Banana + Nutella = Delicious

This morning before grocery-shopping and meal planning, I found myself with three overripe bananas.  I find myself in this predicament a LOT.  Some days I make smoothies for the kids, other days I just throw them away and don't care.  Today, I reached for the other thing that I sometimes do:  make banana bread.  It's a rainy Sunday here in Central MA, so it's perfect for baking.

I love banana bread!  It's so simple, yet so delicious.  The kids love it too, a slice for breakfast or an afternoon snack.  I like mine with walnuts or pecans, and sometimes I put chocolate chips in for the kiddos.  I've made it once with peanut butter and it was good (but not stellar) and I've even seen a recipe for one featuring lime juice and coconut.  (And while I'm intrigued, I'm afraid I'd be the only one to eat it.)  So today, for a variation, I married two recipes:  my favorite "standby" recipe for banana bread in "The Bible" (aka Joy of Cooking) and this butter cake recipe from Pinterest.  The cook suggests putting a ribbon of Nutella on top of a butter cake batter to "marble" into the cake.  I thought to myself, "Self, we have Nutella in the lazy susan, let's hit it!"

The Nutella was a little difficult to swirl like marble, based on the fact that it "globbed" on the top of the banana bread.  I got it though!  (Also, as an aside:  I read in a magazine this week that there's a class action lawsuit against Nutella, because people say that the folks at Nutella ran ads that claim it to be healthier than it really is.  To that I say, it's chocolate, hazelnuts and milk.  If you thought it was healthy and were eating it by the spoonful out of the jar, then shame on you.  Read the label)

The finished product:

Cooling on the countertop, lookin' all sassy and delicious.  I will resist until cooled, though.   I suspect a slice of this serving as a bed for a scoop of ice cream might be out of this world!  :)