B-a-n-a-n-a-s

The boy loves to help in kitchen, so we try and do some baking at least once a week. Normally that means muffins or granola bars, something simple that he can help contribute to. This week I had a few over ripe bananas hanging around, and before I chucked them in the freezer (what, you don't have bunches of too ripe bananas in your freezer waiting for you to make smoothies or banana bread?) I decided that we would make some banana bread with them.

I love trying new recipes, and when I came across this one for chocolate chip banana bread, I was sold. It's from the blog notwithoutsalt.com and it's one of many (very yummy) recipes. The boy loved it because he could peel and squeeze the bananas out into a bowl and then mash to his hearts content. It was great because I could get everything else assembled while he took care of the bananas. He is great at mashing, anything that involves lots of smashing and mushing he seems to be a pro at. After the bananas are mashed up, it's just simple mixing by hand, which the boy is good at too, so really all he needs me for is the measuring!

The first time we baked this, I cut the recipe in half and just made one loaf, what a mistake! We had it devoured in no time at all - so from now on it, it's 2 loaves every time. The boy thinks that's great because he gets to mash up twice the amount of bananas,  plus he gets to eat the bread, which is absolutely delicious. And since it's got bananas in it, I've convinced myself it's healthy, which means that I can have an extra slice now!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (from notwithoutsalt.com)

6 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup canola oil (or coconut oil)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
4 cups flour
1 bag dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350
Mix in order.
Fill two greased loaf pans 3/4 full. Bake for about an hour (mine took 50 minutes)
You can also bake these as cupcakes. Fill the pan 3/4 full and bake about 20 minutes.
For both the cupcakes and the loaves you want a knife or a toothpick to come out clean