Bananananana Bread

Life is busy. Busy, I tell you! I'm working and going to school... so far at work, I havn't killed anyone. Yet. But I have successfully started a few IV's! I'm feeling more and more like a nurse everyday.

I had a few bananas lying around, that I decided to allow to ripen fully. I put them in the freezer until I used them today so they wouldn't get moldy. Then I just defrosted them in the fridge before I used them. Then I thought, "What delicious baked good can I make with these lovely ripened bananas?" Banananana bread!


I used a fantastic banana bread recipe from Kristin at The Kitchen Sink Recipes, which I particularly appreciate because it uses egg whites, sour cream, and not a whole lot of butter. I didn't have sour cream, so I decided to use an equivalent amount of greek yogurt; I didn't have buttermilk, so I used regular 1% milk. Other than those changes, everything else is the same as her original recipe.


I also used whole-wheat flour, so it makes me feel like this banana bread is kind of somewhat healthier than regular banana bread. Am I fooling myself? Maybe....


Anyway, this banana bread turned out just lovely and delicious! I expected it to come out somewhat dense and chewy, with the whole-wheat flour, but it really came out light and fluffy and cakey and delicious! I am so very pleased with this recipe and how it came out. If you're looking for a healthiER banana bread recipe, this one is it!! Give it a try. You won't regret it.




Banana Bread
from The Kitchen Sink Recipes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
heaping 1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinammon


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your loaf pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, egg whites, milk, yogurt, and vanilla.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinammon.
5. Add the banana mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, combine well.
6. Add the dry ingredients to this mixture, and combine well, but don't overmix.
7. Pour into greased loaf pan.
8. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Turn out onto cooling rack.
9. Slice, and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars. What a mouthful!

I know, the name of this recipe is quite long. But really, I don't think there's any easier way to describe it! This is yet another recipe from Andrea's Recipes for her Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars. They are indeed as tasty as they sound!!! It's like a Reese's peanut butter cup melted on top of an oatmeal cookie crust. Amazing!!

I kind of screwed up the recipe at first... when making the cookie crust, I forgot to add the eggs and peanut butter (oops!). In Andrea's recipe, she makes a note that the dough for the cookie is really really sticky. Well, mine wasn't so sticky and I thought, "hmm that's funny..." So, just before throwing it in the oven, I took another glance at the recipe and realized, EEK! I forgot to add the egg and peanut butter, the ingredients that would indeed make the dough sticky. Phew!

Anyway, I creamed the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Then added the egg and peanut butter (after I screwed it up initially). In a separate bowl, I combined the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt, and then added this to the wet mixture.


See, this is how it looked before I added the egg and peanut butter... it's not sticky!!


You may realize by now, my love for Smart Balance. Oh yes, it even extends beyond buttery spread. I used Smart Balance peanut butter for this recipe, with omega-3s!!


Once I corrected my mistake, I pressed the dough into a 9x13 pan (greased).


While it was baking, I put together the glaze.... peanut butter, confectioner's sugar, and milk. Oooh, look how it drizzles...


After the cookie came out of the oven...


I added a 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips on top... they started to melt!!



Then, I drizzled the glaze on top.... or in my case, globbed it on.


At this point, the chocolate chips were melting all over the cookie, the glaze was dripping everywhere, it smelled amazing, and I just wanted to dig in right there!!!


I had to wait for it to cool before cutting into it.... I HAD TO!!!!! But could I? Really?


I decided to actually stick it in the fridge so the chocolate and glaze would cool down enough to make it easier to cut. I couldn't wait any longer!!! If you're a fan of peanut butter at all, this will be your favorite dessert. And with the whole wheat flour and oats, plus the omega-3s in the peanut butter, it can't be THAT bad for you, right??? Yeah... riiiight...



Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
from Andrea's Recipes

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3-4 Tbsp milk (depending on how much it takes to make a drizzle-able glaze consistency)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the egg and peanut butter. Stir to ensure everything is incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the butter mixture and stir until completely combined.
4. Press the dough into a greased 9x13 pan using wet fingers. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.
5. While it is baking, make the glaze by combining the last three ingredients, adjusting the amount of milk to make a smooth consistency that can be drizzled.
6. Remove pan from oven, and add the chocolate chips to the top. They will start melting!!
7. Drizzle the glaze on top of the chocolate chip layer.
8. Let it cool completely before cutting into pieces. THEN YOU WILL DIE AND GO TO HEAVEN!

Brownieees!

Ah, brownies. Quite possibly my absolute most craved dessert. I love a brownie with a rich chocolate flavor, moist, cake-like, with a nice crispy top. I especially like the end pieces, but who doesn't? I've been making this brownie recipe from the very talented Slow Like Honey since she posted it this past Valentine's Day, and I am confident to say that this, yes this exact recipe, yields my ideal brownie. They are, in fact, Bittersweet Brownies, as they utilize 70% bittersweet chocolate. This time around, I got 60%, but they still came out just bittersweet enough.


I started by melting the chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Or a makeshift double boiler like this one...


Ooh, it comes out so smooth and creamy when it's all melted.


I beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla together in a separate bowl, until fluffy (again, by hand since I lack a hand or stand mixer... a good workout for my guns).


Once the chocolate cooled just a bit, I poured and scraped it into the egg and sugar mixture.


And mixed it together...


Then added the flour.


I poured the batter into a greased pan that was dusted with cocoa powder, spreading evenly. The recipe below is for a 9x9 pan, but I made a 1.5 recipe, which is why I'm using a 9x13 pan.


I baked in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, until a chopstick came out clean.


Make sure you let it cool completely before cutting! If you're anything like me (and also like Slow Like Honey), you have a pet peeve with the top crust crumbling and falling apart when cutting, and being unable to get a nice clean slice of brownie. Well, too bad! It's going to happen! It tastes the same anyway!


Not too sweet, not too fudgey, not too chewy, not too crumbly, and in the words of Goldilocks, this one is just right! With a nice glass of milk, or served warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, this brownie is sure to become your favorite too.


Bittersweet Brownies
from Slow Like Honey

Ingredients:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, 60% or higher, coarsely chopped
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
scant 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp (1.2 oz) all-purpose flour

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl, and place over a saucepan of just simmering water (not boiling!). Or just use a double boiler.
3. Stir frequently until everything is melted and smooth. Resist temptation to stop making brownies and just consume chocolate/butter. Remove bowl from heat and allow to cool just a bit.
4. In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla until eggs are thick and light-colored, maybe about 2 minutes.
5. Whisk in the warm chocolate.
6. Stir in the flour.
7. Scrape the batter into a 9x9 pan that has been greased with butter and dusted with cocoa powder. (Or line the pan with foil, as Slow Like Honey does).
8. Lick the bowl and spoon. Wipe your face.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick/chopstick comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool. Slice into pieces, or just dig in with a big spoon. You will be in heaven!

Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread... YUM!

Eating bread makes me happy. Making bread frightens me. My first attempt didn't turn out as great as I'd like, nor did it look anything like the original recipe's picture. That recipe was a yeast-less, no-knead bread. This time, I thought I'd take it one step further and make a yeast no-knead bread. This recipe is from Andrea's Recipes, and is for Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread. This time, I think I succeeded!

I started by combining the whole wheat flour, part of the all-purpose flour, yeast, baking soda, and salt.


In a small pot, I heated up the milk, water, and honey. I think I heated it a bit too much, and had to wait for it to cool down so I wouldn't kill the yeast!!


I added the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, and mixed (by hand! I don't have a hand or stand mixer. Sad, I know). I added the rest of the all-purpose flour, until the dough became stiff. It gets very sticky!!


I put the dough in a greased loaf pan, sprinkled with coarse cornmeal (or in my case, doused the pan with cornmeal.... I used way too much!). I sprinkled a bit more cornmeal on top.


I covered it with cooking-spray-coated plastic wrap, covered that with a towel, and set it aside in a warm area of the kitchen for 60 minutes. With 15 minutes left in this process, I pre-heated the oven to 375 degrees. Look how much the dough rose... doubled in size!


I baked for exactly 25 minutes, and immediately turned it out onto a cooling rack (or in my case, the thingy in the microwave. Sad, I know). It turned out lovely and crispy on the outside, and smelled just wonderful. I had to let it cool just a tiny bit before I cut into it, but it was really hard to wait!!!


I don't know exactly what makes it English muffin bread, but who cares what it's called, it's delicious!! I had to brush off most of the cornmeal, because as you can see, I overdid it.


I love love love love this bread! I love how easy it is to make, how it involves no kneading at all, how comforting it makes the kitchen smell, how it is sweetened with honey and contains part whole-wheat flour. It is soooo tasty with a bit of SmartBalance spread! It's perfectly crusty on the outside, and warm and chewy on the inside. I just hope it stays this way for the next few days... if it lasts that long! I hope you love this as much as I do.



Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread
from Andrea's Recipes
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup water

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour, all the whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, and baking soda.
2. In a saucepan, combine milk, water, and honey. Heat to 105-115 degrees, or until warm. Make sure it isn't too hot, or it might kill the yeast.
3. Add to the dry ingredients, and stir well.
4. Add the rest of the all-purpose flour, and mix until the dough is stiff. You may not use all of the remaining flour (I did use all of it).
5. Grease a loaf pan, and sprinkle it with coarse cornmeal (emphasis on "sprinkle").
6. Spoon the dough into the loaf pan (it will be sticky!). Cover with a piece of plastic wrap that is sprayed with cooking spray.
7. Cover with a towel, and set aside for 60 minutes in a warm draft-free area.
8. During the last 15 minutes of rising, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
9. Uncover the dough, bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and the crust sounds hollow.
10. Immediately turn out onto cooling racks. Slice, serve warm with some buttery spread, or toast it! Enjoy!

Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread

I've never tried making homemade bread before. Truthfully, it frightens me! I do not own a breadmaker, so if I were to make bread, it would have to be all by hand. Well, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon, because I don't have the patience nor the time. So, when I came across a simple recipe from Mark Bittman's Bitten blog in the NY Times, I figured it would be a good place to start if I'm ever going to try making bread at home.

It's a recipe for Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread, with my focus on the "quick" part. It was probably the easiest, fastest recipe for any baked good I've ever tried. Not to mention, it seems pretty nutritious too!

I started by mixing together the dry ingredients...


Then I mixed the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and added the wet to the dry...


I mixed until just combined, without overmixing the dough... looks like chocolate!


I poured it into a greased loaf pan...


And baked for about 50 minutes at 325 degrees, when my chopstick came out clean... see the hole in the middle?


It ended up looking kind of.... odd. It had a crusty texture on the top, which I like, but it just LOOKED like tree bark. Thankfully, after slicing it up, it was moist on the inside. Phew!


It looks like chocolate cake, but the rich, dark color is thanks to the sweet sweet molasses. It has a nice moist texture, slightly glutinous and slightly cakey. The flavor is whole-wheatey, with a touch of rich sweetness from the molasses, and a bit of gritty texture from the cornmeal. I put a slather of SmartBalance on it while it was warm, and it melted into creamy buttery loveliness!

I think I'll be making this pretty often. It's simple, quick, and nutritious. You can make some alterations -- honey instead of molasses, buttermilk instead of yogurt. Give it a shot!


Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread

2 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 and 2/3 cups plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses

1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Mix together wet ingredients.
3. Add wet to the dry, and mix together until just combined, but do not overmix.
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Let the loaf pan cool before removing the bread from the pan.
7. Slice, spread on some butter (or SmartBalance), and enjoy!

(Mine didn't come out looking quite as nice as Mark Bittman's, but perhaps just as tasty!)