Blueberry Banana Bread - Caity



Whenever I buy a bunch of bananas, at least 3 of them end up turning black before I can eat them. In college I learned that, even if they are black, just throw them in the freezer and thaw them when you're ready to make banana bread. The riper the better! I love this recipe because it uses whole wheat flour and blueberries so I can tell myself that I am eating health food while I finish the entire loaf with my whole milk latte. 

Lynn Kestle gave this recipe to my mom and it's from bestselling Canadian cookbook "Fare for Friends", published in support of battered women. The original recipe uses all white flour but Lynn substitutes 1/2 cup whole wheat flour which my family likes to do too, because it gives the bread such great flavor. Another change Lynn makes is to use chocolate chips instead of blueberries. Both variations are great! 

what you'll need: 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup quick oats (from personal error, Irish steel cut oats do NOT work)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup ripe mashed bananas 
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) OR 3/4 cup chocolate chips, plus a handful for the top


 This is the banana I took out of my freezer. Mmmmm! Tasty! If you want to save yourself the trouble of peeling a frozen banana, you should peel it before you freeze it. Lesson learned for me! 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 


Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 

Add in oats, oil, eggs and mashed bananas; stir to mix. Carefully fold in blueberries (or chocolate chips).

Pour into a greased 9 x 5" loaf pan, sprinkle with an extra handful of chocolate chips (if using) and bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool as long as you can stand it, then devour. Tastes awesome with cold milk or strong coffee. 

 One year ago: Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Spicy Edamame, Grilled Lemon Chicken and Mushroom Flatbread

This recipe also makes great muffins! It makes about 12 muffins. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Orange Sauce (aka Crack Sauce) - Cathy

Image
So, there's a story behind the name of this amazing, addicting sauce...The recipe itself comes from a wonderful cookbook by a San Francisco Bay area restaurant of the same name, "Tacolicious", available here --and I highly recommend getting it! Among many other wonderful recipes, I was thrilled to see in there one for a sauce "modeled after what is called nothing sexier than 'The Orange Sauce' by the devoted regulars of La Victoria taqueria in San Jose, California."  Having been to that restaurant with Keegan and Jaymie before, and yes, having found the sauce--and the tacos--to be highly addicting (hence the second name, "Crack Sauce") I was so excited to try the recipe! As it says in the cookbook, it is such a surprise to find that this creamy sauce actually has no cream in it; just oil that is emulsified in the blender with the other ingredients that gives it such a wonderful texture.  Absolutely brilliant.  And so very addicting.  It...
Read more

Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad - Erin

Image
I've just been out of town, which means my boyfriend has only stayed alive thanks to Del Taco and Burger King.  When I came home he requested "something light" for dinner, so this popped into my head.  It's a delicious, fresh-tasting, crunchy, lemony salad from Barefoot Contessa.  Our mom was introduced to it by her friend Liz Owens, and our mom gives her great credit for finding such a fabulous and aesthetically pleasing salad!  Erik gives it credit for being "really, really good." what you will need
Read more

Buttery Snickerdoodle Cake - Erin

Image
  This amazing deliciousness is from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook by Deb Perelman ( here ) and I recently made it to take to a Superbowl party where it very quickly vanished.  It's basically like a giant snickerdoodle that's cooked perfectly so it's chewy and gooey and amazing!  My only alteration was that I did more of the cinnamon sugar topping because it's so delicious, so you could scale that back if you want. what you will need cookie base: 8 Tbsp unsalted butter , room temperature 1 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp cream of tartar 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp table salt 3/4 cup sugar 1 large egg 1/4 cup milk gooey layer: 1/4 cup corn syrup 1/4 cup half-and-half 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 12 Tbsp butter , room temperature 1 cup sugar 1/4 tsp table salt 1 large egg 1 1/4 cups flour topping: 3 Tbsp sugar 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Read more