Best Banana Bread!

   What do you do when you have bananas that are way too ripe to just peel and eat?! Please don't say, "throw them away", because that is a complete waste of a perfectly good ingredient. When life gives you extremely ripe bananas, you make banana bread!!

     I was excited when my mom requested me to bake banana bread and use the bananas we had that just weren't very pretty to look at anymore.  In fact, the browner the better!  Here is a cool trick I read in my baking book (The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book): 

~Over-Ripening Bananas~ 

"The abundance of natural sugars in overripe bananas is the secret to big flavor and serious moisture in baked goods.  Yellow bananas don't have as much sweet flavor and will remain starchy even after baking.  But if that is all you have on hand, try this trick for "ripening" them quickly.  Before peeling and mashing, pop them on a baking sheet and into the heated oven for 15 minutes while gathering and measuring the rest of the ingredients.  The skins will turn black but the flesh will be brown, soft, and sweet.  This quick roast acts like an accelerated sunbath, coaxing out the prized natural sugars.  However, this trick will not work with green bananas, which are far to starchy and bitter for baking."

  I did not actually have to "help the bananas along", as mentioned above, because they were already to that point, but it is a very good bit of advice!  

    So, I mixed up all of my ingredients, super excited to be baking at 8:30 a.m., which almost NEVER happens. So, it was a great start to my day!  

   There is one ingredient to this recipe that is quite unique.  It calls for 1/4 c. of plain yogurt which allows you to cut back on butter, keeping it healthy, while adding some nice moisture to the bread as well as taste! 

The unique ingredient! 

   

     After everything was mixed together, I poured the banana batter into a greased bread loaf pan.  It cooked at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.  I checked it half way through and rotated the loaf pan.  

   So, now that the yummy batter was cooking away in the oven, this is what was waiting for me to do next:

Yes, clean up is always apart of baking! :) 

 
     Quickly, here is the recipe for this best banana bread: 

1. 2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 3/4 cups sugar          
3. 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 3 very ripe, mashed bananas (1 1/2 cups) 
6. 6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
7. 2 large eggs
8. 1/4 cup whole or low-fat plain yogurt 
9. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10. 1/2 walnuts, toasted (optional), and chopped 

~ Set oven to 350 degrees and adjust the rack to lower-middle position.  Grease a 8 1/2 by 4 1/2- inch loaf pan.

~ Whisk the dry ingredients together in one bowl.  Then in a separate bowl, whisk together the bananas, melted butter, eggs, yogurt and vanilla.

~ Gently fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined (don't over mix).  Fold in walnuts.  The batter should look thick and chunky!  (So good!)

~ Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.  Place it into the oven and bake for 55 minutes, until golden brown on top and when an inserted toothpick into the middle comes out with just a few crumbs.  Remember to rotate the pan half way through baking! 

    

~ Lastly, after out of the oven, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before taking the bread out onto a wire rack where it will cool completely.

~ Enjoy!! 

     This was my finished product:

 

The walnuts add such a nice texture to the bread giving it a great crunch, in addition to the yogurt, which adds good moisture, but not too much.  Perfect balance! 

    I was glad to make mom happy by using up the ripe bananas in a way that she would enjoy.  Baking for my family is the best!

Now, you go use your overly ripe bananas and make the best banana bread ever!

Cookies on a Stick

   This last Friday morning I had such a neat baking opportunity!  I made over 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies for the Ronald McDonald House at the Veteran's Hospital location in Portland.  Ronald McDonald House is such a neat organization.  They help provide a "home away from home" for families who have seriously ill children.  The atmosphere at this center is so warm and friendly, and it is indeed a help to those who are going through so much.  If you want to learn more about this organization, please visit the following website:  http://www.rmhcoregon.org/index.php

    I was so blessed to be able to bake goodies in the kitchen at RMH.   I was able to help create more of a home-like atmosphere for the families staying there simply by baking a few batches of home-made cookies for them!  It was such an honor and a privilege to do so.

   As I was mixing up the cookie ingredients in the well-stocked & supplied RMH kitchen, I was able to briefly talk with a couple of the families who were staying at the house.  It was neat to see them open up about their difficult conditions and reasons as to why they were there, and I was glad to be a listening ear as well as a goody maker for them!   As I was gathering the ingredients, there were some children peeking around the corner into the kitchen, eagerly seeing what was being made!  I loved that I was making cookies for the little ones there.  I couldn't wait to see the smiles on their faces as I handed them a warm cookie!

     As I mentioned before, I was planning on making the guests some good 'ol chocolate chip cookies.  Who doesn't like this famous treat?!  You really can't go wrong baking these cookies, but I wanted to do something a little bit differently with the batch.

   I wanted to make them cookies on a stick!!!  I had special cookie pan that had individual flower molds.  In addition, I had popsicle sticks which I was going to place in the dough so that they would bake into the cookie and stay.  So, in the end, I had a flowered shaped cookie on a stick!

   It is fun to see how you can make something ordinary, like a chocolate chip cookie and make something new and different from it.  It may taste the same, but it is sure fun to eat on a stick!

   I want to be able to be more creative in my baking and discover new and different ways of presenting a certain recipe.  In what ways have you been creative in your baking?  Any tips and suggestions would be helpful.  Please, feel free to share!

   So, needless to say, I had a wonderful morning baking for RMH.  I am planning on going there again and spending more time in the kitchen!

   My reward was seeing the little kids eat the cookies, enjoying the new twist of holding the goodie on a popsicle stick!  I even had a little 3 year old boy, with a batman shirt on, come up to me and say "thank you for the cookie", in a cute southern accent.  That made my day!  Also, it was nice to see the adults enjoy the goodies, their worries and troubles off of their mind for just a moment, as they savored the chocolate treats.   It was a great Friday morning at RMH!!!


    Here are a few pictures of the finished product:

Just a way to be creative with a chocolate chip cookie and make it fun!

Chocolate Chip Cookies on a stick!