Favorite Recipes

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips or Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 6 ripe Bananas – with a lot of dark speckles (5 for the loaf and 1 for the topping)

• 1 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour

• 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda

• ½ tsp Salt

• 8 Tbsp melted Butter

• ¾ cup Light Brown Sugar

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• 2 Eggs

• 1 Tbsp Sugar                                                                                     

Optional

• ½ cup Chocolate Chips or chopped Walnuts

Directions:

1.     Set oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan.

2.     Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3.     Put 5 bananas in a microwave safe bowl for 4-5 minutes to release the liquid.

4.     Strain the bananas and let it sit and drain for about 10-15 minutes to release most of the liquid.  Then put the liquid in a small pan, simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid reduces by half. 

5.     Put the bananas back in the bowl and mash until somewhat smooth.

6.     While the liquid is reducing, stir together in a separate bowl the melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs.

7.     Add the reduced liquid to the mashed bananas.  Stir well. Then add the melted butter mixture to the bananas.

8.     Fold the dry flour mixture into the wet banana mixture.  Do not over mix.  Gently fold in the chocolate chips or walnuts, if desired.

9.     Pour the batter in the loaf pan.  Slice the remaining banana and place on top of the loaf into two rows leaving a space down the middle.  Then sprinkle the sugar over the loaf.

10. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, then it is done.

Serve with honey butter or cinnamon cream cheese spread.  Enjoy!

This banana bread is so delicious it will be gone by the second day.  But if you plan to serve it at a special event and wanted to make this ahead of time, this banana bread will keep well for only about three days. 

One more thing…please don’t bake this in a toaster oven! I’ve already tried this once and it was a disaster.

Troubleshooting Tips:  

Why microwave the bananas? It releases the liquid from the banana so that it can be reduced and give the bread more intense banana flavor without adding mushiness to the bread. 

Trust me; this extra step is well worth it.  It’s the only way to add more banana flavor and use the most bananas without the bread being all soggy and tasting under baked. 

If you skip this step then you will have to use fewer bananas.

If you must skip this step then reduce the bananas to only three for the batter and one for the topping. And add an additional ¼ cup of flour and ¼ cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp of baking powder to the recipe ingredients.

What happens if I over mix? The bread will not be as fluffy.  Over mixing will make the bread tougher and more dense.

Can I substitute the brown sugar and use plain granulated sugar? Yes.

Can I add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg?  Yes.  I suggest that you add only ½ to 1 tsp of spice.

What happens if I layer sliced bananas all over the top of the batter in the loaf pan? The bread will not rise evenly nor be as fluffy as it should be. 

Honey Butter Spread

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp (1 stick) softened Butter

2 Tbsp Honey         

Mix the butter and the honey together in a small bowl. Keep refrigerated in a container. Serve with favorite bread, bagels, or muffins.

Cinnamon Spice Cream Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

• 1 - 8 oz pkg softened Cream Cheese softened

• 2 Tbsp Honey, or 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar, or 3 Tbsp Powdered (10x) Sugar

• 1 tsp ground Cinnamon

• ½ tsp Vanilla Extract (optional)

Mix the all the ingredients in a small bowl. Keep refrigerated in a container. Serve with favorite bread, bagels, or muffins.

If you are serving pumpkin bread, apple muffins, raisin bagels, or some other favorite, you might want to try adding additional spices. 

Make a delicious Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread instead.

Substitute the 1 tsp Cinnamon and use only ½ tsp Cinnamon and add ¼ tsp Nutmeg and 1/8 tsp Allspice and 1/8 tsp Ginger.

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

• 1 - 8 oz pkg softened Cream Cheese softened

• 2 Tbsp Honey, or 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar, or 3 Tbsp Powdered (10x) Sugar

• ½  tsp ground Cinnamon

• ¼ tsp ground Nutmeg

• 1/8  tsp ground Allspice

• 1/8 tsp ground Ginger

• ½ tsp Vanilla Extract (optional)

Mix the all the ingredients in a small bowl. Keep refrigerated in a container. Serve with favorite bread, bagels, or muffins.