Canary Bananas Banana Bread

So here in the Canaries, we're known for a couple of different things (apart from Presa Canaria dogs).  Gofio (a toasted ground corn flour), tomatoes, potatoes, avocadoes, various tropical fruits (guava, pineapple), citrus fruits and of course the "plátano canario (canary banana)."  They're a lot smaller than the chiquita bananas in the States, about half of the size, and are much more flavorful.  My kids looooove banana bread, so it is a fairly regular feature on my countertop.  The recipe originally comes from the Pillsbury cookbook, but I have modified it a bit, and the results are a lusciously dense and moist (I hate that word, give me an adjective!) bread.

banana bread

Ingredients:

4-5 very ripe canary bananas (to yield about 2 cups of mashed bananas)

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375º F (175ºC).

Grease a bundt pan with vegetable oil.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour in mashed bananas, milk and vanilla and blend well.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Stir flour mixture into banana mixture by hand-only until dry ingredients are just mixed in.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake approximately 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean.

Turn baked bread onto a wire rack to cool.

Store tightly covered, or wrapped in plastic wrap.