Banana-Zucchini Bread

I faced the age-old aged banana dilemma a few weeks ago. I set out to searching allrecipes.com for a recipe to use with other ingredients I had - some shredded zucchini in the freezer and some cranberries in the cupboard. This just seemed like the perfect thing to bake. I sent a loaf to work with my husband and took a loaf to work with me. I omitted the nuts but made the rest of the recipe as directed.

As I've been gaining back my appetite, this was the perfect thing for me - moist, flavorful, somewhat healthy and easy to snack on. And trust me, as I speak from experience - it's good warm or cold, fresh or a couple of days old.


Ingredients

3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup grated zucchini
2 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch bread loaf pans.


2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light yellow and frothy. Add oil, brown sugar, white sugar, grated zucchini, bananas, and vanilla; blend together until well combined. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the cranberries and nuts. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans.


3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool in the loaf pans on a wire rack before removing and serving.


Source: allrecipes.com

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake/Bars

If you've been a regular follower of the blog, you might think that Meg and I are part-monkey. We seem to always have bananas, and routinely, we have bananas that are past their prime.

A few months ago, I had a surplus of bananas and a desire to bake, so I hunted down some recipes on allrecipes.com. (FYI, I love the feature where you can input desired ingredients and the site generates recipes with those specifications!)

This "cake" was easily transitioned in to bars. It was moist and a great combination of fruit flavor and sweet chocolate chips.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, egg, melted butter and milk.

4. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until blended. Be careful not to over mix.


5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Pour batter into 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. (It will have some melted chocolate, but no crumbs.)

Source: allrecipes.com

Going bananas at the grocery store

I was unpacking my bags after a trip to the grocery store recently, when I pulled out about 7 bananas from one bag. All the bananas were separated from each other, which I thought was odd. I remembered picking up a bunch of about six bananas that were all still attached to each other.

I turned to Mike, and said, "What the heck happened to our bananas? Why are they all loose from each other?" He looked at me, and then looked at our kitchen counter, where a more familiar looking bunch of bananas was already sitting.

We got someone else's bananas (and a bag of mini-marshmallows, it turned out). We really like bananas. But that's a LOT of bananas for two people to consume in a week, particularly considering that we'd also bought pineapple, pears and apples.

Knowing I would have several bananas going bad quickly --


-- I logged onto allrecipes.com, and located a banana bread recipe. Of course, as always, I read over a large chunk of the comments, so I could easily fine-tune the recipe (see my notes below).

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter or margarine. Beat the egg slightly, and mix into the creamed mixture with the bananas. Mix in sifted ingredients until just combined. Stir in milk and nuts. Spread batter into one greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf pan.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until top is brown and cracks along the top.


My notes

*I took some of the commenters' advice and added 1 tspn vanilla, 1 tspn cinnamon, and a little extra banana (since I had plenty). I had so much banana, in fact, that I doubled the recipe and made two loaves. I also substituted half of the white sugar for brown sugar, for color.

*I didn't have any walnuts to add, but I did have chocolate chips, so I added about a cup of those. I have a mega sweet tooth, and it was a little too sweet even for me. Next time, I'd skip the chocolate chips and make sure I had some walnuts to throw in.

*Also, to help it stay extra moist, cover with foil immediately after removing from oven for about half an hour.

*I baked mine initially for about 40 minutes, and then checked it every five minutes or so after that to see if it was done. In the end, it probably took close to 60 minutes, but I think I overbaked it ever-so-slightly. About 55 minutes would probably have done it for me. (My oven bakes on the quicker end of the spectrum.)

Saving a banana from certain doom

Mike and I love fresh produce and go through our fair share of fruits and veggies each day. We're pretty good about eating everything we buy before it goes bad, but once in a while we buy one too many bananas and before you know it, it's turning brown.

I hate to let food go to waste, so I knew I had a short window of opportunity where I could use it to bake before it turned bad. I remembered these easy banana nut muffins that I made a few months ago. Not only are they fast and easy, but they also only require one banana, which was exactly what I needed to use up.

I read back over my post, as well as the comments, and my friend Kelly commented that she made them and added in some chocolate chips. She said they were a hit in her office, so I decided to take her advice and added in about 2/3 cup of mini-semisweet chocolate chips. I also added in about 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, which is a little more than the recipe calls for. But since my banana was on the smaller side, I figured the extra nuts and chocolate chips could beef it up a little.

Seminary Muffins

Meg and I recently took a trip to San Francisco with our husbands. We hadn't seen each other since my wedding in November, and we rarely see each other more than once a year, so it was super exciting to all be able to get together.

We ate lots of delicious lunches, dinners and desserts on our trip (more on some of those later!), but we ate cost-savvy breakfasts at the hotel, snacking on food we packed in our suitcases. My husband isn't a big breakfast eater, so I brought granola bars and oatmeal and looked for something I could bake that would travel well and stay moist.

I found what I wanted in these Seminary Muffins. They traveled well although were a bit mushy - I think because I used a little too much banana :) And they're oil- and butter-free! I liked having the chocolate chips and nuts in there for some extra zing and energy.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 egg
* 1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/3 cup applesauce
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 cup quick cooking oats
* 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 12 cup muffin pan.


2. In a large bowl, combine egg, banana, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Gently stir flour mixture and oatmeal into banana mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups.


4. Bake in preheated oven or 15 to 20 minutes, or until light brown. Remove muffins from pan and place on a wire rack to let cool before serving.

Source: allrecipes.com

Banana/blueberry cupcakes and honey frosting

I recently had a surplus of blueberries. And a surplus of ripening bananas. And a desire to bake. So I headed to the internet, and my trusty friend (the Web) helped with my issues.

I made these banana cupcakes for craft party last weekend. I added blueberries and fell in love with the frosting.

Banana (Blueberry) Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
3/4 cup blueberries (my addition)
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. (I managed to get 16 muffins from this recipe.)
-In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
-Make a well in center of flour mixture.


-In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla.
-Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not over mix). Add blueberries.


-Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
-Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
-Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.
-Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting.


Honey Cinnamon Frosting

Ingredients
1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
-In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes

Source: Good Things Catered, who used recipes from Everyday Food

Banana Nut Cookies

Last week, Meg and I participated in another round of Operation Baking GALS. This time, we didn't know a team leader, so we picked one connected to our previous team leader.

Here's part of our soldier's bio:

John is a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. He is currently serving Iraq - about 35 miles west of Bagdad. John graduated from Beech Grove High School in 1995. He graduated from Ball State University in 2000 with an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education. John taught 6th grade in Indianapolis Public Schools for one year, and then enlisted in the Marine Corps in March of 2003.

John has been married five years. He has two boys - Maddox (aka MAD DOG), who is 3 and Brock (aka DANGER), who is 1. John left for Iraq in February and will probably be there until about February 2010.

(Meg and I are planning to lead a team in the next round or two, so if you a) have a soldier you'd like to nominate to receive Baking Gals' packages and b) want to participate and be on our team, please let us know! The only commitment you make by joining our team is to bake and ship something to a soldier within a 10-day time period. The instructions are easy to follow, and the shipping rate is $11.95 (we're instructed to use Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate boxes). So for less than $12+the cost of baking, you're doing a good deed and spreading your baking cheer.)

I baked the butterscotch chip cookies for John, but I also wanted to try something different ... so I went with banana nut cookies. Only I didn't use nuts. The cookies were EXTREMELY moist, which I hope bodes well for how they arrive when John gets them. I don't know how banana-y they were, though. I used spice cake mix, and I wonder if the banana would have come through more with the white or yellow. I also wonder if a banana-flavored pudding mix might not be a good addition to the cookies, but I guess it depends on how much banana you really want!

Ingredients:
1 white, yellow or spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup applesauce
1 large banana, mashed
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a spoon, mix cake mix, eggs, butter and applesauce together. Stir in banana and nuts.


Drop dough balls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 9-12 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Remove cookies and place on nonstick rack to cool.

Source: 101 More Things To Do With A Cake Mix by Stephanie Ashcraft

Fresh Blueberry Banana Bread

I started making this recipe last summer - it's been a hit every time I've made it. I read about this recipe on my newspaper's Web site, and then I made it several times, including several times in Ohio last August.

But blueberries were on sale at my grocery store this week. And I'm itching to make it again! I think the banana and crunchy topping are what really make it. I made it a bit healthier by substituting unsweetened applesauce for the Crisco.

Here is the original story.

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons flour plus 1 3/4 cups flour (separate uses)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter flavored Crisco
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup ground nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the washed blueberries with 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside. Sift the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

In large bowl, cream the Crisco and gradually beat in the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour mixture alternately with the mashed banana, stirring until blended. Stir in the blueberries.

Pour mixture into greased loaf pan. Combine topping ingredients, sprinkle on top of batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean. Makes 1 loaf.

Source: tampabay.com

Branching out with bananas

I've baked a lot of cookies lately. Macaroons, frosted red velvet cookies, baptism cookies. Cookies are my favorite thing to bake, but on Sunday, I was itching to do something different.
"Can I bake something for your co-workers?" I yelled out to Mike from the kitchen, as I thumbed through my stack of cookbooks.
"Sure!"
"What do they like?"
"Everything!"
Everything. Perfect. My kind of people.
After much page-flipping, a recipe finally caught my eye. Banana Nut Muffins.
Easy to transport to the office, easy to grab and take to your desk. The quintessential baked snack for those who start their day at 8 a.m.
All you do is mash up one banana (I used a potato masher):

Mix the batter. Add nuts (I used walnuts):

Fill up some muffin cups (note the little chunks of banana in the batter... yum!):

And voila! Mike tells me they were a hit.

Ingredients:
1 banana or spice cake mix
2 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 medium banana, mashed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour muffin pan or use muffin paper cups. Mix together cake mix, eggs, water, nuts, oil and banana in a large bowl until well blended. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter.
Bake 20-25 minutes.

Source: 101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix (Stephanie Ashcraft)