Banna Bread Two Ways

So it's Monday.  Yuck.  And I'm exhausted from the wedding weekend and my 18th birthday celebration that all I want to do is sleep.  Silly school, I can't wait to graduate and go to pastry school.  Then I can bake all the time!  I woke up and put my Kurieg to work with Caribou Coffee K-Cup.  Yum :)  I can't function without my morning cup (or cups:) ).

 My father is a very healthy man.  Every morning, he wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to exercise.  He lifts weights and runs and all sorts of healthy stuff, all before 7 am!  He also eats very healthily.  This morning he was eating his bran cereal with a banana when he noticed that our bananas were looking a little sad.  The brown spots out weighed the yellow and since there was a full bunch, I took some to school for a mid morning banana bread.  As I was walking out the door, my mom handed me some flax seed and some shredded coconut.  I'm not quite sure what her intentions were as she muttered something about pineapple and the tropics (spring fever maybe?) but I brought them along all the same.

I found a recipe on SimplyRecipes for a nut-less banana bread.  My mother didn't hand me any extra nuts so that's how I stumbled across this version.  I adapted it a little bit to call it my own.  Also, I wanted two loafs because I didn't have an hour to bake it, so I using two miniature pans.  After filling the first pan, I decided to add in the flax and the coconut just for fun.  That way, I would have an extra just in case the second tasted a tad off.  The end result was a crunchy, sweet crust with a moist yummy center.  It baked for a little under an hour and got considerably brown on top.  I turned my oven down to 275 degrees for the last 20 minutes.  I brought the loafs to lunch and I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of the final product! They were gone within minutes.

Banana Bread
makes one 4 by 8 in loaf pan or two 2 by 4 in pans
adapted from simplyrecipes


3-4 ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can be changed if you have less of a sweet tooth
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons flax seed (optional)
4 Tablespoons coconut (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Mash the bananas in a medium bowl and add in the melted butter.  Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Slowly add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time.  Then add the flax and coconut if desired.  Mix well and bake for 55 minutes in a well-greased pan.

Enjoy!