These days, weekend gatherings with our friends and their kids tend to zone in on the brunch window; the timing works for various nap patterns, the prep is simple, and the food suits kids and adults. One easy and yummy go-to recipe in our brunch arsenal is the Sour-Cream Banana Coffee Cake from Real Simple (shown; click thumbnail to enlarge).

My only revisions include not bothering to chop the chips (forgoing the extra step and associated cleanup with extra chips), and dispersing the chocolate-nut sugar and batter more loosely than by thirds (to better spread around the good stuff). Also, using ripe, frozen bananas in this and other banana bread recipes improves the taste. Just let the frozen bananas thaw in a dish, or defrost them in the microwave, before use.