February 24, 2010

Humpastry Day - Banana Bread

Banana Bread


For some reason, some of my bananas always get brown and overripe before my family and I can eat them. But, I always stick them in the freezer so I can use them for baking.  At any given time I usually have about 3-4 bananas in the freezer, so I guess it works out nicely for us.   Maybe I should buy less bananas, but then I wouldn't have any to make this yummy banana bread whenever I wanted it.  :)

As a side note, I just discovered that frozen bananas work great in smoothies!  They lend a great banana taste to the smoothie and I don't have to worry about adding ice because they're frozen and make the smoothie the perfect consistency.  Sorry about the smoothie tangent, now back to the bread.

My family really likes this bread because it has a nice flavor to it.  It's does not have a strong banana flavor like the banana bread slices you get from coffee shops or coffee carts.  I swear they  have to add some kind of extra banana flavor to get them to taste like that.  But, it's really yummy as a breakfast treat, especially when it's served alongside a fruit salad or a smoothie. You can toast it or eat it as is, and it's good with a little butter or plain.

Ingredients:
Makes 1 loaf
*  2/3C Turbinado/raw sugar
*  1/3C Canola oil
*  2 flax eggs (2Tbls ground flax mixed with 6Tbls. warm water)
*  1/4C vanilla yogurt (or unsweetened applesauce)
*  1tsp. vanilla extract
*  2 mashed bananas (thawed, if frozen)

*  3/4C whole wheat flour
*  3/4C whole wheat pastry flour
*  1tsp. baking powder
*  1/2tsp. baking soda
*  1/2tsp. salt
*  1Tbl. gluten

Directions:
I made mine in my bread maker, which is easy peasy.  But, I will give you regular directions too.

For the bread maker:
1.  Set bread maker to the "batter bread" program.
2.  Put all ingredients from sugar to bananas into the bread maker and push start.
3.  Meanwhile mix in a separate bowl all the ingredients from whole wheat flour to gluten.
4.  When the program is in the continuous knead cycle (when it starts spinning really fast), add the bowl of dry ingredients to the bread maker.
5.  Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and make sure everything gets mixed together.
6.  Close the lid and wait for it to be done!  See...easy peasy!

Regular directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Mix all ingredients from sugar to bananas together in a mixer.
3.  In a separate bowl mix all the ingredients from whole wheat flour to gluten.
4.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined.
5.  Pour mixture into a slightly greased loaf pan.
6.  Bake for around 60 minutes, or until a knife/toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!  

13 comments:

Velma said...

Do you have suggestions on a good bread maker?

Aimee said...

Velma, I don't really know what's good these days. I have a brand called the Breadman Ultimate that I got it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond years ago. One thing you could do is go to Amazon.com, type in bread maker, and then read the reviews on the different ones. Sorry I'm not very helpful. Maybe others will chime in one what they have??!! :)

Chef Amber Shea said...

That looks great! I've never thought of making a quick bread in a bread machine. I actually just got a secondhand bread machine from a friend, but haven't cleaned it out yet. Are they a pain to clean?

Anonymous said...

YUMMM!! I love banana bread!!

Julie said...

Hi Aimee,
I love banana bread!! It looks so good:) I do not have a bread maker but my neighbor does and she uses it all the time:) Thanks for the recipe!!

Aimee said...

Amber - My bread machine is actually super easy to clean. The baking pan has a nonstick surface so it makes cleaning it a cinch! I don't know what brand you have, but I'm sure it would be easy too. :)

prashant said...

I actually just got a secondhand bread machine from a friend, but haven't cleaned it out yet. Are they a pain to clean?

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Big Daddy Diesel said...

I love me some nanner bread.

misszippy said...

Gonna have to try that one--looks yummy and I like that it isn't packed with junk. I'm also going to try the freezer technique for smoothies.

Amanda said...

i always slice and freeze my brown bananas for smoothies. so yummy. and great with frozen blueberries and soy milk!

bread looks good. might try that one soon! thanks.

joyRuN said...

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Let me know if you want me to send you a lovely OC trinket for registering :)

I'll have to hide some bananas to make banana bread. Between my kids & hub, I'm always running out for more.

Anonymous said...

I love love love frozen bananas!!! And as much as I love bananas, I don't like anything banana flavored :( Looks like I am missing out!

Velma said...

Thanks for the comment on my blog - I have read a lot of food related books - but not that one. Thanks!