If I had a daughter her middle name would be Nutella.  Pretty, don’t you think?  I’ve had a long obsession with this delicious spread.  (In college, my roommates had to hide it from me.)  It is the perfect complement to nearly anything, especially banana bread.  So of course I had to use aging bananas for a baked good bliss moment considering I had Nutella on hand last week (don’t tell my roommates).  The secret to the ultimate banana bread is in shredded coconut and sour cream which creates a moist texture but doesn’t take away from the banana flavor.

{Ingredients}

Two cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
One teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup + two tablespoons packed light brown sugar
Two eggs
One teaspoon vanilla extract
One cup sour cream
Four ripe bananas
One cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup shredded coconut

{The key to banana bread is using nealry brown, gross-looking bananas.  To start, preheat oven to 35o°.  Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices in a medium bowl.  Set aside.  Toast pecans for ten minutes and let cool.}

{Beat butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar until fluffy.  Add in eggs.  Mix in vanilla extract and then the sour cream.  In a separate bowl, mash all the bananas together and then combine in the mixture.}

{Combine the flour mix with the banana mixture.  Stir in the coconut and pecans.}

{Pour the batter into a pre-greased baking pan of your choice and sprinkle with the remaining brown sugar (it makes for the crispest and tastiest top).  This recipe creates a lot of batter that will make most loaf pans overflow when baking, which is why I used this cake pan.  Plus, it looks like a giant doughnut.  Amazing.}

{Bake for 50 minutes.  Don’t forget the Nutella!}