Thursday, March 25, 2010

Banana Bread

There is nothing like waking up to the smell of banana bread. Especially if you know it is baked with love. I remember waking up on the weekends and my nose would follow that sweet delectable scent of vanilla and bananas. what's not to love? If I could have my mom live here just to make me her banana bread, I would!! buuuut she's in San Diego...sigh...making banana bread for herself.....thanks mom. :( ...I was feeling experimental and I found a recipe online & thought I'd try it out.  !! recipe as follows.

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar ( I used vanilla sugar which you can buy or accomplish by putting a vanilla bean and 2 cups sugar in a jar for 1 to 2 weeks)
2 eggs
2 Tb sour cream1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( I used 1 whole vanilla bean )
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
Walnuts if you desire, I had to leave them out due to the in-laws preference. 


(forgot to picture oil. sorry...and I meant the eggs to be eyes with a vanilla nose...get your head out of the gutter PEOPLE!!!..lol )
preheat oven to 350 degrees F. grease inside of loaf pan with butter or cooking spray.
Sift together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Or if you hate dishes, a disposable cup. :)

In your mixing bowl add the eggs and sugar and beat for about 5 minutes so they're fluffy and a cream color. After the mixture is thick and fluffy, add the remaining wet ingredients starting with incorporating the oil.
Cut vanilla bean down the middle length wise and take a small spoon to scrape out the seeds. Transfer to bowl of wet ingredients.
Once well blended add your dry ingredients and if you'd like to add nuts, go for it!
Pour the mixture into your loaf pan.

and bake for 50 minutes to 55 minutes. Or until toothpick comes out clean. I sprinkle a sugar cinammon blend on top for an added sweetness and crunch.
?? for some reason my sugar cinnamon topping did not stay crunchy like usual. but it made pretty colors. :)

My husband rated this a 7 compared to previous banana breads I've made. Don't get me wrong it's very moist, and the flavors are delicious. But all in all, I've made better. I just recently bought a humongous book from America's test kitchen. I will be trying that version next. Still on a hunt for the best banana bread...in the WOOOOooooooRrrrrrrld!!!!! muahahahA!

1 comment: