The One: Banana Bread

I love trying different recipes and am always on the hunt for new ones that I'd like to try, but Colin feels very strongly that I need to have some "standards" that I always use.  He has memories of his favorites that his mom always made as he was growing up and he wants Theo to have the same thing, which I totally get. I'd love for Theo to be able to say "I love my mom's ______" fill in the blank, and if I'm constantly changing it up and trying a new recipe every time I make anything, he won't be able to have that "my mom makes the best ______" feeling.  So, Colin says it's time to just call it on a few recipes and say these are "the ones".  So, after combining a few elements from the many versions I've tried over the years, here it is, The Official Alison Sanburg Banana Bread Recipe:

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  With a wooden spoon, mix most of the butter (leaving maybe 1/3 of it out)into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.  Add the flour last, mix.  Pour mixture into a greased 4x8 inch loaf pan.  Mix the cinnamon (I'm kind of cinnamon obsessed and often add more than a teaspoon to get a really cinnamon-y flavor in the bread) and brown sugar into the remaining melted butter, then drizzle the mixture over the top of the bread.  Bake for 1 hour.  Cool on a rack, then remove from the pan and slice to serve.