7/9/10

Don't-fail-me-now 'Nanar Bread!

It's a travesty, but it's common- so don't be hard on yourself! And until now, it even happened to one of my oldest friends from elementary school, Billie Jean. It's the sloppy, slappy, soupy banana bread batter that just doesn't do it for ya. You work so hard to keep those bananas in your kitchen, all ripe and brown, near the point of attracting fruit flies- you get your cute little bread pan out or perhaps your mini loaves or muffin tins- you spend your hard earned cash on some decent looking eggs from the market- and then you work diligently as you measure all your ingredients and stir everything just so! Finally, you have a nice batter ready and you begin to bake! You sit down after you wash a few dishes & pour yourself a nice glass of Gewürtztraminer, because, well, you know, that will go so good with your piece of banana bread after it comes out of the oven- but wait---sniff...sniff again...what the hell is that? Is something burning? Uhh, is that frickin' smoke? And you realize that there is your beautiful banana bread batter is spewing and bubbling about, and smoking & nearly catching fire in the oven!
Why must banana bread batter be famous for this debacle, and why can't there be No Fail recipe? Well, perhaps there is! Yes, perhaps there is!

This one is for you, Billie Jean!

Ingredients & Recipe:

  • 2 cups of flour (all-purpose preferably, you could try whole-wheat but it'll be a little drier consistency)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • dash of ground nutmeg (optional)
  • 1/2 cup of butter or margarine
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, or equivalent in "egg beaters"
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed well
  • 1/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans) (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a large loaf pan or fill a muffin pan with 12 paper/foil cups.

In a large bowl, mix the the sugar and butter together with a small rubber spatula until creamy. Then add the eggs, one by one, combining well, followed by the vanilla & banana, and again, combine well. (You would also add the nuts at this point).

In another medium bowl, use your fingers to just lightly combine together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, & dash of nutmeg. Now, gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients to create the batter. It can sometimes be helpful to switch to a wooden spoon at this point.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour. If you are doing muffins, check the muffins after about 25 minutes (but your oven will vary so keep an eye on them). Cool slightly and enjoy a warm piece with a tab of butter or a drizzle of honey.

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