Best Ever Banana Bread

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 6 bananas)

4 eggs, well beaten

2 ½ cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 ½ cups frozen blueberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add bananas and eggs and beat until well mixed. Mix dry ingredients and blend with banana mixture, but do not over mix. Fold in blueberries (or chocolate chips). Pour into 2 loaf pans that have been buttered and floured or a bundt pan. Bake 55 minutes to 1 hour; test for doneness (toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean) and cool on rack for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Freezes beautifully.

Beth’s modifications: Instead of 1 tsp. nutmeg, I usually add ½ tsp. nutmeg and ½ tsp. cinnamon. Also, I’ve never made it with blueberries, but I always add a bag of mini-chocolate chips instead! (If you don't have the mini chips, try mixing regular chocolate chips with about 1/4 cup flour before adding to the batter. That way the chips will not sink directly to the bottom of the pan when baking.)