>>16636
Little bit of vanilla can make almost anything taste better, as can other flavor extracts and acids. Same with mixing in a bit of other flours or powdered peanut butter. Some people like to add chocolate or cocoa powder into banana bread dough.
Adding diary like milk or yogurt can improve texture and make it more moist.
Recipe in >>16642 is more or less what I arrived at myself after some trial and error starting from Chiquita's old recipe. Only difference is less baking soda (3/4 of the listed amount) and a tablespoon of lemon juice.
If you are sensitive to baking soda flavor, you can experiment with cutting down on it or find a recipe using yeast instead.
>crust seemed a bit thick and hard
You might have baked it for a bit too long or it is oven/temp display issue on your or recipe creator's side. Ovens are not perfect, and there will always bee a bit of a temperature variation - especially in consumer grade products. Mess around with with temperature, pan placements, or get an oven thermometer/temperature probes.
>>16652
Pretty much. You can always 'ripen' them in the oven if you really need to. Some grocery stores sell overripe bananas at a discount, so that's also an option if you are lucky to have one like that nearby.