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:

Printable 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.

Fiber-licious Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

I don't know about you, but FIBER is my friend! Fiber is found in a variety of foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans (to name a few), and we really should be getting about 35 grams of fiber daily. Fiber helps your digestive tract "exercise," if you will, and a great deal of research says that fiber may reduce your risks of cardiovascular diseases and cancers, & can help you lose weight!

I made these wholesome and fiber-licious muffins for my sister-in-law and her hubby, so they'd have something easy to grab for breakfast as they adjust to life with their baby, Jackson. I actually wrapped each muffin in foil after they cooled, and froze them in a freezer zip top bag, so he or she can grab one, stick it in the oven for a few minutes with the foil still on, and enjoy quite easily!

Ingredients & Recipe:

Printable Recipe

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs, beaten well
• 1 1/2 tsp. good vanilla extract
• 2 cups of shredded carrot
• 3/4 cup rolled oats (I used the same quick-cooking oats that I use for Oatmeal)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and either fill your muffin tray with baking cups or spray lightly with Baking Spray. In a large bowl, sift or stir together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together white and brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well combined. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to incorporate the wet/sugar ingredients into the dry/flour ingredients to make a batter. Fold the oats & carrots into the batter. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean!

You Could Also Try...

• Use 3/4 cup of applesauce + 1/4 cup of oil instead of the full cup of oil
• Like I noted above, let these muffies cool, wrap them in foil and freeze them away in a zip top bag. When you're ready to eat one, take it out of the freezer, stick your muffy directly into the oven on a low temperature, in the foil, until it warms up and enjoy!
• You could add 1/2 cup of coconut flakes and/or 1/2 cup raisins to the batter when you add the oats if you like those extra treats