What happens when five tween-age girl cousins get together for a week?  I’ll tell you what happens.  It’s a high-energy, non-stop party full of goofing off and laughter accompanied by really good food.  We’ve been hosting family from Colorado this week and it’s been great to see my nieces  and my daughters, who happen to be the same age, spend time together as if no time has passed at all since the last time they were together over a year ago.

Eli, my 4 year old boy, has discovered a new found friend in his fourteen year old cousin Braedon.  Both boys only have sisters, and seem to enjoy some male companionship.  It has been one of my highlights to see my nephew willingly play for hours with Eli for the sake of just being together as family.

Since their arrival I’ve enjoyed cooking for everyone.  Having raided a nearby produce stand of their clearance bin yesterday, I came home with about 8 pounds of very ripe bananas for $2.  It’s the type of score I hope to find when I make my weekly visit and yesterday I struck gold.

Most of the time when I bring home ripe bananas I peel them right away and stick them in my freezer to use in smoothies.  But with family in town I thought I would bake a nice banana bread in a Bundt pan to serve  as part of a larger breakfast.

The banana bread I made was perfectly moist with a nice tender crumb.  Made with plain low-fat Greek yogurt, I love the slight tang in the flavor and how beautifully each cut I made became perfect slices.  The bread disappeared quickly with requests for more, the ultimate baker’s compliment.

Perhaps you have some overripe spotted bananas on your counter right now.  Don’t even think about tossing them out.  Instead, do yourself a favor and bake this banana bread.  You’ll be so glad you did.  Enjoy!

Recipe: Moist and Delicious Banana Bread

• Prep Time: 10 min(s)
• Cook Time: 60 min(s)
• Servings: 12

Over-ripe bananas makes amazing banana bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup low fat plain Greek yogurt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Optional garnish: powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Generously grease a 10-inch Bundt pan with non stick spray, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until nice and fluffy with a mixer.
4. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, bananas, and yogurt.
5. Reduce the speed to medium and slowly add the flour, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 60 minutes to 70 minutes, or until done.
7. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes.
8. To release the bread, slowly and carefully grab the sides of the pan and gently shake it up and down and side to side to loosen the bread before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool.
9. Optional: Dust the cake with powdered sugar.

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