Nutella Banana Bread

After a summer of unusually hot temperatures, the cooler temperatures we've had for the past couple days have been a welcome sign of fall!  I was up north this past weekend and spent most of the day in long pants and a sweatshirt...fall is coming!  I'm so ready for the colors of the leaves, fall decorations (I made a new fall wreath last night), hot apple cider and donuts, and apples.  Plus, the cooler temperatures mean I don't feel so bad about turning on the oven and spending a day baking!

I always have bananas in the house and the summer the temperatures were so warm that our bananas often turned black before we were able to eat them.  That means that I have a bag full of bananas in my freezer waiting to be baked into something delicious.  I enjoy making banana bread and I love the addition of the Nutella swirl in this bread.  It adds a delicious sweetness to the bread and has moved this bread to one of my favorite banana bread recipes.

Nutella Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf, about 16 slices

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup Nutella

1.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

2.  In a separate bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat until fluffy.

3.  Add eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4.  Add bananas, vanilla, and milk and mix well.

5.  Pour in the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.

6.  Spoon the Nutella into a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds to soften it.

7.  Add 1 cup of the banana bread batter to the Nutella and mix well.

8.  Pour half the banana bread batter into a greased bread pan.  Pour Nutella mixture over batter and top with remaining banana bread batter.  Swirl batters together with a knife .

9.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Cool completely before cutting and serving.