Sinful Banana Bread

This is from a friend's grandmother's old cookbook. Definitely not waistline friendly and I only make it at Christmas and give as gifts. But I promise you it's the best you'll EVER have.

1 cup butter
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp buttermilk (you can freeze what you don't use in an ice cube tray and then bag it)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Topping:
6 tbsp butter
10 tbsp brown sugar this is the same as 2/3 cup
5 tbsp milk this is the same as 1/3 cup
chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350° and grease the pans you're using (see #4).
Cream butter and sugar; beat eggs and add to sugar mixture; add bananas, vanilla and buttermilk. I cream the butter and sugar in my mixer, leave it running on 1 or 2, drop 1 egg, then the 2nd egg. leave it running and add vanilla, the buttermilk, then whole bananas.
Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and beat well. With it still running a bit higher, I drop in the soda and salt, then the flour. I've also added walnuts or pecans into the mix if you like nuts.
Pour into 2 greased and floured 9x5x3 loaf pans; or 1 loaf pan and 2 mini loaf pans; or 4 mini loaf pans and cook for about 30min.
Bake 45-50 minutes or until bread pulls away from sides of pan. cool.
Prepare the topping by melting the butter in sauce pan. add sugar and milk; cook until syrupy.
Remove from heat and add chopped pecans. Pour over bread and place under broiler 5 minutes. put it on the lower rack because the pecans will tend to burn.