I'm always on the hunt for "the best" recipe for simple, everyday baked goods and dinners.  I think I've finally stumbled upon that for banana bread.  Simply Recipes recipe for banana bread has almost 1,000 comments and I can see why.  I love this recipe.  It makes a consistently good loaf of banana bread every time.  

My favorite thing about it?  The flexibility.  Sometimes I have two bananas that need to be used up, sometimes I have three.   Sometimes you want your bread a little sweeter, so you can adjust the sugar accordingly.  This time around I added some cranberries for a tart compliment to this sweet bread.  It came out wonderfully.

2 - 3 very ripe bananas, peeled

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 - 1 cup of sugar (I usually go with 1/2 cup!)

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

optional: add-ins such as walnuts, chocolate chips, or cranberries!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mash bananas with a fork in a large mixing bowl.  Once bananas are fully mashed, stir in melted butter.

Add baking soda, pinch of salt, sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Once combined, slowly mix in flour, making sure not to over mix.  Add any add-ins if using.

Pour mixture into a greased 4x8 baking pan.  Cook for 50 minutes to an hour, until done all the way through.  After 20 minutes of baking, I always place aluminum foil over the bread to prevent over brown.

Cool bread on a wire rack once fully baked.