Holiday Style Sourdough Banana Bread

One of the sometimes slightly maddening fun things about sourdough is that to keep it bubbling away you have to keep feeding it.  And, unless you're giving everyone you know, and a few you don't know, a starter of their own, you need to find ways to use the stuff.  It makes you get in the kitchen and cook!! And, unlike your family which does the same thing, it doesn't bitch and whine and moan about what you cook! 

Today I made some Sourdough Banana Bread but since tis the season and all that, I wanted to kick it up a little and spice that bad baby out.  Turns out, spiced out Holiday Style sourdough bread kicks some serious ass.

Ingredients:
*1/3 cup butter, softened (there actually IS a line on the butter wrapper for 1/3 cup! Who knew?!?)
*1 cup sugar - I used demerara sugar, but if you don't have that light brown sugar will do
*1 egg
*1 cup sourdough starter
*1 cup mashed bananas (approx. 2 large or 3 small bananas)
*2 1/4 cup self-rising flour
*1/4 tsp salt
*2 TB ginger powder
*1 tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Cream together butter and sugar.  Add vanilla extract, starter, and mashed bananas.  Mix together until just blended.
2) Sift together flour, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.  Add this to the other ingredients and blend well.
3) Pour contents into a greased bread pan (or two, do NOT over fill this unless you want a mess!) and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done.
4) Serve warm with a nice pat of butter on top. 

Review: This turned out really well, aside from overflowing and making a mess in the oven.  Oh well, c'est la vie.  It is meant to be eaten, not gawked at, and it is still great for that.  Next time though I'll divvy this up into a couple of pans.  If you have a knack for it, this would also make a great muffin!
The flavor came out really nice.  The ginger hits your tongue just enough to let you know it is there, but not so much that you're going to freak out about it being spicy.  Delish. 
Try it and let me know what you think!

~Happy Holidays!