My 2nd Favorite Banana Bread

With there being so many recipe variations of 1 recipe out there, and with there being so many recipes I have yet to try, it is pretty difficult for me to say anything is my "favorite". I've been making banana breads since college, but this recipe- it is my 2nd favorite banana bread recipe (this one is my favorite). This bread possesses a deep banana flavor, is not overly sweet, and I just love the cinnamon-sugar coating. I normally like to add a brown sugar-cinnamon streusel topping but with this bread- it isn't necessary. Butter isn't necessary. You can eat this bread just on its own- it is delicious!



Some pointers:
1. This bread makes a lot! I make (4) mini loaves and 1 loaf pan.
2. You'll need a LARGE bowl to make this bread. I used my stand mixer and the ingredients nearly hit the top of my bowl.
3. Once you add the dry ingredients, don't overmix- this will yield in a tough, glue-y texture. Just mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter- small lumps are ok.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup white sugar (for dusting the pan)
1 tsp ground cinnamon (for dusting the pan)
3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream (Used light sour cream)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (Used a combination of white, semi-sweet, and bittersweet chips)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease (4) 7x3 loaf pans.
2. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture. (Approximately 2-2.5 tsp cinnamon-sugar mixture per 1 mini-loaf pan.)
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar.
4. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon.
5. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour.
6. Stir in nuts (and other add-ins).
7. Divide into prepared pans.
8. Bake at 300 degrees until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. For mini-loaf pans- 1 hour; For full-size loaf pan- 1-1/2 hours.

Source: Adapted from Cooking with Carrie