A Better Banana Bread

I am a passable baker, provided there are no microbes involved – yeast and I have yet to form a working relationship.  I don’t do it very often (usually because the results are sweets I don’t want to keep around), but there are a few things I will make on a semi-regular basis.  Muffins are just such an item.  I make a batch and throw them in the freezer, and they are a quick breakfast with a piece of fruit.

I like muffins with a lot of things in them.  The more fruits, nuts, seeds the better I like them.  There’s a somewhat practical reason for this: my usual Saturday breakfast before heading off to herd kids through dances is a muffin and fruit – I need something that will sustain me through several hours of often rigorous exercise (translation, there should be some protein and a fair amount of fiber involved).  I also prefer to get sweetness from non-refined sugar sources – you don’t want to be around me when me sugar levels dump after a sugary snack.

So, Monday I was faced with two bananas that were well beyond the point of me considering them edible.  I decided to turn them into breakfast food instead.  The following recipe is an adaptation from the “Muffin Madness” recipe from Moosewood Cooks at Home, by far my favorite and most often consulted cookbook.  Except, I made bread instead of muffins.  I was feeling rebellious.

Wet Ingredients
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp Amaretto
2 mashed ripe bananas

Dry Ingredients
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Other Ingredients

1 cup pecan halves (I was lazy and didn’t bother chopping them – in any case, you want 1 cup of pecans in some form)
1 cup raisins (I didn’t this time, but next time I want to try soaking the raisins in some Amaretto to help boost the flavor)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees 

In large bowl combine wet ingredients.  Combine dry ingredients (Moosewood actually has you sifting ingredients together, but with the addition of the oat bran that didn’t work too well…maybe sift everything but the oat bran, and then add it after?).  Add dry ingredients to wet until just mixed.  Stir in nuts and raisins.  Spoon into greased muffin tins or into loaf pan.

If making muffins, bake 20 – 25 minutes.  I think the bread took about 50 minutes.  Test it after 45 minutes using the clean knife method.  Makes 12 muffins or one loaf.

The result is a moist (thanks, I think to the raisins) bread with a nice crunchy top.  It is not overly sweet, and has a nice melding of flavors.  This is going to be my new Saturday staple until I can get my hands on some decent apple butter – then I will return to my beloved Morning Glory Muffins.

Tags: Banana Bread, Moosewood, Saturday breakfasts