Saturday, 06 December 2008

• Recipe: Making Banana Bread with Melody (and Company Girl Coffee)

  

  I think I’ve made banana bread four times now (that would be in the last 2 months). The first time was the best in my opinion. I normally wouldn’t even eat banana bread, but I couldn’t bear to throw out our old bananas after they were turning brown.
  
  1 ¼ cups sugar
  ½ cup butter, softened
  2 eggs
  1 ½ cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 medium)
  ½ cup buttermilk
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 cup chopped nuts, if desired
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  Grease loaf pan bottom (for 2 loaves use 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 pans, for 1 loaf use 9 x 5 x 3 pan)
  Mix sugar + butter in large bowl + eggs, well blended
  + bananas + buttermilk + vanilla, until smooth
  + flour + baking soda + salt, until moistened
  + nuts
  Divide batter between pans
  1 loaf = about 1 hour, 2 loaves = 1 hr 15 mins
  Cool in pans for 10 minutes (on wire rack if you have one)
  Loosen sides, remove, cool completely for 2 hours
  Wrap tightly
  Room temp = 4 days, refrigerated = 10 days
  
  I’m not a fan of nuts in my baked goods, so I usually opt out on this ingredient. You can cool it, or I love the way it tastes right after it’s out of the oven but a little cooled down. For all recipes that I try, I like to use what I have on hand or a common ingredient I would use again for something else. Buttermilk is usually not an ingredient we have sitting in our fridge, especially because of its shelf life. I have a secret ingredient substitute. If you really want to know, ask me.
  
  Here is the photo how-to from Thanksgiving Day:
  
  Gather all your ingredients and tools. Recruit a cute assistant.
  
  
     
  
  Mash the bananas in one bowl
   
  
  In another bowl, pour in sugar and mix with butter, add eggs (ignore my monkey PJ botoms if you can, it keeps me warm because it's fleece)
    
  
  Mix in other ingredients (as instructed above)
   
  
  Stir everything together (evidently before this step, you have to take a bite of another banana and leave some on your lips for later)
   
  
  Before they head into the oven (I got the small pan from the 99 cent store and it works really well. We'll have to buy another one today if they still have it there. The other is from my parents' house...shhhh)
  
  
  Finished good...share with a family member, friend, or neighbor
  
  
  And...the baker's assistant
  

  • 12:30 PM
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