS!!! I was this close to throwing them in the trash, but I thought I should consult trusty google before doing so. I'm so glad I did because everyone said thawed bananas release a brown liquid! The opinions on whether to use the juice or toss it were varied, so because it grossed me out I just used the bananas and tossed the brown liquid.

Ok, now the recipe. Here are the ingredients needed:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
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First, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. If you want to add cinnamon, put it in now. I added 1.5 teaspoons here.
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Next, put 3 of your bananas and the sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Mix the bananas and sugar on high for about 5 minutes. It will look dark and soupy at first, but you want it to be almost like a light, banana cream.
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Next add in melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. I like to add 2 teaspoons instead of just 1. Yum! Mix this well, because once you add the dry ingredients you need to be very careful not to over-mix. Once it's mixed well, add in your dry ingredients a little at a time, stopping once it is just incorporated. It's ok to leave a little flour on the edge because you're going to mix it with a spatula. Once you remove your batter from the mixer, you're ready to add the final ingredients. Remember that left over banana from the beginning? Mash it with a fork. And those pecans? Make sure they are chopped to your desired size. Stir in the mashed banana and pecans.
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Your batter is good to go! Now time to prepare your pan. I looooove cinnamon sugar, so I coated my pan with it! First, spray the bottom and sides of your loaf pan with cooking spray. Then, just like you are flouring a cake pan, dust the inside with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. It should look like this:
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Pour your batter in, and top with the rest of the cinnamon sugar. This will make an awesome, crunchy crust on top! Now, it's ready to go in the oven!
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I baked mine at 325 degrees F for about an hour and 10 minutes. It's tricky because your bread will LOOK totally done after about 40 minutes, and it will smell amazinggggg, but wait! It is still raw in the middle at this point. If you need to check it, insert a knife in the middle, if it comes out with batter, you know it's raw. Wait until it comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then flip out onto a plate! Enjoy!

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Thanks for reading :)