best banana bread

a friend of mine made this fantastic banana bread while i was visiting her, which is a favoured recipe from a friend of hers, which may very well be a favoured recipe from yet another friend. needless to say, it’s worth passing around.

for a possibly less decadent version, you may opt out of the chocolate chips... but at your own peril. and if you want it to be even more sinful, drop in a few more chipits (as in the photo above — yeah, i am one of those).

ingredients
1/3 cup -butter -softened
1/2 cup -sugar
2 -eggs -large
3 -bananas -large and ripe
1/3 cup -yoghurt
1/2 tps -vanilla extract
2 cups -flour
1/4 cup -ground flax seeds
1 tsp -baking soda
1/2 tsp -salt
1 cup -chocolate chips -optional

• in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar.
• add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• mash the bananas.
• beat in bananas, yoghurt and vanilla with butter/sugar mix.
• in a small bowl, combine flour, flax seeds, baking soda and salt.
• add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, and stir just until they are moistened.
• lastly add the chocolate chips.
• spoon the batter into a greased loaf pan.
• bake at 350º F for about 60 minutes.

a gluten-free version
the first time i did this recipe i used a gluten-free flour, so if you want a gluten-free version, it is simply as easy as changing the type of flour you use. just remember to add about 3/4 tsp of xantham gum. if you are not used to baking with gluten-free flours, i recommend bob’s red mill gluten-free all purpose baking flour — it is one of my favourite as others can sometimes give you unexpected textures.