Tag Archives: Bread

Banana Bread & Dirty Monkey Drinks

04 Thursday Oct 2012

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Mmmm Banana Bread.  Who doesn’t love Banana Bread? I posed this question to Mr. E the other day and he answered “crazy people – that’s who!!” I agree 🙂

Mr. E and I have a habit of buying bananas (more than we would ever eat in a week) and, of course, never eating them all.  Mr. E, in his effort to not waste food, throws them in the freezer. We currently have about 10 bananas (with the peels on), all black and not pretty looking in our freezer and… I need the freezer space.  So when I suggested Banana Bread Mr. E did a happy dance and when I said Dirty Monkeys he straight up squealed!!  Okay, so maybe he didn’t squeal but I sure did. Yes I squealed at my own suggestion! LOL They are that GOOD!

What was that? Did I hear you ask “what’s a Dirty Monkey?”  Only my favorite drink from St. Lucia!!   Imagine a glass of blended deliciousness.  For 2 drinks the recipe is (approximately): 1 large banana, 2 shots of Kahlua, 1½ shots of white rum, ice and a bit of milk or if you are feeling indulgent 1 scoop of ice cream. (I’m usually feeling indulgent). 🙂  Then blend!

The Banana Bread recipe is an easy – no yeast, one bowl recipe. You can make it more complex if you want and get all fancy with a bunch of different bowls, but it’s really not necessary.

I pulled the bananas out of the freezer, let them sit on the counter for about 10 minutes, peeled them and dropped them whole into my Kitchen Aid mixer.  I mixed for a few minutes until they were slightly mashed looking.

To the bowl I added the sugar, egg and melted butter.  Mixed until blended and then added the flour and baking powder (I used a colander to sift the baking soda to catch lumps). Mix well.

I decided to make small loaves so they would bake quicker.  My favorite is to eat a slice warm with a bit of butter spread on top.  Hope you enjoy!

Banana Bread Recipe

3 large ripe bananas mashed – about 1cup
1 cup sugar (I use a little less if using really ripe bananas)
1 egg
4 tablespoon melted butter – cooled
1½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
 
Grease loaf pan.  Preheat oven to 325°.
 
To a mixing bowl add bananas (either mashed or if using a stand mixer, like a Kitchen Aid, whole and use the paddle attachment on low to mash them up) and sugar and mix well.  Add egg and melted butter, mixing well after each addition.  Then add flour, salt and baking soda (make sure there aren’t any lumps in your baking soda) and mix until combined. 
 
Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 55 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when testing for doneness.
 
**The bake time for the mini loaves in the picture above was about 25 – 30 minutes.**  

Zucchini Bread

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Zucchini bread is one of those things that I grew up having and is total “memory food”. You know, that food that you love because it takes you right back to a good memory or reminds you of a good time in your life.  I remember as a child mosey-ing to the kitchen in the morning, after deciding I was ready to face the world (even as a child I loathed mornings), and there it would be!  A thick slice, lightly toasted with just a thin layer of butter melted into the top…mmmmm.  I think the secret is adding pineapple!  I’ve tried other zucchini bread recipes and they’re nice but not, yes I’d like another slice and in fact just give me the whole damn loaf good. 🙂 

This is a really easy recipe! There are a few tricks my mom and I have learned over the years; 1. sifting the baking soda into the flour mixture is a must (nothing is grosser then getting a bite with overwhelming baking soda flavor); and 2. using pineapple rings and then cutting them up instead of just buying crushed.  The reason the extra work is worth it, is that I have found that the rings are better quality pineapple whereas the crushed sometimes you get bits of core. It’s not my favorite to bite into a bread or any dessert that has pineapple in it and you hit that hard, stringy core that you just can’t chew through and end up spitting out.  (I suppose if you’re a lady, you swallow it, but when it comes to “yucky” I’m a spitter. lol 

Zucchini Bread

Yields 2 loaves
3 eggs
2 cups sugar*
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup diced pineapple, well drained
2 cups grated zucchini, I use the large hole side of my grater
1 cup raisins
 
*If I’m feeling really healthy I reduce the sugar to 1⅔ cups, but most of the time I leave it at the 2 cups and just enjoy it as sweet bread.
 
Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix the dry ingredients together, sifting in the baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy.  Add oil and vanilla and continue beating until thick and foamy.
 
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix well.  Gently fold in the pineapple and zucchini.  Lastly fold in the raisins.
 
Pour mixture into 2 well-greased loaf pans and bake for 50 – 60 minutes.  I rotate halfway through the baking because I don’t have a convection oven and my oven does not heat evenly.  Test for doneness using a toothpick; you’ll want the toothpick to come out pretty clean, a few crumbs is okay too. 🙂