I’m a creature of habit. Whenever I have old bananas, I make banana muffins. I think B sometimes deliberately leaves 3 bananas to turn brown, just so I’ll make him muffins. I’ve probably made this banana crumb muffin recipe 6 times already this year. Don’t get me wrong – the recipe is a great one, and each muffin (or two) makes for a quick and easy breakfast (and they freeze well!), but  it was time for something new.

So what else to make? After pining over recipes of banana cinnamon cake, banana peanut butter cookies, banana cream pie and more, I ended up with a tried and true recipe — banana bread. Only made one change to this traditional recipe – I sprinkled some peanut butter chips on half the loaf, and saved some batter for two small heart pans.

Old fashioned banana bread

Here’s what you need:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (note – my butter was frozen so I nuked mine in the microwave for about 45ish seconds until it was soft)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten (note – I used 1/2 cup Egg Beaters)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3-4 bananas, smooshed
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup peanut butter chips (optional)

Here’s what you do:

1. Cream together butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs, vanilla and mashed bananas. Combine with an electric mixer.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture.
4. Spray loaf pan with Pam or other cooking spray. Pour banana batter into greased loaf pan.
5. Optional – sprinkle peanut butter (or chocolate!) chips on top of uncooked loaf.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

AND, since it’s B’s birthday – I also made two small heart-shaped banana bread loafs. Happy Birthday B!