Monkey Bars

This is a great recipe for those over-ripe bananas, and a change from your traditional banana bread. The recipe calls for white whole-wheat flour which I did not have so I used regular whole-wheat flour. My monkey bars turned out a little darker due to the flour substitution, but they had a great flavor.

Monkey Bars (Woman's Day Sept. 2010)

1 2/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 5 bananas)

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp each baking soda and cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups white whole-wheat flour

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15x10x1/2 inch baking pan with nonstick foil (let the foil extend about 2 inches above pan at both ends). Whisk mashed bananas, sugar, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl until mixed thoroughly. Whisk in flour just until blended; gently stir in 1/2 cup of the mini chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Holding foil by ends, lift from pan onto a cutting board. Carefully cut lengthwise in 4 strips and then cute each strip in 10; remove foil. Makes 40 bars. (2ww pts)

Chocolate-chip Banana Nut Bread

I'm just getting back in my routine from visiting family in Indiana. It was a wonderful trip, but as usual too short! Plus, it was weird knowing that this was my husband and I's last trip to see our families with just the two of us...next time we will have a baby in tow (exciting and scary at the same time)! I'll try to post some pictures of our trip home in a couple of days, but for now on to a new recipe I tried this morning.

I've had bananas begging to be used in my freezer for several months now, so when I came across the recipe for Chocolate-chip Banana Nut Bread from the 'Chef Jeff Cooks' book, I knew it was time to pull the bananas out. I need to mention that my husband checked this book out from the library, but there are so many great recipes I want to try that it will probably be my next cookbook purchase. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

Chocolate-chip Banana Nut Bread
6 ripe bananas
1 tsp lemon juice
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8-inch loaf pans by spraying them with cooking spray. Puree the bananas and lemon juice together using a blender or by hand. You should have about 2 cups mashed bananas. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together into a bowl. Place the banana mixture, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a mixer bowl and mix on medium speed with the paddle attachment until blended. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips. Divide the batter evenly between the loaf pans. Gently tap the filled pans to burst any air bubbles. Bake until the bread springs back when pressed and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool the loaves in the pans for a few minutes, then turn the bread onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing and serving. The bread can be held at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 6 weeks.

Banana Crumb Snack Cake

I brought snacks to my Monday morning Bible study group this week, one of which was this Banana Crumb Snack Cake. I loved the addition of almond extract versus the usual vanilla found in standard banana bread recipes. The sour cream mixed with the bananas gave the cake a very moist texture, which is great in dry climates...it stays "fresh" longer!

Banana Crumb Snack Cake (ToH Aug/Sept 08)
2/3 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium)
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 cup vanilla or white chips

In a small bowl, combine almonds and brown sugar; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and powder; add to the cream mixture alternately with the sour cream and mashed bananas. Fold in chips. Spread in to a greased 13x9 baking pan. Sprinkle with reserved almond mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 12-16 servings.

TWD: Black and White Banana Loaf

This week's recipe for Tuesday's with Dorie comes from Ashlee at A Year in the Kitchen. Looking at some of her recent posts it seems as if she lives near or in Indiana...my home state! She's probably enjoying some fresh picked sweet corn and ripe juicy tomatoes this summer. I've found you can't find sweet corn like you do in Indiana! Okay, enough about Indiana and on with this week's recipe. I had plenty of bananas stored up and ready to use for some bread, so this selection came at a great time! I found the batter to be a bit runnier than a normal banana bread recipe but unlike some other bakers this week, I didn't have any problems with the baking time. I baked mine for an hour and 15 minutes and it came out moist and done throughout. I was afraid of overflowing my bread pan, so I put some of the batter in a small glass dish to be on the safe side, which also ended up being what my husband and I "tested". I'm sending the actual loaf to my husband's office where I'm sure it will be devoured in no time! Mine could have used more bananas as I didn't feel there was enough banana flavor, however I did like the addition of chocolate with the rum and may use this idea with my usual banana bread recipe. Check out Ashlee's blog for the recipe!

Have blueberries...must make muffins....

One of my favorite things about summer is the availability of fresh berries. I try to include fresh fruit and vegetables in to my diet whenever possible (you need five servings a day!) and during the summer months I typically don't have a problem. I picked up some blueberries at the store the other day thinking I could just nibble on them as a snack. I could eat them by themselves, but I think blueberries are better used mixed in to muffins...pancakes...pies...basically because by themselves they are a little tart, but mixed in to a muffin (or anything else) they are perfect! Okay, so I didn't actually make muffins, but a close second...a Blueberry Loaf Bread from a "Light Cooking for Two" cookbook that I just recently checked out from the library. (May need to look for this one on half.com!) I also made a loaf of banana bread, which followed the same baking directions as the blueberry loaf.

Blueberry Loaf Bread

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Dash of salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbls plan nonfat yogurt (I didn't have plain yogurt, so substituted raspberry which turned out very well!)

2 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg white, slightly beaten

1/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine yogurt and next 3 ingredients; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into a 6x3x2 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan immediately, and let cook on a wire rack. Yields 1 loaf.

I had some bananas in the freezer waiting to be made into a banana bread, so I made that this morning as well!

Banana Bread

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Dash of salt

3 Tbls sugar

1/4 cup low-fat sour cream

1/4 cup mashed ripe banana

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Follow same instructions on recipe above!

Review: Both breads turned out very well and I would use these recipes again. The blueberry loaf was more porous than what I was expecting and I could have used a little more banana in the banana bread for a stronger flavor. Neither bread was overly sweet which I feel makes a good breakfast bread. Overall I was pleased with how they came out.