Sunday, May 2, 2010

Gold!



If you read this little blog you would probably think that I only eat bananas and baked goods.  I eat other things too, I swear.  But when Gold, I mean ripely brown bananas protruding with sweetness magically appear on my door step, I can't let them go un-baked.  (Thanks Brynn)  I make several Banana Bread recipes all with a slight variation either with chocolate chips, crystallized ginger or whole wheat flour.  But this time I decided to go with a classic James Beard Banana Bread Recipe.  It has the least amount of ingredients and least fuss of them all.  It is a little bit lighter and less sweet which is perfect for breakfast.  I don't like eating sweets in the morning when I wake up.  They leave my stomach a little unsettled all day.



I am still trying to decide if I like sweet breads made into muffins or a loaf.  The muffins cook faster and are easy to take on the go.  But the bread is moist, sweeter and crunchier and way more grown up.  I pretend to be grown up and responsible but all I really want to do is be a kid and go play in the backyard.  Can I get paid for that?  So I make both!  A happy medium, but I hate cleaning that muffin tin especially when I run out of muffin papers.  




Banana Bread

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed, very ripe bananas (2 large or 3 medium)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350°. Lavishly butter or Crisco a 9-inch x 5-inch x 3-inch loaf pan.

Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar. Mix well. Add the eggs and mashed bananas and blend thoroughly. 

Sift or mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Combine the milk and lemon juice, which will curdle a bit.  Slowly and alternately fold in the flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Blend well after each addition. Stir in the nuts.

Pour batter into the pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the bread springs back when lightly touched in the center.  For muffins bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

1 comment:

  1. I think muffins are the way to go! So much easier to consume.

    ReplyDelete