Chunky Junky Monkey, What's Your Game?

From The Recipe Vault is an ongoing, completely irregular feature of CookBook Fetish. I'll pull out a recipe card, perhaps a favorite, perhaps something new, and see what happens. This particular recipe I collected on the internet some fourteen or fifteen years ago. I have no idea where it came from as the recipe card doesn't mention an origin.

This is a great use for bananas just about ready to go bad or go to the freezer (or go to the garbage disposal,) and is a little twist on typical banana bread. You know my phobia about bananas in banana form in recipes? That doesn't extend to the taste of bananas in a recipe, so I enjoy banana bread.

Like most quick bread recipes, this goes from bowl to oven to mouth in a little over an hour. Vary the ingredients to suit your tastes and cupboard supplies as needed.

Chunky Junky Banana Bread

1/3 cup butter, creamed
1 or 2 eggs, beaten
1 to 1 1/4 cup banana pulp, mashed thoroughly
1-2 t lime juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

I used dark chocolate chips and dried cherries instead of milk chocolate chips and apricots.

The only instructions I've written are 350, 1 hour, greased pan. After you've made a few quick breads, that's the only instruction needed. Ideally you'll cream together the liquids, then gently add in the dry ingredients. I usually throw it all together and slap it into a prepared pan, totally ignoring all that nonsense. I still haven't noticed a difference in my baking, though I suppose if I was at a fancy-schmancy professional kitchen it might make a difference. For me, nope.

This is a lovely, dense banana bread, sure to please your family and friends. Those writer friends I've mentioned before thoroughly enjoyed the bread, too.