I used to use a recipe from Betty Crocker when I made banana bread, but it called for buttermilk, which I never have, and always substituted an equal amount of milk, curdled with the addition of 1-2 t lemon juice and half an hour of time. Now I prefer the recipe from The Complete Family Cookbook, a tome Dad has in his kitchen, and which, after extensive searching, he found in a secondhand bookstore. He got copies for my brother and I, and despite the age-yellowed pages (the only date I can find on it is 1969), my copy seems untouched.
Many years ago, before I moved to Oregon, I was talking to a co-worker about my plans to make banana bread that night (still using BC's formula), and I mentioned that I wasn't sure I had chocolate chips. He was appalled, certain that chocolate chips in banana bread would be a mistake. I was equally appalled, as I knew from years of Mom's baking that chocolate chips belong in banana bread in the same way that cheese belongs in an omelet; it can be done without, but why would you bother? My plan this time hinged on the bag of morsels I knew was on the bottom shelf of the fridge, but I was sidetracked by one of the variations suggested in the cookbook: prune nut banana bread. Thing is, I'm not crazy about prunes, but I knew we had dried apricots, and I love those little buggers. We also had pecans, but I toyed with the idea of going apricot-chocolate chip.
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C oil
2 eggs
1 C mashed bananas (wait until they're bruised badly or WAY too ripe--it makes for easier mashing)
1 3/4 C flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 C chopped dried apricots (coarser chopping means larger chewy chunks later. Keep that in mind if you like larger chewy chunks, but don't just throw them in whole, because you still need to slice the bread, you animal)
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| Two bananas mash into one cup. Your results may vary according to bananas. |
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Combine sugar, oil, and eggs in large bowl. Beat until frothy. Add fruit and nuts, mix well. Mix in dry ingredients.
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| Add apricots, pecans, and bananas; mix well. |
- Pour into greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, until brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (As the loaf bakes and expands, it will develop a crack running along the middle of the top of the loaf. If appearance concerns you, poke the toothpick in here, where it won't disturb the crust and leave a nice-looking loaf intact). Let it cool ten minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack. You may need to run a butter knife around the loaf inside the pan to loosen it a little.
One administrative note: if you follow my other blog, you know that I'm going to spend a good chunk of this year backpacking. Monday will be my first day on the trail. Backpackers eat a lot of crap, and do very little actual cooking. Most of the time it's a matter of boiling water and adding carbs. If I get creative, I'll stir some peanut butter into my noodles for calories and protein, and pretend it's Thai food. Suffice to say, most of you won't be interested in my food over the summer unless you already follow my other blog. But fear not! Knowing this day would come, I've been stockpiling lots of posts to get you through the summer, although we're switching from Weekly to Bi-weekly until I return from my trip. I did get a little ahead of myself, though, so the bi-weekly schedule won't start for a couple weeks. We still have to try beef stew and some cookies (no surprise there). And I still might wedge in a couple food-related posts from the trail. Check back often, or Follow this blog to get all the updates.
Happy Trails,
Ryan
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