I bake this banana bread almost every week. It’s that easy and that delicious. Plus I buy bananas every time I go to the store and, because I live by pirate rules (waste not!), I refuse to throw brown bananas in the trash. Thus weekly banana bread has become a bit of a habit.

This quick bread is light and fluffy and bakes up perfectly every time. What really makes it is the crunchy turbinado sugar on top. It’s also delicious with chopped walnuts and/or chocolate chips mixed into the batter and I love a thick slice smeared with creamy peanut butter in the morning. I’ve even thrown a slice into an ice cream sundae as a fun twist on a banana split. There are endless possibilities!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
2. Sift together the first five ingredients.
3. Add the vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, and egg, and mix well. Stir in mashed banana until incorporated.
4. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with turbinado sugar.
5. Bake 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Variation: Grease and flour two 8″ loaf pans. Add 1 cup chocolate chips and/or 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to the batter after bananas.

Watch me make it:

Update: This recipe was featured at my Brunch at the Barn! Watch the episode: