Bananas Fosters Bread

Apparently, I haven't been eating my bananas fast enough. But, that's ok because this month's issue of Cooking Light has several recipes for banana bread. It must be fate. I always remember my dad making bananas foster as an ice cream topping for special occasions, so I was immediately drawn to the Bananas Foster Bread. The bread didn't retain the true bananas foster taste, but it's definitely a nice way to use ultra-ripe bananas in a slightly different way.


Bananas Foster Bread (Cooking Light, October 2010)

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
6 Tbs. butter, melted and divided
1/4 cup cognac or dark rum, divided
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
2 large eggs
6.75 oz all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
cooking spray
1/3 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 5 Tbs. butter, and 3 Tbs. cognac in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add yogurt, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.
4. Combine remaining 1 Tbs. melted butter, remaining 1 Tbs. cognac, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over warm bread.

The Best Banana Bread

On my day off to celebrate Veterans' Day, I decided to take advantage of my extra time and my extra ripe bananas. The only way to properly do that is to make banana bread. This slightly unconventional banana bread is so delicious and a great change to the norm. Instead of chocolate chips and nuts, this banana bread is full of coconut and topped with a sugary-lime glaze. So next time you look at your fruit bowl and see some browning bananas, think about this recipe. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze (Cooking Light, September 2007)

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 oz.)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 Tbs. dark rum
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
cooking spray
1 Tbs. flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh lime or lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 Tbs. coconut. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

I Love Muffins

In addition to the super ripe cantaloupe that we needed to use, we also had bananas. Luckily, right next to the cantaloupe chicken salad recipe, there was a recipe for banana muffins. I altered the recipe only by adding a few chopped strawberries into the mix, because those also needed to be eaten. They are some of the most moist muffins I have ever eaten. They aren't going to fully satisfy an intense sugar craving, but they do start a morning off right.

Banana Nut Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel (Cooking Light, May 2007)

Muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 1/4 oz.)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (about 2 1/2 oz.)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk [or skim]
3 Tbs. canola oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Streusel
6 Tbs. regular oats
5 Tbs. all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 oz.)
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2 Tbs. butter, softened
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. To prepare muffins, lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine banana and next 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened; fold in walnuts. Place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups.
3. To prepare streusel, combine oats and remaining 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Blend with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle streusel over batter. Bake at 375 for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Banana Bread with Flare

Adam needed something to bring into his company's international potluck. I had been eying this banana bread recipe in Cooking Light that my sister had told me was amazing and it had some Caribbean flare, so I thought it might work for Adam's potluck. Even better was that we had all the ingredients at home! Adam got two thumbs up from his co-workers with this one.


Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze (Cooking Light, September 2007)

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 oz.)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 Tbs. dark rum
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
cooking spray
1 Tbs. flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh lime or lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 Tbs. coconut. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

Strawberry Shortcake with a Twist

Saturday night we had a game night with the neighbors. Naturally, we had to impress them with a dessert, so Adam suggested we make strawberry shortcake. We didn't actually have enough strawberries to make a pure strawberry shortcake, so we added banana to the fruit mix. To make the dessert even more heavenly, Adam made fresh whipped cream, both the original variety and chocolate. I must give all the credit of this fabulous dessert to the Magruders--June, who gave us the recipe, and Adam, who made the whipped cream and inspired the baking.


Strawberry-Banana Shortcake (June with our variations)

The wonderful thing about shortcake is that it takes a relatively little amount of time to bake, only 12-15 minutes. And, in comparison to other baked goods, it's not too terrible for you. All-in-all, a perfect dessert.

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup milk

2 pints strawberries (we only had 1, but 2 would have been better), sliced
2 bananas, sliced
1 Tbs. sugar

1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbs. sugar
chocolate syrup, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 450.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor just to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like cornmeal.
3. Transfer the mixture into another bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the flour. Pour the milk into the hole and stir until moistened. You may not need all of the milk.
4. Pour the shortcake mixture into a greased 8 x 8 x 2 pan and bake for 12-15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, place the sliced strawberries in a bowl and coat with 1 Tbs. sugar. Set aside.
6. To make the whipped cream, place the whipping cream in a very cold metal mixing bowl. Beat the cream until soft peaks have formed; fold in the sugar. Divide the whipped cream, adding chocolate syrup to half.
7. Cut the cooked shortcake into bars and split in half. Top with strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream. Indulge!