Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Banana Bread. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Banana Bread. Sort by date Show all posts
There is something about this time of year that makes me want to indulge in all things apple and pumpkin . . . and spice. Its only natural I guess since this is the time that those things are coming into their own and are available in abundance. One thing I like to make is applesauce, and once I have made my applesauce, then I like to make an Applesauce Nut Bread or an Applesauce Cake.
I basically make two kinds of applesauce. One with sugar and one without sugar. The one I make with sugar is to eat as is, and the one without is to use in baked goods, where there will be sugar added to the batter. Both freeze very well. I freeze it in one cup amounts which is perfect for either use.
Today I decided to try out a new Applesauce bread/cake recipe. I have a cookery book entitled, Recipes Worth Sharing, recipes and stories from America's most-loved Community Cookbooks.
This particular recipe is attributed to The Bells are Ringing: A Call To Table by the Mission San Juan Capistrano Women's Guild. It looked good. I did make a few changes from the original, which I will detail, and of course have also converted it to British measurements for the British kitchen.
The original recipe called only for the use of cinnamon and nutmeg. I added some cloves. Cloves go very well with the flavour of apple and my husband loves cloves. He is always banging on about his mom's apple pie and how she used cloves, so the cloves were a love note to him.
There was also a rather abundant amount of cinnamon sugar nut sprinkle in the original recipe which was to be sprinkled on top. I thought it was a bit much for just on top so I divided it in three and sprinkled it between two layers and only added the final third for on top, which . . .
As you can see was more than ample!
I also toasted my pecans. I toast all of my nuts prior to baking with them. It just makes them taste nuttier and I love the smell of them toasting. About 6 to 8 minutes in a moderate oven on a baking sheet does the trick.
The end result was a very delicious loaf. There is no need for a drizzle or frosting on top as the brown sugar adds the perfect amount of sweetness for that purpose.
The loaf itself is not overly sweet, which I liked. As a Diabetic, I am not supposed to eat a lot of sugar, so this isn't exactly on my list of things I can eat, but if I was tempted it is not the worst thing I could eat either.
Its not quite as moist as some applesauce breads I have made in the past, but I think that a slice of this warmed and spread with butter would be excellent with a nice hot cup of tea, herbal or otherwise.
When I was working at the Manor the Mr used to like me to toast the quick breads and butter them when I was serving them to him. It actually really is quite nice to do that with a quick bread, and I strongly suspect that this bread will be lovely toasted as well.
I am also thinking it might make a great bread and butter pudding when it gets to being a bit stale. If you have never tried that with a quick bread, then you don't know what you have been missing out on!
Bread and Butter Pudding made with sliced quick bread is magnificently delicious . . . I have done it with my cinnamon loaf, banana bread and gingerbread in the past and all versions were drool-worthy!
You don't want to do it with really crumbly quick breads, but sturdier ones like this one are perfect for that purpose!
Yield: 8 - 10
Applesauce Nut Bread
prep time: 15 minscook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 15 mins
Tasty tasty. Moist and delicious. Tis the season.
ingredients:
For the Pecan Topping:
100g soft light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
30g chopped toasted pecans
For the loaf:
245g smooth unsweetened applesauce (1 cup)
190g sugar (1 cup)
120ml vegetable oil (1/2 cup)
2 large free range eggs
280g plain flour (2 cups)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 tsp grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
30g toasted pecans (1/4 cup)instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a large loaf
tin, or two smaller ones and then line with baking paper. Set aside.
tin, or two smaller ones and then line with baking paper. Set aside.
Mix the topping ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Whisk
together the applesauce, sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs. Sift together
the flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
Stir in the pecans. Add all at once to the wet ingredients. Mix well
together. Spread 1/3 of it into the prepared loaf tin (s) sprinkle with
1/3 of the topping. Spread another 1/3 of the batter on top. Top with
another 1/3 of the topping. Spread on the final 1/3 of batter. Using a
round bladed knife swirl the topping through and then sprinkle the
remaining topping on top of the loaf.
together the applesauce, sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs. Sift together
the flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
Stir in the pecans. Add all at once to the wet ingredients. Mix well
together. Spread 1/3 of it into the prepared loaf tin (s) sprinkle with
1/3 of the topping. Spread another 1/3 of the batter on top. Top with
another 1/3 of the topping. Spread on the final 1/3 of batter. Using a
round bladed knife swirl the topping through and then sprinkle the
remaining topping on top of the loaf.
Bake for
30 minutes. Cover loosely with foil to help prevent over-browning. Bake
for 15 to 30 minutes longer (depending on pan(s) used). When the bread
is done a toothpick inserted in the centre will come out clean. Cool
in the pan for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool
completely.
30 minutes. Cover loosely with foil to help prevent over-browning. Bake
for 15 to 30 minutes longer (depending on pan(s) used). When the bread
is done a toothpick inserted in the centre will come out clean. Cool
in the pan for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool
completely.
Created using The Recipes Generator
The added bonus of this lovely bread is the wonderful smell it leaves in your house while it is baking . . . cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves . . . smells like Home Sweet Home to me! Bon Appetit!
I wasn't allowed to work for the first few months that I lived in the UK. Having arrived on a Fiance's visa, I had to wait for an employment visa before I could actually apply for a job. We lived in a very small ground floor Maisonette apartment, which had a small kitchen, a bedroom, a lounge and a bathroom.
Cleaning and tidying that didn't take a lot of time, to say the least.
While my husband was at work, I used to enjoy a variety of cooking shows on the television at the time. One of those was Ready Steady Cook. It involved a host (Ainsley Harriot), two celebrity chefs and two guests.
The guests would bring in a mystery bag of ingredients and the chefs would have to make as many dishes as they could from what was in the bag in an allotted length of time.
That was exactly how I liked to cook . . . take a pile of ingredients and then see what I could do with them! Another show I enjoyed was Great British Classics, starring the late chef, Gary Rhodes.
I was really keen to learn what British food and cookery was all about and he epitomised the very best for me. I liked his style so much that the first Christmas Todd and I spent together, I asked him for the same entitled cookery book by Gary Rhodes.
Gary Rhodes and Delia Smith became my culinary mentors when I first moved to the UK. I learnt a lot from them and from these basic books!!
This Banana Loaf recipe comes from Gary's book.
I had bought in a bunch of fresh fruit prior to Christmas Day. I wanted the Missionaries to have a bit of choice while we were all waiting for dinner to be ready for eating.
Needless to say, a lot of it didn't get eating and so today I found myself with some ripe bananas which needed using up.
I remembered this Banana & Golden Syrup Loaf in Gary's book and decided to try it out.
Its an all in one recipe where you just bung everything into a bowl, beat it all together and then pour the batter into a pan and bake.
After having cooked two large meals this week, I wasn't much in the mood for cooking anything very involved, so it suited me to a "T".
The end result was an incredibly squidgy, moist banana loaf!
The golden syrup lends a bit of a caramel/butterscotch flavour to the loaf. If you can't find golden syrup, you can just use corn syrup.
It will work well but might not have the same caramel like flavour.
This tasty loaf doesn't have a lot of fat in it. The mashed bananas replace some of the fat in the recipe. It doesn't rise really high either.
At first, I thought it has fallen, but when I cut into it, I realized that it hadn't. It's just a somewhat flattish squidgy loaf.
We like to enjoy our banana breads warm and spread with cold butter . . . doesn't everyone??
It was really quite a nice loaf. My favourite banana loaf is still going to be my Sour Cream Banana Loaf, but this one is not too shabby at all!
Yield: 1 (2-lb) loaf
Banana & Golden Syrup Loaf
prep time: 10 minscook time: 55 minstotal time: 65 mins
A simple and delicious way to use up over-ripe bananas.
ingredients:
225g self - raising flour (1 1/2 cups +2 TBS)
100g butter, softened (1/2 cup)
4medium ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
50g soft dark brown sugar (1/4 cup packed)
4 TBS golden syrup
4 large free range eggs, beaten lightlyinstructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C.350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 2
pound loaf tin and line it with baking paper. (I use the baking liners
that you can buy.)
pound loaf tin and line it with baking paper. (I use the baking liners
that you can buy.)
Measure all of the ingredients into a bowl and beat together until well combined. Pour into the lined tin.
Bake
in the pre-heated oven for 50 to 55 minutes. The loaf should be golden
brown, well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre should come
out clean.
in the pre-heated oven for 50 to 55 minutes. The loaf should be golden
brown, well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre should come
out clean.
Let rest in the tin for 10 minutes before slipping out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Created using The Recipes Generator
Over-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl always spell Banana Bread to me! May it ever be so! Bon Appetit!
It's that time of year again! Pumpkin season. The time of year that we all enjoy baking with pumpkin. Nothing says Autumn more than a pumpkin bake, and this simple recipe makes for the best pumpkin bread you could ever want to eat!
It's an adaptation of a recipe I received from my Canadian Mother-in-Law back in the 1970's. It started off pretty plain and basic, but through the years I have gradually fiddled with it to create something of my own.
It was moist and pretty delicious back then, but I have to say it is even more delicious now! And I don't mean to sound like I am bragging when I say that, but it's true.
When I first moved over to the UK tinned pumpkin was a very difficult thing to find in the shops. I remember the first year I was there I had invited some Missionaries over for Thanksgiving dinner and I wanted to make them a traditional pumpkin pie for dessert.
I could not find pumpkin anywhere at all. I ended up roasting sweet potatoes and pureeing them to use for the pie. It worked out well, but it was not really pumpkin pie.
Then when I worked at the Manor, I used to use pumpkin which I bought from an American food supply company. It came at a premium price but was worth every penny to me at the time.
Gradually pumpkin became more and more available and by the time I left there you could pretty much buy tinned pumpkin most of the time and in many of the shops.
You can of course make your own pumpkin puree from scratch, but it is very labor intensive to get it to the right consistency. You need to first roast your pumpkin.
Then you need to puree it. Once pureed you then need to strain it and squeeze as much liquid out of it as you can. This is where all of the labor comes in. Tinned pumpkin is very dry and if you don't get your homemade pumpkin puree just as dry, the integrity of your bakes will be ruined.
It is just so much less work to use the ready tinned pumpkin. Trust me on this. Tinned pumpkin comes in handy for many things. Pies, cakes, cookies, breads, etc.
My boss at the manor used to ask me to make pumpkin soup with it every American Thanksgiving.
This pumpkin bread recipe makes the best pumpkin bread ever and that is all down to my mother-in-law's secret ingredient, which is frozen orange juice concentrate. Yes, frozen orange juice concentrate. This was not something I could get in the UK either, but it was an ingredient that I learned to adapt.
You can do this either one of two ways. One, you can take fresh orange juice and boil it down to make a very concentrated form (again, labor intensive) or two, you can take a fresh orange (peeled and segmented) and puree it in a blender until smooth.
I will choose to puree the fresh fruit over boiling down juice every time. It is just so much easier and quicker. In any case, don't skip it because it is what makes this an incredibly tasty and moist loaf!
There is also plenty of spice in the loaf, but not obnoxiously so. My mother-in-law used to just add cinnamon to hers. I added some nutmeg and ground cardamom, which we always loved. I also added some vanilla.
On a side note, now that the kittens are jumping up onto things they are a bit of a nuisance when it comes to taking my food photos. haha. Not quite the same as Mitzie. She liked to hold onto the edge of the table and watch.
She couldn't actually jump up onto the table. I think I must have had to take this little monkey down a bazillion times while I was taking these photos. I think it's time to buy a squirt bottle.
My mother-in-law used to add raisins to her pumpkin bread. I switched them out for dried cranberries a number of years back. Cranberries are a very autumnal thing, and the dried ones work very well in this delicious pumpkin bread!
You can also use dried cherries (chopped) or even toasted walnuts, pecans or yes, even chocolate chips. Also raisins if you want. I love this with the cranberries.
I know that everyone thinks their pumpkin bread is the best, but I think mine is the very best and that is for a number of reasons. One it always turns out. I have never had this fail.
Two, it is incredibly moist and dense, without being soggy. This means that it cuts into perfect slices every single time.
Three it is very family friendly, not too spicy and not too sweet. I know that young mums want to make sure their children are not eating too much of the sweet stuff. This loaf has a perfect balance.
Another reason that I really love this loaf is because it is totally freezable. You can make it ahead, or make several loaves of it when you have the pumpkin and freeze them.
I like to cut mine into slices and place the loaf, pieced back together with a piece of wax paper in between the slices and the whole thing popped into an airtight freezer container. That way I can take out a slice as and when I want to indulge myself.
It will keep for several months this way. I can tell you it is really awfully nice to have this in the freezer ready to take out when a friend stops by unexpectedly. 10 seconds or so in the microwave and you have something incredibly tasty to enjoy with a hot drink.
Or course like any true Nova Scotia gal I enjoy mine sliced and spread with softened butter. That's how I like all of my quick breads like this one.
Banana bread, date and nut loaf, even lemon loaf. I know it is a bit hedonistic, but you only live once.
I really hope that you will bake this loaf and that you will enjoy it as much as I do. To me, it's quite simply, the Best Pumpkin Bread ever invented.
It's even better on the second day. In fact I usually bake it on one day and leave it to ripen overnight before cutting into it. It always cuts into beautiful slices and the flavor is even better on the second day. Trust me however, first day, second day, even third day, you are going to love this delicious pumpkin bread!
Pumpkin, Orange & Cranberry Bread
Yield: 8
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 60 MinTotal time: 1 H & 4 M
This easy and delicious loaf is an annual autumn favorite. I got the recipe from my mother in law many years ago. It’s the best pumpkin bread recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250g) pumpkin puree (from the tin, not pie filling)
- 2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (120ml) canola oil
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 3 TBS frozen orange juice concentrate, undiluted (see note)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cup (245g) plain all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup (75g) dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf tin and line with baking paper, leaving an overhang to lift the finished loaf out with when done.
- Whisk the eggs, sugars, oil, orange juice concentrate, pumpkin puree and vanilla together in a bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder, spices and salt until combined. Add all at once to the wet ingredients. Stir everything together just to combine and no dry streaks remain. Stir in the cranberries.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking tin, smoothing over the top.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.
Notes:
If you cannot get orange juice concentrate. Peel and segment a large orange. Puree the orange in a food processor until smooth and measure out three TBS.
Usually at the weekend I like to bake us something that we can enjoy for breakfast or with a hot drink. I do bake sweet things too.
I am not sure why I always bake at the weekend. I suppose it is a habit that started when I was working full time. I did not really have much time during the week to bake us anything special. We were lucky I managed to get dinner done!
The recipe I am sharing with you today for Sugar-Free Banana Nut Muffins has been adapted from a cookbook of mine entitled Bread for Breakfast by Beth Hensperger.
It is filled with lots of baked Breakfast options, including muffins, loaves (both sweet and savoury, quick and yeasted), Scones, Biscuits, cornbreads, etc.
There are also a sections on coffee cakes and holiday bakes, pancakes and waffles, as well as butters, jams and fruit and cheese spreads.
Its not an overly large book, but it is filled with quite a few goodies. Old fashioned as well as the new. Its one of my favourite breakfast baking books.
I was intrigued by this Banana Muffin recipe because it was sugar free. These days we have all been brainwashed by popular coffee spots and warehouse stores into think that a muffin is supposed to a small cake. Similar to a cupcake but without frosting!
As a consequence, our tastebuds have come to expect that every muffin we eat should be stogged full of sugar in one form or another. Ultra sweet, containing candy like chocolate chips and the like.
Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a chocolate chip muffin. I adore them myself. But a muffin should be a muffin and not a little cake. Know what I mean.
This muffin recipe boasts no sugar at all. Nada. Zip. Zero sugar. Instead it relies upon the sweetness of the fruit to bring sweet into the mix. In this case bananas.
Bananas are quite sweet fruit and the longer you allow them to ripen the sweeter they get. The best bananas for baking are ones which are heavily speckled with brown, maybe even to the point where you think they are past it.
But they are not past it. They are perfect and sweet and ready to be baked into muffins and loaves, cookies, cakes, etc.
These are lovely and moist. There is buttermilk in the batter. I love bakes with buttermilk. Buttermilk adds a special lightness and tenderness to bakes such as this.
It is an acid as well, so it helps to create a nice lift. You always need to add bicarbonate of soda to a bake using something acidic like buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, etc.
When baking soda is combined with the lactic acids of buttermilk, the acid neutralizes the metallic taste of sodium carbonate, and the batter will bubble and expand.
This is why when you are baking something with buttermilk and soda in it you need to get your bake into the oven as quickly as possible. This is to help take advantage of that chemical reaction.
The heat of the oven will immediately increase the effects of that action giving you a nice tall and light bake. If you wait too long to put your bakes into the oven you will risk losing that effect, and in fact you will decrease the action of the buttermilk and the soda as well.
So speed is the key factor here. Make sure you have your pan greased and everything ready to go as soon as you mix the wet and dry ingredients together!
So, no sugar. These muffins have no sugar whatsoever. I didn't mind. The end result was not sweet at all actually. It was just right. Just what I would expect a true muffin to taste like.
If you want sweet, you will have to add a bit of sugar into the mix. I wouldn't think you would need a lot actually, maybe only 1 or 2 TBS of either caster sugar or soft light brown sugar.
We enjoyed them just as they were, served warm with some butter for spreading on top. Look at the texture of these beauties. I call that perfection.
The recipe only makes 9 muffins. That's another thing I liked about the recipe. Nine muffins is a perfectly reasonable amount. They also freeze really well according to the recipe. Up to three months in an airtight container.
Baking things like this at the weekend means I also get to use my roll cover. My good friend Monique sent this sweet embroidered roll cover to me last year, or possibly even the year before, for my Birthday.
Every time I use it I cannot help but think of her, and her many kindnesses to me through the years. Meeting good and kind people is one of the blessings you gain from being a member of the blogging community.
Like is attracted to like. These sweet friendships are one of the things I love most about blogging. That sense of community. Oh sure there is the odd nasty person, or troll as they are called, but the good ones far outweigh them.
There are some pecans in these muffins. Chopped pecans. I always like to toast my nuts before baking with them. It doesn't take much of an effort. It only takes a few minutes on a dry baking sheet in a hot oven.
They are done when they start to smell all nice and nutty. Do watch them however, as they can go from toasty to burnt in milliseconds. Five to eight minutes at 200*C/400*F will do the trick.
You could add chocolate chips. Just saying. I like semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips. Both are quite nice in banana muffins. You could even add some berries. Blueberries would be nice.
If you rely on the sweetness of your muffin to come from the sweetness of the banana you really don't have to feel guilty about spreading them with butter while hot, and maybe even drizzling them with a bit of honey if you can tolerate honey.
As a diabetic, honey sends my sugar levels sky-rocketing. Even just a little bit on the tip of my tongue. Its a shame really because I have always loved honey.
Anyways, if you are looking for a nice, moist and not overly sweet muffin, with plenty of toasty nut crunch, then you have come to the right place! These fit the bill on all counts!
Sugar-Free Banana Nut Muffins
Yield: Makes 9 Muffins
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 25 Mininactive time: 5 Mintotal time: 40 Min
This is an interesting muffin adapted from a cookery book by Beth Henshberger entitled Bread for Breakfast. This is a lovely moist muffin that truly is not too sweet, relying only on the sweetness of the banana. I think this is what muffins were originally intended to be. Breads and not Cake.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain flour
- 1/2 cup (70g)whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (60g) chopped toasted pecan nuts
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
- 2 large free range eggs
- 120ml (1/2 cup) canola oil
- 2 medium sized ripe bananas
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter a muffin tin really well, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and cinnamon. Stir in the salt. Stir in the toasted pecans.
- Beat the oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla together with a wire wisk to combine well. Stir in the mashed banana. Pour this mixture into the dry ingrdients and fold everything together with a plastic spatula just to combine.
- Immediately spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling each hole to the rim.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. The muffins should be well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre of one should come out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack to cool.
notes:
Do not allow these to overbake. I would definitely check them at 20 minutes. If you must you can add 2 TBS of brown sugar to the wet ingredients to add a bit more sweetness. Any leftovers can be stored in an air tight container, or frozen for up to 3 months.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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