Loaded Banana Bread

My dear, sweet Benny (2 years old) is really into bananas.  

His love of bananas runs deep.Yet, the depth of said love lasts only 

about 3 bites per banana and then he refuses to touch the half eaten 

banana again. And we must start over with another whole banana. 

Lordy. 

I, being the practical 'thou shall not waste a perfectly

 good half of banana' mama that I am, 

started storing the remaining bananas in a container in the 

refrigerator and decided it was high time I create a go to banana recipe. 

So Benny, keep up the good work, I could eat this goodness all year long!

This recipe will yield 2 large loaf pans of outrageous 

quick bread or ~32 large scoop muffins. 

What you need:

1 cup of butter (soft)

4 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar 

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

With an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer) blend the above ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp fine sea salt

2 tsp baking soda 

Place dry ingredients in a sifter

5 ripe bananas (peel and mush finely with a fork) yields ~2 cups

1 cup finely chopped raw pecans

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut (+ additional 1 cup for topping)

 Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in three heats.  

That way the wet dry integrates very well.  I always hand

mix at this point, as to not over mix.

Fold in the banana

 Fold in the pecans, coconut and chocolate chips

Use a large scoop if you are going the muffin route, otherwise 

coconut oil two large loaf pans.

For muffins I am borderline obsessed with parchment muffin

liners.  They do not stick to the muffins, like the fluted cups

sometimes do and they look so dang cute, which is obvy 

important!  I buy them in big bunches on the internet.

here's a little picture from an old post.  After coating

the pan with coconut oil, cut a piece of parchment paper

for each pan, allowing a bit higher up the sides, so after

baking you can run a knife along the two shorts sides

of the pan, then use the parchment like handles to lift the 

bread out, and transfer it to a cooling rack.  

Top with a good sprinkle of coconut 

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes if baking muffins and I would

guess at least one hour to one hour and 15 minutes for 

the loaf pans.  Make sure you do the toothpick check!!

Although them to cool a bit and then get your gobble on!!

 Benny Approved!!

Enjoy!

xo

Deluxe Banana Bread

I am so happy to be blogging again!!!  So much to catch up on.  For instance, WE HAVE A KITCHEN AGAIN...wooo hoooo!  It is totally fabulous, and the transformation still gives me goosebumps (promise the before and after will be shared soon!).  But, most importantly, I CAN GET MY BAKE ON, again.  Finally.  Phew, this has been a long couple of months! I wasn't planning on blogging this recipe, just yet...but it turned out perfectly the first go (yay) so many apologies on the lack of pictures/picture quality.

I decided to make banana bread because I had some ripe bananas on hand.  As soon as I grabbed the bananas, I decided I wanted to add some more goodies to the quick bread, to kick it up a notch. Here's the recipe:

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 T. coconut oil (if you don't have coconut oil, canola would work just fine)

CREAM THE ABOVE INGREDIENTS, THEN ADD:  

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
•  4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2/3 c. grated carrot (I used a fine microplane, but a standard grate would work as well), set the wet mixture aside.

IN A SEPERATE BOWL, SIFT TOGETHER THE FOLLOWING:

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 

SLOWLY ADD THE DRY MIX TO THE WET INGREDIENTS.  WHEN FULLY INCORPORATED FOLD IN:

• 3/4 cup quick oats
• 3 T. flax seeds
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries

Divide the batter into OILED AND PARCHMENT LINED loaf pans (I made 5 medium size loaf pans, with this recipe).  Then sprinkle a mixture of  2 PARTS OATS AND 1 PART BROWN SUGAR on top of each batter loaf.   I used old-fashioned oats, because I like the look and thought a touch of crunch on the top would be delish.  Quick oats would work just fine though too. 

Bake at 350 degrees (if you are doing small loaves, start checking at 25 minutes, if you are doing a large loaf pan start checking at 45 minutes).  Add additional time until the center of the bread is cooked through.

Here you can see how the parchment paper peeks out

the 2 long sides of the loaf pan.  Makes bread extraction,

after cooling, very simple.  Just run a butter knife along the

2 short sides of the pan and use the parchment like handles

to lift the bread out.  Easy Peasy!

I packed up the loaves for a daddy/daughter camping trip that Zac and Logan
were heading out on this weekend with friends.  So, I labeled a piece of parchment
with the add-in ingredients, and slipped it under the loaves in the storage container. 
 

Enjoy! 

Caramel Coated PIRATE'S BOOTY

ArrrrrrMazing!

Place 9 cups of Aged White Cheddar Pirate's Booty in a roasting pan
 (or split on two sheet trays, if you do not have a roasting pan).

 In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp sea salt

Heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

 

Keep the saucepan on the heat, and quickly stir in 1 tsp baking soda.

Making sure all bits of baking soda are fully stirred in.

 The baking soda will really make the sauce bubbly, this is why you

must use a large sauce pan.  

 Pour the hot caramel over the Pirate's Booty

 

Toss the Booty, until each piece is coated.  Pop in a 250 degree, 

preheated oven, and bake for 40 minutes (removing pan every 10

minutes to stir)

 Place a large piece of parchment paper* on the counter, and pour the

caramel-coated-puffs-of-heaven out, pulling apart big chunks, as they 

will harden up while resting on the parchment.  

Once cool, store in an air tight container or bag.

This stuff will certainly please a crowd! 

* PARCHMENT PAPER IS NOT THE SAME AS WAX PAPER*