Banana Bread

After noticing several Bananas slowly going to waste on the counter, I decided to put them to use and make one of my all-time favorite types of bread, Banana Bread. This recipe was found in my special "BAKED" cookbook after several hours of searching through all my regular recipes and coming up with none.

Ingredients: 3 or 4 Over Ripe Bananas

5 Tbls. plus 1 tsp. Butter (slightly melted)

1 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1/3 Cup Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp. Baking Soda

Generous Pinch of Salt

1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

In a large bowl, mash the Bananas

With a wooden spoon, mix in the Butter

Sugar

Eggs

Milk

And Vanilla

Add the Soda

Then the Salt

Sift in the Flour and mix until blended

Pour the mixture into a Buttered loaf pan

Gently tap the pan against the counter top to remove any air bubbles and evenly distribute the batter

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for one hour or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan

Then slice and enjoy

This particular recipe makes a very good Banana Bread indeed, but its not the best Ive ever had. The batter was runny and took longer than the initial hour called for to cook, and the Banana flavor was mild. However in its defense, the Bread was amazingly moist with a fantastic chew, and it also went very well with Butter spread over the top. I will make this recipe again in the future, but next time plan to change around some of the measurements to achieve the desired strong Banana flavor, and might even add chopped Walnuts in for a crunchy texture.

Pilgrim Bread

Recently I participated in the first ever book exchange on redditgifts.com, and I received in the mail one of my all time favorite types of book, a brand spanking new Cook Book [More-With-Less by Doris Janzen Longacre] courtesy of reddit user ZazzlesThe7th. After the initial excitement of receiving a Cook Book I have never heard of, I sat down and started reading all the stories and recipes that are held within and learned that its a Mennonite Cook Book that has an amazing range of recipes from homemade laundry soap and play dough to Navajo Fry Bread and Peanut Soup and everything else in between. It also teaches you how to make bigger proportions while using less ingredients so as not to waste as much, and other useful kitchen tips such as canning food and all the different recipe measures and conversions. With so many unique and unheard of recipes I had a hard time deciding on which would be the first to be made, but after much deliberation, I decided to go with Pilgrim Bread since I enjoy making Bread and happened to have all the necessary ingredients.

Ingredients: 1/2 Cup Yellow Corn Meal

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

2 Cups Boiling Water

1/4 Cup Oil

2 Pkg. Dry Yeast

1/2 Cup Water

3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 Cup Rye Flour

4 1/4-4 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

In a large bowl, combine the Cornmeal

Brown Sugar

And Salt sifting together with a whisk

Gradually stir in the Boiling Water

Then the Oil and set aside until lukewarm

In a separate bowl, dissolve together the Yeast

And Water

Add to the cooled mixture

Beat in the Whole Wheat Flour

Rye Flour

And White Flour until a soft Dough forms

Turn out onto a slightly Floured surface

Then Knead until smooth and elastic

Place the Dough into a lightly greased bowl

Cover and let rise until double in size

Punch down the Dough

Then divide in half and knead a second time

Shape the Dough into two loaves and place into greased pans

Cover and let rise until double

Once risen, place the Dough into a preheated oven at 375 F

Bake 35-45 minutes or until the bottom of the Loaf sounds hollow when tapped

Wait for it to cool then slice and enjoy

What a interesting Bread this recipe makes, its sort of like a half multi-grain/half white bread. It has a wonderful aroma when baking and a nice golden brown crust that started off hard when removed from the oven, but quickly changes back to soft as the Bread cools. It has a subtle chew and wonderful flavors that overlap one another without any one being too over powering. Overall this is a great everyday Bread to have around, whether you want to just cover it in butter and jam, or make a ten layer sandwich like Scooby and Shaggy.