Banana Bread "recipe"

[liralen]

Uhm... I actually just threw in "enough" cherries and chocolate... so this is kind of a guess... the base is actually, kinda, derived from Barbara Albright and Leslie Weiner's Mostly Muffins. I do it as a bread when I'm not up to dishing out and cleaning a muffin pan. I'm also at altitude... so I've modified this for sea level. If you're at altitude like I am, I'd add 3 Tbs flour and one ounce of milk.



1 c all purpose flour
1 c whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups ripe, mashed bananas
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, Ghirardelli (or any GOOD chocolate) bittersweet chips and chopped dried, pitted tart Montmorency Cherries (or any tart/sour dried cherry).

I only did the chocolate and cherries because there's a nut allergy in my class.

Preheat oven to 375°. Stir all dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, beat in eggs, then stir in the banana, milk and vanilla. Combine with dry and stir just to combine. Then add all the goodies. Turn into a 5x10 loaf pan (rather bigger than normal... so if you use a smaller pan, your baking time might be different), and bake for 35-45 minutes. Test with a toothpick, it should come out clean, and then cool for a bit, turn out onto a rack and let cool until it's just warm to the touch, then eat. I toast my leftovers so that the chocolate just starts to melt.

You can make 'em into muffins, too, just spoon into tins and it'll probably be 25-30 minutes before they're done. They freeze well, too.

Comments

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

I put chopped dried apricots in rather than cherries, and sultanas or lexia raisins. And when bananas get a little past it I toss them in the freezer to make this with later; it might be about time to defrost some, when we finish the tea brack...

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Oooo... yum.. I think any dried fruit would do a great job on the texture and contrast flavor... yeah... Nice idea with the bananas!! John got a 5 lb bargain on "old bananas" at a dime a pound, so we have a bunch in the freezer. I should use those next time. Thanks!!

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

handy tip: I experimented with freezing bananas peeled in a ziplock bag and just loose with the peel on and peel on is both easier and possibly a little less damp ;-)

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Very handy tip. Thanks!!