Yes, We (Finally) Have No Bananas!

With all of the bread-baking I've been doing lately, the flours and bread-baking supplies have blocked access and view of a bowl of bananas on a side counter. What do you do when you suddenly find yourself in possession of lots of overly ripe bananas? A 'Best Banana Bread' taste-off! Our first contestant hails from 1959:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup mashed, very ripe banana (about 2)
1 T buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 T sugar

Optional: Nuts (walnuts, pecans, try them all)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

Cream butter with 1/2 cup sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Sift flour with baking soda, salt, 1 teaspoonj cinnamon, and baking powder. Mix banana with the buttermilk in small bowl.

Add flour alternately with the banana/buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture, stirring after each addition until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Combine 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon with 2 tablespoons of sugar, mix well, and sprinkle over batter.

Bake in 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes to one hour. Remove from oven, then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Store in plastic bag. This improves with age.

Serves 12