My Momma's Banana Bread

For the record I must confess that I am a snob......Yes...... It's true....Surprised? Yes? No? You knew it all along? :)

Okay, well maybe I'm being a little dramatic...I'm a snob only when it comes to dessert...especially banana bread. I do not eat anyone's banana bread except mine or my Momma's. That's the truth. As I am sitting here typing this I am trying hard to think of the last time I ate banana bread made by anyone else and I really can't think of even once in the last couple years that I have. I could be wrong, so forgive me if I am. But the only reason I'd ever eat someone else's banana bread is out of pure politeness and if I have, the experience obviously didn't stick with me. Anyone else's or even store bought loaves never taste right to me. Not enough bananas? Bananas not ripe enough ? Not moist enough? I don't know what it is. My mother in law loves the banana bread that a friend at church makes....so I may have to break down and try it one day, but even still...she's made those muffins multiple times for bake sales and I just can't seem to go there...and she's an excellent baker...lol..I know, I have problems...Just to be clear, I have had other banana bread in the past. Most of the time I can tell by looking at it if their recipe is similar to mine and will usually try to politely pass. I've been disappointed too many times... My sister in law made a banana CAKE with chocolate icing...which was incredible..but that was a cake..not bread..lol...So, why such strong feelings? I told you. I'm a snob. ha ha...Well, I am one of those people who can eat almost anything...as long as it's not dessert related. Once you get to the dessert category though all bets are off. I have too many RULES. 

Rule # 1. Usually it has to be chocolate or have chocolate in it. (no lemon merengue for me)

Rule # 2. There can never be any nuts in it. (no banana nut bread...ever)

Rule # 3. Definitely no raisins either. (Raisin bread is never spoken in my house)

Rule # 4. Absolutely NO coconut! (No coconut cream pie...no way no how)

Rule # 5. Water ice should never have actual pieces of fruit in them...especially cherries.

I know there are a few more but can't think of them this minute. lol

Okay...a little dramatic I guess...

So...that goes for banana bread, fudge, ice cream. Anything really. Anyway...I can't help being me right? Cause who else am I gonna be? lol...(inside joke) Honestly, I feel like if I'm going to indulge in that many calories, it had better be doggone worth it! Otherwise, what's the point? Either enjoy 660 calories of Chocolate Silk Pie (or whatever else) fully or don't bother:) (btw that was a guesstimate for the silk pie...lol) 

SOOOO....What do y'all think? Do you indulge no matter what? Or are you picky like me?

Okay...getting to the point...My mom has been making this banana bread forever and me after her. The only adjustment I have made though is I discovered (after years of snobbery) that I DO like chocolate chips in my banana bread! Duh! I'm a chocoholic and I would never add them before. (I keep hearing "I DO!..I LIKE green eggs and ham!...I DO! I LIKE them Sam I Am!" in my head..lol) Prince Charming doesn't like the chocolate chips so I usually add them in after I split the batter. So without further rambling here is my Momma's recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups mashed bananas (the darker the skin the better, as long as it's not moldy)

1 1/4 cup white granulated sugar

3 1/2 cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

12 Tablespoons margarine (or butter, I usually use margarine)

4 eggs

Okay, so first preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and flour two loaf pans. Set aside.

Next..mash the bananas in a medium mixing bowl. Add the eggs and melted margarine. 

 In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix together. Next, add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly with a large spoon.

If you would like chocolate chip banana bread then add however many chocolate chips (or heaven forbid...nuts...) to the batter. Or do like I do and pour half the batter in one greased and floured loaf pan and then add the chocolate chips to the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes or till a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Don't over cook the banana bread or it will be dry. Not fun. I usually will warm mine in the microwave and add some butter for a delicious breakfast. 

**Tip: Wrap the banana bread in plastic wrap and put in a large freezer bag. Freezes well for  a few months. To thaw just put in the fridge  or set it on the counter for 24 hours.

To Print the RECIPE ONLY Click HERE

The Perfect Cornbread

Okay, so does anyone out there love cornbread as much as I do? It took me forever to figure out a recipe that did what I wanted. I wanted the crunchy bottom, with an almost cake-like texture but still a crumbly cornbread texture, not to dry, not too moist, a little sweet but also savory....nooo...I'm not picky...ha ha. Do I sound hard to please? Try living with me.... :) Anyway, after much research and tweaking here's what I ended up with. The perfect Cornbread. (Well, to my standards anyway)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Yellow Cornmeal
1 cup flour
2/3 cup Sugar
3 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 cup + 3 T. vegetable oil
1 T. bacon drippings
2 T. butter
Honey butter:
1 T. butter
1 T. honey
a cast-iron skillet

 

1. Alright, first thing's first. Preheat that oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the 2 T. butter and 1 T. bacon drippings in the cast-iron skillet and place in the oven while prepping the batter. I usually save my bacon drippings in a mason jar and keep it in the fridge. It adds such a subtle, but special, flavor to many dishes like soups, dumplins, cornbread...and it takes out that extra step of cooking bacon when the recipe calls for it like in sausage gravy and biscuits.

2. Next add all of the dry ingredients to a medium sized mixing bowl and mix together.

3. Add the wet ingredients next. (If you don't have buttermilk, just pour milk in a measuring cup and add a tablespoon of white vinegar and let sit 5 minutes)

4. Carefully remove skillet from hot oven. Pour in batter and spread it with a spoon if necessary.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The butter/bacon drippings add such a wonderful flavor and crispiness to the bottom!

Mmm...mmm...mmmm...Next melt the butter and honey in a dish and whisk together (sorry, no pic here, but you can use your imaginations)

Brush the honey butter over the top.

Cut the cornbread and enjoy! (You can omit the honey butter if you prefer, but why would anyone ever 'prefer'? lol)

To Print the RECIPE ONLY Click HERE

Croutons

Okay, so this is a recipe I got from a friend's mom, Miss Lisa V :) You can use your leftover Italian bread to make this, but here I just got an entire loaf. To store the croutons just put them in a container or a gallon Ziploc bag and store them in your pantry. They last a long time and are so crusty and delicious I sometimes just grab a couple to eat for a snack. The croutons that come in a box are just so hard and tough to bite, these are crunchy but light too.

Leftover bread

unsalted butter + a little salt or salted butter

garlic powder

italian seasoning

parmesan cheese

First, you're going to cube the bread. Slice it in roughly one inch slices all the way down. Some people don't like crusty croutons, but I like to leave the crust on. It's really your preference. 

Next, make the slices into cubes and lay in a single layer on a baking sheet. I ended up needing two because I used an entire loaf. 

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5 minutes until just beginning to get toasty. Meanwhile, melt butter in fridge. I used about 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter(remember, an entire loaf here..so adjust according to how much bread you use.) If you run out, just melt some more. It also depends on how buttery you want it. But you need to butter to help the seasonings stick too. Also, I never buy salted butter, so I never have it on hand. I like to control the salt content so for this I sprinkle a little salt in the melted butter instead. But if you have salted butter, you can use that instead.

Using a pastry brush, brush butter on each cube.

 

Next add the spices. I pour it into my hand first and use the other hand to sprinkle it on. This gives me a little more control so I don't have a waterfall of garlic powder end up on just a few pieces of bread.  First use the garlic (another option is to mix the garlic powder in the butter, I may actually try that next time) After the garlic powder do the same thing with the Italian seasoning and then the Parmesan cheese.

Here's what it looks like with all the ingredients. Place back in the oven and bake another 10- 20 minutes. Keep and eye on it! Every oven is different so times in most recipes are only estimates. Always babysit recipes until you figure out how your oven works with it. Cook until beginning to become golden on the corners. However, if you like them a little more toasty, by all means, cook longer. They are really great croutons...Thanks Lisa V!

Multi-Grain Bread

Adapted from this Cooks.com Recipe 

2 c. water
3/4 c. multigrain cereal (may substitute oatmeal instead)
1 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. molasses (I used syrup)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. lukewarm water
1 pkg. yeast
4 1/2 c. (approximately) all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)

Ok, so...I've been looking for a multi-grain bread recipe ever since I started getting Panera Bread's whole grain bread rolls. They are soo delicious! So, I came across this recipe and thought I'd try it. It's not like Panera Bread's recipe, however, it's really good besides. I didn't follow the recipe exact, but here's how I did it...

1. Combine 2 cups water and cereal; bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted, then molasses (I actually ran out, normally I have that in my pantry, but since I've been making my own BBQ sauce, I forgot that I used it all up, and mid recipe, this is all I had on hand) and salt. Let cool completely.

 

 2. Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and let stand for 10 minutes or until frothy.

3. In large bowl, combine yeast mixture with cereal mixture.

4. Using wooden spoon, gradually beat in enough of the flour to make stiff dough. Here, I used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour. I had actually intended to use half bread flour and half whole wheat flour, however, it's been quite awhile since I've baked bread and I didn't  realize that my wheat flour was expired.....by 2 years...yuck...so needless to say, I used only bread flour..

5. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

6. Place in lightly greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap (I obviously didn't see that it said to use plastic wrap. I always cover it with a clean dish towel) and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

7.  Place baking stone (if you have one) in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

8. Punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead into smooth ball. Here's where I differed...I separated the ball into two pieces and rolled to make to rustic loaves, I then used a knife to cut three slits in each loaf. I  Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.

9. Next beat one egg and using a pastry brush, brush all over each loaf. Then sprinkle on the mixed cereal.  

10. Carefully take out the preheated stone and sprinkle corn meal on the bottom. Carefully place both loaves on the stone and put back in the oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Voila! So delicious! I'd love to know if anyone tries this recipe...