The BEST Banana Bread

I probably make banana bread the most out of all baked goods. I absolutely adore it and I always have it around the house. I also almost always bring it to other peoples' houses as a little treat. A good banana bread recipe is hard to find, they often come out dry or too dense, but it was no surprise to me that I found the best banana bread recipe at elise.com. This recipe is tried and true, literally, I have made this banana bread dozens and dozens of times with a 100% success rate. It turns out exactly the same every time and it's so easy to make. I also like to double the recipe, make two loaves and when one is cooled, slice it up and freeze it, that's how much we love banana bread at my house, it's a must have at all times type of thing.

RECIPE:
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup, which I do)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
couple of drops of almond extract (this is my addition which is optional but it adds a great flavour)
3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (also my addition and totally optional but highly recommended)

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.