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This recipe is such a good one! It’s highly modifiable, easy and you can substitute anything you want, or need to, in a pinch. I make this on average of about once a month. Sometimes, if I’m in the mood, I put about 4 ounces of chopped dark chocolate in it and serve it heated with vanilla spiked whipped cream as a dessert! Can you say YUM?? I know you can

The scent of this wafting through my house on a cold day warms the cockles of my heart. Fresh from the oven, waiting only the amount of time it takes to grab the knife, I cut a fat slice and eat it slowly with a cup of strong, milky tea. I love eating it the day it’s baked when the top is crispy and lovely. Once you store it in an airtight container, it gets soft. But, it’s still delicious!

I don’t know about you, but when I eat banana bread, I like it to taste warm as well as feel warm. The cinnamon combined with nutmeg and cloves is enough to warm me all over, even on a cold day. Another secret to my bread is that I use Italian 00 flour, which is lighter than all purpose, but not as light as cake flour. It’s just right for making a loaf bread with some substance. I got the original basic recipe for this online, as I have done with quite a few, but I just had to change it and make it my own. It was quite boring before and lacked ANY of the spices and vanilla. That said, here is my bananariffic creation!

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups Italian 00 Flour *
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves
- Dusting of freshly grated Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. Salt (I use kosher, always)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar *
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp. Vanilla, slightly overflowed
- 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
- 3 medium to large very ripe Bananas, mashed

Method:
- Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, or line with parchment for an easy-to-get-out-of-pan bread. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
- In one bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, sugar and spices. Whisk it through to combine all ingredients. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a fork, mash the bananas until smooth. I just break them into the bowl with my hands to save using a knife. Add the eggs, melted and cooled butter, and the vanilla. Mix to incorporate. Then, add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet until just incorporated scraping the bowl down to make sure everything is properly mixed. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake in pre-heated oven for 50 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Definitely check at 50 minutes! Serve warm from the pan with a steaming cup of tea. Now, where’s my robe and slippers?

**Cook’s Notes**
+ If you wanted to add any nuts, feel free. That’s another reason I started making my own. I don’t like it with the nuts.
+ If you can’t find 00 Flour, you can substitute with Cake Flour. Or, you could do a 50/50 mix of Cake Flour and All Purpose Flour or just all All Purpose Flour. It’s not a big deal, but the texture will be slightly different.
+ When I use Granulated Sugar, I use Organic brands that aren’t processed as much as regular brands. It is darker in colour, but the flavour is so much better. Nothing wrong with that!
+ Once in a great while, one of my bananas will be too far gone to use. If you’ve already started the bread and have no more bananas, you can substitute a half cup of yogurt, cream, soy milk or regular milk for the missing banana. I found vanilla fat free yogurt was an EXCELLENT substitute and made the bread even more moist! I may even make a new bread out of that discovery