banana fana fo fana

Cornelius loves bananas. I hate 'em and I welcome their untimely demise. There is only one instance where I welcome their sickly sweet and slimy texture...it's a version of banana bread that won me over at our local bakery, called "UBC cake" which stands for Ultimate Banana & Chocolate cake. It is the ultimate! A crispy cinnamon sugar topping studded with chocolate chips. What's not to like? A few years ago a friend in San Francisco sent me a recipe that she called "Willie Nelson's Famous Banana Bread". I'm not sure if Willie made the bread or if it really was some kind of famous secret recipe, but I baked it and it tasted just like the UBC cake I loved! Ooooh, I was sooooo thankful for the recipe and it's delicious results that I didn't even care that bananas were a part of the mix.

NOTE: When I made the cake this morning, I reduced the amount of sugar the original recipe called for by 1/4 cup. I also reduced the amount of chocolate chips by half. Feel free to stick to the original recipe below.

willie nelson's famous banana bread AKA ubc cake
3 really ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/4 c sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 c chocolate chips
1/4 c sugar mixed with cinnamon

1. Mix bananas with eggs and stir well. Add flour, sugar, soda, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix well. Add 3/4 c of the chocolate chips into the batter.

2. Pour batter into a buttered square cake pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mix and the remaining chocolate chips.

3. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.