• 1 stick (8 tbsp) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 large, ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Optional: ½ cup nuts/chocolate chips/raisins/nutella

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well blended. Stir in dry ingredients until barely blended.  Stir bananas and vanilla into flour mixture with just a few strokes and then pour into a buttered 9 X 5 loaf pan. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees or until the center is firm.  After about 40 minutes, cover loosely with buttered foil. Bread is done when a toothpick comes out clean (20 minutes, but it can sometimes take more in my oven).  Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on rack.