"Kona Inn" Banana Bread

This morning I had the nastiest, ripest bananas of all time sitting on my kitchen counter.  They were the kind of bananas that fell out of their peels just by being picked up gently - super mushy and gross. They should have been tossed in the trash days ago. However, in an effort to keep the peace with the starving kids in China that my parents always told me about, I decided to not be wasteful and to bake banana bread instead.  But wait... no vanilla!!!  What to do?

I googled "Banana Bread No Vanilla" and guess what I came up with!  A recipe for Banana Bread... (wait for it....) with NO VANILLA!  Hooray!

Not only does this recipe have only the most basic ingredients, but it was probably the best banana bread I've ever made.

Kona Inn Banana Bread

Ingredients:

     1 c. sugar
     1/2 c. butter, softened
     3 bananas, ripe and mashed
     2 eggs
     1 1/4 c. flour
     1/2 tsp. salt
     1 tsp. baking soda


Instructions:

1) Lightly grease one 9x5" loaf pan with cooking spray.

2) Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and bananas.

3) Sift together dry ingredients.  Add to wet mixture.  Do not overmix!

4) Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I made this coffee cake for a family brunch, and it was super delicious!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Brown Sugar Filling:
     1/2 c. packed brown sugar
     1/2 c. finely chopped nuts
     1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Coffee Cake:
     3 c. flour (you can also use whole wheat flour)
     1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
     1 1/2 tsp. baking sode
     3/4 tsp. salt
     1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
     3/4 c. butter or margarine, softened
     1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
     3 large eggs
     1 1/2 c. sour cream

Glaze:
     1/2 c. powdered sugar
     1/4 tsp. vanilla
     2 to 3 tsp. milk

Instructions:

1) Heat oven to 350F.  Grease bottom and side of 10x4" angel food cake pan (you can also use 2 each 9x5" loaf pans).

2) In small bowl, stir all filling ingredients until well mixed; set aside.

3) In large bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well mixed.

4) In another large bowl, beat granulated sugar, butter, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla and eggs.  Slowly add flour mixture and sour cream until well blended.

5) Spread 1/3 of the batter in pan, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the filling (from step 1).  Repeat until ingredients are used up.    Bake for 1 hour (or loaf pans for 45 min). 

6)  Cool 10 minutes on wire rack, then remove from pan and cool for additional 20 minutes. 

7) In the meantime, combine all glaze ingredients and stir until smooth enough to drizzle.  Drizzle glaze over coffee cake.  Serve warm or cool.