Buttermilk Banana Bread

I have been contemplating making buttermilk pound cake for a few weeks now.  The idea came from a pint of roasted strawberry buttermilk ice cream I picked up a few weeks ago.  When I saw the ice cream the idea of buttermilk pound cake just kind of popped into my head.  I was thinking we could grill up slices of the pound cake and top with some strawberry buttermilk ice cream and some nice fresh mint.  It sounded like a brilliant idea.  Only I didn't have lemon extract or enough sugar or butter to make the pound cake.  Nor did I have a bundt pan.  And I'm sure I could have used a different assortment of pans to approximate the size of a bundt pan (two loaf pans perhaps), but the lack of ingredients wasn't something I could fix without another trip to the grocery store.  And I was past my grocery store quota for the weekend.  And once I remembered that I had three overripe bananas in the apartment I abandoned that plan and decided to make buttermilk banana bread.  I thought about making up my own recipe, but decided to be a little lazy and find some recipes online.  This recipe seemed like a good starting point.  I was going to add chocolate chips and other ingredients, but Alex made fun of me for my inability to make a simple loaf of banana bread.  So I stuck very closely to the recipe.  The flavor here is very light and pleasant - and when I say light, I mean that the banana flavor doesn't really jump out at you.  That could be the fault of the bananas - they were properly overripe, but some bananas are just more flavorful than others.  And I didn't mind the lack of concentrated banana flavor.  What really threw me was that the texture was a little spongy and dense.  It was almost too moist.  You can actually see how dense it is in the photo.  Maybe we pulled it out of the oven a minute or two early, although the toothpick came out clean.  I prefer my banana bread, zucchini bread and pumpkin bread to be a little fluffier than this, which generally (although not always) means that your bread is a little less moist.  I'm glad that I didn't add any chocolate chips or nuts to this recipe because I think that would have resulted in an even more dense loaf.  Next up, buttermilk pound cake!

Recipe after the jump!

S'mores Banana Bread

I know that I promised you guys two new banana bread recipes, but we got lazy and just made one.  Actually, that's not entirely true.  Alex shot down my second idea.  I wanted to make one loaf of s'mores banana bread and one loaf of pb&j banana bread.  Alex made stink face at the pb&j idea.  And since this was the second time I tried to talk him into a pb&j banana bread I just let it go.  I figure I will make it sometime when he's not home to shoot down my pb&j idea.  In the end I wasn't all that disappointed - who doesn't love s'mores?!  I came up with this idea because I really wanted to make s'mores brownies, but we had those bananas to use.  So I decided to make s'mores banana bread instead.  It turns out I am not the first person to have this idea, but then again I never am.  I'm just not that cool/creative.

Anyway, this banana bread is amazing.  And it's totally decadent - sweet (but not too sweet), rich and chocolately.  I gave a loaf to our neighbors who told me that it is delicious with coffee and I gave a nice thick slice to one of my coworkers, who promptly devoured it in front of me even though she kept trying to set it aside to save it for later.  It really is that hard to put down.  So it's not just me who thinks the banana bread is amazing.  All of the flavors just work together so wonderfully - although the marshmallows basically disolved into the banana bread, their sugary, creamy flavor is still well represented (and the charred ones on top are just heavenly), and then you have the mixture of the semi-sweet chocolate chips and the milk chocolate Hershey's bars, the mellow banana flavor...  It is just fantastic.  And very moist.  I think that the melted marshmallows really upped the moistness factor, but there was also some sour cream in the batter to ensure that everything stayed moist.  It is just so good and reminds me of being a kid again (not that my mom ever baked anything like this banana bread).  I know that two loaves of s'mores banana bread sounds a little excessive, but trust me when I say that you really do need to make both loaves (although you could split the recipe in half pretty easily if necessary).  Your kids/friends/neighbors/coworkers/spouses will love you for it.

Recipe after the jump!

Jacked-Up Banana Bread

This banana bread was really right in Alex's wheelhouse for a number of reasons.  First (and definitely most important), it contains one of his favorite substances in the world - bourbon.  Second, I left out the pecans that I was DYING to add to this recipe.  I love nuts in banana bread.  And chocolate, bourbon and pecans are the most natural pairing in the world!  Unfortunately, we all know Alex's stance on nuts in baked goods.  It's totally maddening sometimes.  But I will survive.  Things I liked about this banana bread - it was moist and it was different.  Things I didn't like about the banana bread...  Actually, I can't think of any specific things that I didn't like about it.  I was worried that the bourbon flavor would be overpowering since I am not a huge fan of bourbon, but it really wasn't that strong.  You certainly smell/taste it, but it didn't bother me.  And yet I think (and Alex agreed) that we have made other banana breads that we enjoyed more - either we thought they had better flavor or were more interesting.

P.S. Get ready for a banana bread extravaganza this weekend.  We have 6 more bananas that should be ready by this weekend for more banana bread experiments and I have a ton of different ideas percolating!  I'm hoping to knock at least one of the three loaves we made this week out of the park, but we will see...

Recipe after the jump!

Banana Bread with Peanut Butter Chips

I wasn't going to post this recipe yet, but I couldn't stand June having only six posts, when I had others teed up and ready to go.  And by teed up and ready to go I really mean that I made the recipe, I have pictures of it and I have a critique in mind.  The logical thing to do would be to wait until tomorrow and sleep on it, but I just can't.  So, this post is going to be short and sweet.  I also have another post halfway teed up for a Susan Spicer recipe (picture and a critique in mind, but no recipe typed out as of yet), but I just didn't have the energy to work up another post this evening.  So June will just have to survive with 7 measly posts.  

I accidentally ripped off the tops of our bananas (again) earlier this week so I knew I had to make banana bread (or something else involving overripe bananas) this weekend.  I really need to start handling our bananas more carefully to avoid ripping the tops off all the time.  The bananas in NYC just seem so flimsy compared to the ones I am used to.  I swear the tops just rip right off with almost no provocation.  Anyway, I did it on Thursday so I had a few days to think about what I should make and I came to the conclusion that I just wanted to try something new, but easy.  I was going to make a banana bread with peanut butter and a swirl of jelly, but Alex was a little skeptical of the addition of jelly.  And then I was going to add walnuts, but Alex pitched his usual anti-nut stink, so I gave up on that.  I thought about it some more and then when it came down to it I got lazy and decided to just add peanut butter chips and call it a day.  So there you have it.  I also played with my standard banana bread recipes to add in a little moisture using a combination of vegetable oil and Greek yogurt, instead of butter, creme fraiche or sour cream.  All in all I thought it was a very successful banana bread.  It has a great light, moist crumb and a nice peanut butter flavor.  I was worried about it being too sweet, but it really isn't.  The balance of peanut butter to banana is perfect so you taste both without either flavor overwhelming the other.  And I think we made the right choice in leaving out the jelly, but I might still try it out in a future banana bread recipe...

Recipe after the jump!

Lemony Olive Oil Banana Bread

I'm not sure how I found this banana bread recipe (I'm going to "blame" it on Tastespotting), nor am I entirely certain what drew me to it.  I have that problem from time to time because I find recipes months and sometimes years before we actually get around to making them.  When I realized that we had 3 bananas that were verging on overripe last week, I set them aside to finally make this banana bread.  I also warned Alex not to touch them because he has a bad habit of eating my banana bread bananas, but that is beside the point. 

My initial thoughts on the first bite I took of banana bread was that the glaze was overpowering and the bread itself wasn't as tender or moist as I would have hoped.  Granted, we were eating an end piece, which is like eating the corner piece of cake - there's always too much icing/frosting/graze for me and it tends to be a little on the drier side than the rest of the cake.  Unless we're talking red velvet cake or carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (or Carvel cake for that matter), I want a very light layer of icing/frosting/glaze on the top of my cake and nothing on the sides.  Otherwise it is just way too saccharine sweet for me.  So I tend to avoid the ends and corners of all square or rectangle cakes.  So I wanted to reserve judgment on the banana bread as a whole until I had another slice.  Then I had another slice for breakfast the next morning and I still didn't love it.  The bread just isn't very tender - which I attribute to the use of whole wheat flour, but you can let me know if you disagree.  And the glaze is still a bit overpowering.  I guess I'm just not into glazes.  Oh well.  It was a fun idea while it lasted and it's not actually a bad banana bread, it's just not my kind of banana bread.  I guess it's back to the drawing board (or at least back to the banana bread recipes we already know and love)!

Recipe after the jump!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Sometimes when you're me recipes come about by accident.  Take this cake for instance.  I wasn't planning on making a cake this weekend.  It was actually the very last thing I had in mind this weekend.  But when I went to break off a banana from our bunch on Sunday for breakfast I ripped the stems off the entire bunch.  Oops.  Which meant all of those four bananas had to be used or eaten.  Stat.  So I was going to make banana bread, but after making a loaf of Zucchini Cornbread Saturday I wanted to do something a little different.  I decided that the logical thing to do was to make the banana cake that I remembered from Susan Spicer's cookbook.  I grabbed the cookbook to make sure we had everything and somehow we did.  It was clearly meant to happen.  Everything from the unintentional banana demolition to the Zucchini Cornbread was pointing me towards this cake.  So I baked a cake.  And for the record, this was my very first attempt at a layer cake  So any issues with frosting, etc. should be excused.  I tried.  It might not be pretty but I should get some points for effort.  One thing I will say is that I wish I had just a little more frosting to spread between the layers of cake.  There just wasn't enough to cover the whole cake and still have a nice layer in there in the middle.  Oh well.

My cake was yummy.  Really yummy.  I had two pieces.  And I know that I have a sweet tooth, but I never have two pieces of cake.  I typically don't like cake that much.  Cupcakes yes, cake no.  Cakes are never moist enough for me and I don't like most frostings.  But this cake was very moist and the peanut butter cream cheese frosting was delicious.  I licked my fingers after frosting the cake.  A lot.  I love peanut butter and chocolate together.  With or without banana that flavor combo is a winner in my book.  But when you add in the banana here it all just comes together so well.  It's delicious.  I briefly considered eating a piece for breakfast, but I decided that was entirely too gluttonous.  I guess that I'm just going to have to wait until after dinner.

Recipe after the jump!

Banana Nutella Bread

During college I studied abroad in France.  And while I was there I discovered the wonderful world of banana nutella crepes.  I blame a combination of those crepes, creamy cheeses, plus the chocolate chip croissants I ate for breakfast at least a few times a week for the 10 pounds I gained while I was there.  Oops.  Somehow French women don't get fat, but Americans living in France do.  But you only live once, right?  So in honor of those banana nutella crepes that I loved so much, I decided to make a banana nutella bread.  Considering I go months without baking, it is interesting that I made both pumpkin bread, and banana bread this week, but the bananas were the perfect level of overripe for bread-making and I was afraid that if I didn't make the bread tonight I would realize on Friday that the bananas had gone from overripe to icky and rotten.  Plus I figured I had plenty of time to prep the banana bread while the Ad Hoc Summer Vegetable Gratin was in the oven for an hour.  It really only takes 5-10 minutes or so to put the bread together from start to finish (assuming that your butter is softened).  And even if your butter isn't softened, there is always the microwave.

I'm not sure what it is that I love about banana bread (and all quick breads really).  They just make me really happy.  This one in particular is lovely - super  moist, with nice banana flavor and just a hint of nutella.  If you want the nutella flavor to be more pronounced, just add a little more to the batter while baking it.  I wanted this to be banana bread with a little nutella, rather than the reverse, so I only added 1/2 of a cup.  This is a banana bread that any child (and any adult) will love.  I certainly do.

 

Recipe after the jump!

Mom's Amazing Banana Bread

So the name of this recipe is a little misleading because it has nothing whatsoever to do with my mother.  Actually, I don't think my mother has ever made banana bread, but that's beside the point.  And the name is misleading in other ways too, but I will get to that later.  This recipe came from a cookbook that one of my friends gave me as a wedding gift.  And when I saw a recipe for making banana bread in a cast iron skillet I thought it sounded interesting enough to merit a try.  Then when I saw the recipe included, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, and sour cream, I decided that my attempt should be sooner rather than later.  Ever since I tried Granny Foster's Banana-Walnut Bread I have been obsessed with the use of cardamom in banana bread.  And then I made a loaf of Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and realized that sour cream (or creme fraiche) in banana bread is wonderful because it keeps it so moist.  Somehow this recipe combined some of my favorite elements from earlier banana bread experiments, but baked the bread in a cast iron pan instead of a loaf pan, which was totally new to me.

So this banana bread was good (not amazing, but good).  But it just couldn't compete with some of the other banana breads I have made in the past - particularly my Green Curry Coconut Banana Bread.  I really need to stop experimenting and just bake myself another loaf of that banana bread.  I thought that cooking the banana bread in a cast iron pan would contribute to a really nice crusty top/bottom/overall exterior, but it didn't.  Instead there is no crust to speak of and I really love that crust.  I would say that the crumb was very standard - not too moist, not too dense, not too cake-like.  The bread has good flavor, although Alex points out that it is more savory than our last few banana breads.  I'm not sure what to say about the banana bread, except that it is really just a totally standard banana bread.  And if you like that more than some of the crazier concoctions I like to whip up, then this recipe should be perfect for you.  Me?  I'll take crazy any day.

Recipe after the jump!

Banana Bread with Coconut and Chocolate Chips

Even though I am fairly certain that I have come up with the ultimate banana bread recipe with my Green Curry Coconut Banana Bread, I am always on the hunt for new recipes.  You never know when you might stumble upon something new and delicious.  Also, I was out of creme fraiche and green curry paste, so I couldn't make my favorite banana bread anyway.  Oh well.  This banana bread was good, but it just can't compete with the green curry banana bread.  It had a nice crisp exterior and a moist crumb.  Because I used bittersweet chocolate chips the banana bread wasn't nearly as sweet as I thought it would be.  I was a little nervous about using an entire cup of sugar, and if I used semisweet chocolate chips instead of bittersweet, I would probably cut back to 3/4 cup sugar.  Unfortunately the Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips I used are about twice the size of regular chocolate chips and they sank to the bottom of the banana bread.  I have heard that if you toss the chocolate chips with a little flour before adding them to the batter it solves this problem, so I will give that a shot next time.  I love the texture and taste of the coconut flakes in the banana bread, something that is also true of my Green Curry Coconut Banana Bread (which is where the idea came from).  I was hoping that you would taste the ground cardamom a little more, but you only get a tiny hint of it.  And if you didn't know to look for it, you probably wouldn't notice it at all.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing mind you - the flavor of cardamom can be a bit overwhelming at times.  All things considered, I would probably give this banana bread a solid B, which isn't bad for an hour's work.

Recipe after the jump!

Green Curry Coconut Banana Bread

So after baking a loaf of Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Banana Bread the other day I had a few bananas left over for yet another banana bread baking experiment.  I thought about returning to an old fave, but decided to just go nuts instead.  Momofuku Milk Bar has this green curry banana bread that I tried a bite of once upon a time, and since I had bananas and green curry paste I figured I could whip up a batch of my own.  I always think that coconut and curry go wonderfully together, plus I wanted some extra sweetness to balance out the heat of the Maesri green curry paste (which is pretty fearsome stuff), so I also threw in some sweetened shredded coconut.  I didn't have any sour cream or unsalted butter left, but I did have some leftover creme fraiche, eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil, so I decided to use what I had to throw together a batch of banana bread.  I decided against the buttermilk because I thought the slight tang of it might not go well with the coconut and green curry paste, but I figured that eggs, creme fraiche and vegetable oil wouldn't clash with my vaguely Southeast Asian flavor profile.  I was a little hesitant about the creme fraiche at first but I love adding dairy products like creme fraiche, sour cream and buttermilk to baked goods for the richness and moistness that it produces, so I decided to just go for it and try it with the creme fraiche.

While the bread was baking I could only get the faintest whiff of the green curry paste, although the aroma of something banana-y and delicious wafted through the whole apartment.  Actually, I'm not even sure that I smelled the green curry paste so much as I might have imagined myself smelling it, but what can you do.  When I tasted the batter there was a subtle kick of heat and spice to it that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I thought about adding more green curry paste, but decided that I didn't want the taste of the green curry to completely overpower the taste of the banana and coconut.  And in the end I think I used the perfect amount of green curry paste.  This bread is fantastic.  The taste of the green curry is subtle, but definitely there.  It lingers on the tongue and gives the bread a savory quality lacking from most banana bread recipes.  It's definitely not in your face, but it's impossible to miss (even if you can't quite figure out what it is).  The sweetness of the coconut is subtle as well, but I think it really adds something.  The crumb is wonderful as well - super moist, with a nice crust that formed on the top.  Unlike the Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, this banana bread is more bread and less cake - both in terms of sweetness and the crumb itself.  I only baked the Green Curry Coconut Banana Bread today, but at the rate we're eating it I might have to go bake another loaf!  It's really that good.

Recipe after the jump!

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

The problem with buying bananas in NYC is that you either end up with 3-4 bananas, or you end up with an entire bagful of 6-7 bananas.  I have a specific range in which I consider bananas edible - when they are too green and unripe I hate how they stick to your teeth, but then once they start turning brown and mushy I don't like them either.  Basically, I will eat bananas anytime from yellow, to yellow with some brown spots.  The second they turn the corner to too brown for me, I start thinking about banana bread.  This banana bread recipe from Savory Sweet Life is one that I have been looking forward to baking for some time now, but it seems that every time I have enough overripe bananas, I am missing at least one of the other key ingredients (usually sour cream).  Somehow this time I have everything I need!  Score.

I have been wanting to make this recipe since the end of January, so I've had some time to build it up in my head, while wondering how sour cream would work with banana bread.  Luckily, the bread lived up to my expectations and more.  Granted, banana isn't the dominant flavor - instead I tasted chocolate more than anything else, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  After all, I do love chocolate far more than I love bananas.  Who doesn't?  And that's not to say that you don't taste the banana at all, the bananas are definitely present - they just aren't dominant.  Most importantly, the banana bread is wonderfully moist - with a very fluffy crumb.  Some banana breads can be a little dense and dry, as can all quick breads, but the sour cream worked wonders to keep the bread light and moist - more cake-like than bread-like in some ways.  I'm not sure if this will be the only banana bread recipe I will cook from now on, but I will certainly add it to the rotation!  In some ways I miss the flavor of the spices (particularly the cardamom) and the prevalent banana flavor from Granny Foster's Banana Bread, but in others I love the gooey chocolatey goodness of this recipe.  Decisions, decisions!

Recipe after the jump!