The Best Banana Bread

My family has been making this particular banana bread recipe "forever"...or since before I was born, definitely. ;) I used to not like bananas much, but I liked this banana bread pretty well. Since getting married, moving into my own house, buying bananas for two and rarely making it through that whole bunch before they go from "Perfect greenish-yellow" to "Ewwww," I have been making lots of banana bread.
My mother just said to me "You know, you CAN throw them out."
But I have been known to be frugal, on occasion. So why not use a ton of other ingredients just to save these bananas!? :)
You will thank me.

The BEST Banana Bread
slightly adapted from McCall's Cookbook, 1963


2 ½ c flour
3 t baking powder
½ t salt
1 c sugar
¼ c soft butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
1 c mashed ripe bananas, about 3 small bananas (I just use 3 bananas, I don't measure them.)
2 T grated orange peel (Optional!)
½ c milk (skim, whole, doesn't matter.)
(Optional: 1 c chopped walnuts)
(Optional: Top with sugar, or even better, Vanilla Sugar!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan.


1. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat sugar, butter and egg until smooth.
3. Add bananas, orange peel and milk. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix just until
smooth.
5. Pour into pan, sprinkle granulated sugar on top and bake one hour. It is a large loaf, so
test the middle to make sure it cooked through. (I have been having a particularly difficult time getting the loaf to cook through to perfection without making an unsightly dark, thick outer crust (the sides that touch the pan. My answer to THIS is to always make muffins! 6 giant or 12 small, and don't cook the full time. Estimate. I usually start with about 20 minutes for the big muffins and then test the middles and see how they are doing.)
6. Let cool in pan 10 minutes and remove.
7. Enjoy! It is the best!