Using up some brown bananas

Note: I didn't have my camera ready for a real pic, so I borrowed this one . Sadly my photography skills are not this good

A friend asked me for a good banana recipe idea today, and I realized I had a few over-ripe bananas on my counter too. What better way to use them up than bake them into bread? Thanks for the inspiration!

A few recipe notes:
- Always use over-ripe (mostly brown bananas)
- 1 cup = 2-3 bananas. If you don't have quite enough you can supplement with unsweetened applesauce
- Cardamom is a wonderful spice that adds a special touch to the recipe. It's expensive and can be omitted, but after I bought it I started adding it to all banana, zucchini, and apple recipes and it makes a big difference.
- The recipe calls for sour cream, I actually substituted plain fat free greek yougurt
- You can add 1 cup mini chocolate chips or wild Maine blueberries (Wyman's frozen), or even a bag of mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups to jazz it up.You can also spice it up with 1/2 c peanut butter or chopped nuts

I learned a trick about a year ago: when making sweet breads (i.e. banana or zucchini), prepare the pan with grease and cinnamon sugar instead of flour. It prevents sticking and gives it a tasty and slightly crunchy crust.

Ok, getting to the point....

Sour Cream Banana Bread


1/4 c butter, softened to room temperature
1 c sugar
1 c mashed banana
1 c sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom


Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in bananas, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, about 1/3 at a time, and mix thoroughly. Stir in add-ins (chips, nuts, berries, etc) if desired.
Pour into a loaf pan prepared with grease and cinnamon sugar (2 tbsp sugar : 1/4tsp cinnamon)
Bake at 350 for 1 hour, cool completely.
*Wrap tightly in saran wrap and aluminum foil, wait 24 hours to eat. Trust me, its worth it.