Friday, May 2, 2008

Banana Bread




I had a couple of bananas hanging out in the kitchen this last week and decided to whip up some banana bread. I only had 2 bananas so I was off on the internet on a wild search for a recipe that only used 2 bananas, and came across this recipe from the food network by Emeril. I changed the directions dramatically, as he was using a food processor and an electric mixer, I thought that was completely un-necessary, as I don’t have a crew to clean up my mess after I cook! My bread pan is also an inch smaller in width, so the bread took a little bit longer to cook than this recipe calls for and the crust was a little too dark for my liking. I also added a teaspoon of cinnamon, who makes banana bread without cinnamon? Overall I was happy with the bread, not impressed by any means, but it was good and fairly banana-y considering the use of only 2 bananas. I think next time I will opt to throw a couple more in for good measure! Oh, the bread turned out very moist too, which I loved…must have been the yogurt!

Banana Bread

10 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream (I used ½ cup of nonfat yogurt to reduce the fat)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cake flour (or 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour combined with 1/4 cup corn starch)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts (optional)

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 9 1/4 by 5 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter.
Cream together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the bananas, sour cream eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Next sift together all the dry ingredients and add in 3 batches to the butter mixture, beating lightly in between each addition. Fold in the nuts if using.
Pour into the loaf pan. Bake until lightly browned and bread bounces back to the touch, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.

No comments: