Banana Bread

I went to the farmer's market a week or so ago and, since it was the end of the day, most of the vendors were PUSHING their produce.  

25 cents for a perfectly ripe avocado? SOLD!

The banana man was no exception.  He was standing in front of his stand animatedly pushing his bananas toward people and yelling "Bananas! One dollar!!" 

Now I needed bananas, and they looked pretty good, so I asked how many bananas one could hope to obtain for a dollar.  

"As many bananas as you want.  One dollar!"

WHAT?!?!?

"So I could have ALL the bananas on this stand for one dollar if I wanted?"

(Vendor looking me up and down) "Are you going to EAT that many bananas?"

Touche banana vendor, touche.

I didn't take home all the bananas but, true to form, my eyes were bigger than my stomach.  Brown spots came, and around Friday I was left a small pile of about-to-rot ripe bananas. So I made banana bread (duh).  Best possible way to deal with overripe bananas.

Banana Bread

2C unbleached all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting the pan)
3/4 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 C plain yogurt
2 large eggs beaten lightly
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Heat oven to 350.  Grease bottom and sides of a 9x5 inch loaf pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess
2) Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl, set aside
3) Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and batter looks thick and chunky.  Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
4) Bake until loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

-recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated by the editor's of Cook's Illustrated Magazine-