Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

One of my favorite things is cake disguised as bread. I'm not sure the details of the classification system, but if I can get away with eating cake for breakfast (lunch, dinner, dessert, snack) then I am all for calling it "bread."

I really love quick breads (aka quick cakes) because they fall in this category of cake/bread perfection, and because you don't even have to use a mixer to throw it together.

Here's my favorite fall quick bread recipe, coming from my all-time favorite baking cookbook by Baked NYC. If you don't already have it, put it on that Christmas list pronto! Perfect for a potluck or Thanksgiving celebration or just because--it's so easy you don't really have an excuse not to make it.

The recipe makes two 9-inch loaves, but is easily halved if you just need one.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf
from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

3 1/4 cups flour, sifted (or not sifted if you're me)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg if you're me)
1/2 tsp ground allspice (cloves would probably be nice too!)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (aka one 15-oz can)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups sugar (I used all white)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup water, room temperature
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and grease & flour your 9-inch loaf pans (I use butter).

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baking soda and salt.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and oil until combined. Add the sugar and whisk again. Add the eggs, one at a time whisking well after each addition, and the vanilla. Add the water and whisk until combined (I wish I could tell you why you add rando water. It's going to seem watery and weird. but I promise it makes it moist and delicious. #science). Using a spatula, stir in the chocolate chips (yes, they'll mostly float to the bottom but don't worry).

Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just combined--try not to overmix.

Divide the batter between the pans (or pour it all in the one pan if you halved the recipe). Bake at the center of the oven for about 1 hour 25 minutes (depending on your oven. start checking it at 1 hr 15 min), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I was really worried that my edges were burning while the inside was finishing cooking, but it turned out perfectly, so be at ease and let it cook all the way through.

Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. Or until your small group gets there and you can't wait any longer before diving into it.


Make this today! Your coworkers (book club, family, small group) will love you for it!

    

Huge Mistake: Cast Iron Skillet

I scraped out the remainder of my Blackberry Cobbler, scrubbed the skillet clean and threw it in the dishwasher. I pulled it out the next day and realized:

Apparently, those instructions on my skillet that said soap and dishwasher can "damage the finish" actually means "do not, under any circumstance, use soap OR the dishwasher." My pan was so rusty, I thought I was going to have to throw it away and take the trash out before Vasily got home so I wouldn't have to explain to him that I'd bought a one-time-use skillet.

Instead of throwing the skillet away, I thought I could try to take Laura's advice via The Kichn.

Turns out, all you have to do to get from this to this

is scrub the rusty ol thing with a little warm soapy water,
dry thoroughly,
lightly grease with vegetable oil on a paper towel.
Heat your oven to 325,
put the newly clean, greased pan upside down in the oven for 1 hour.
Read a crazy-good book while you wait.
When the timer goes off, finish your page and turn the oven off, open the door to the oven.
Let it cool down, then take it out of the oven,

And we're all back in business!

Am I the only one who has done this? What have you learned the hard way?

Cooking hack: brownies edition

It's safe to say that my friends and coworkers would identify me as a baker. I love baking and find stress relief in it, and I even love the precision of it (the part that right-brained people hate!).

On weekends especially, you'll often find me trying my hand at some new and challenging recipe (like these French cruellers).

Whenever there is a potluck at work or a dinner party with friends, I'm automatically signed up to bring a dessert.

I've made dozens of cupcakes for parties and showers and the like.

When it comes to giving wedding gifts, I almost always go for a pretty cake stand or handy baking sheets.

But I have a confession to make. It's a dark secret. More specifically, it's a dark chocolate secret. and it's this:

These are hands-down the very best ever most perfectly delicious brownies I have ever had. and it's time for the world to know about it.

I know what you're thinking: "oh so you must doctor it up with your own fancy things, right?" Wrong. I wouldn't dream of messing with Ms. Crocker's perfection-in-a-box. I've tried my hand at dozens of from-scratch brownie recipes, and this box by far trumps them all.

This is the brownie for all people. Whether you like your brownies cake-y or fudge-y, whether you are into dark chocolate or not, these perfectly balanced brownies will make you roll your eyes at the ridiculous deliciousness of them.

Stop judging me! This is good news, y'all! I'm telling you that you no longer have to slave over melting chocolate and butter together, and you can stop searching for the perfect flour ratio. You can find this brownie mix at practically any grocery store and all you add are water, oil and 2 eggs. It's so cheap and takes no time at all!

I'm telling you, wooing your friends has never been easier. If you don't believe me, grab a box and try it for yourself. No matter your brownie proclivity, these will satisfy even the most picky palate.

Happy eating!

    

From Market Square to Blackberry Cobbler

I went to the Market Square Farmers Market just to browse. And if you're anything like me, you realize that "browse" means "spend all the cash you have in your wallet." Saturday, I had $20. So I bought some of these zinnias,

a carton of blackberries

and a carton of blueberries.

I found this recipe for Blackberry Cobbler that A Thoughtful Eye shared from the Blackberry Farm cookbook. I was surprised at how not complicated it was, so decided to give it a shot. 

Blackberry Farm's Blackberry Cobbler

3 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/4 cups sugar (1 cup goes with the blackberries, 1/4 goes with the flour.)
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt (didn't have this, used regular salt. Don't know what I'm missing out on...)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and chilled
1/4 cup buttermilk (don't buy buttermilk! Do this instead.)

Preheat your oven to 350.

Pretty little lime zest. 

In a large bowl, toss the blackberries, 1 cup of sugar and lime zest.
In a small bowl (cereal bowl works great), whisk together the lime juice and cornstarch until smooth.
Drizzle the lime juice mixture over the blackberry mixture and toss to combine.
Scrape the blackberry mixture into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and set aside. (*You can use a normal baking pan. But if you're like me and jump at any chance to buy something else to clutter your kitchen cabinets, I found mine at Target for $15.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/4 cup of sugar.
Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it is the texture of coarse meal.

(I have no idea what that means. I just kind of blended it all together and the butter was still in little chunks. I tried rubbing the butter into the flour with my fingertips, but it was more than I wanted to commit to this endeavor. Choose your own adventure -- mine didn't include a "coarse meal.") 

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Pour the buttermilk into the well and stir with a fork until the mixture comes together.

Crumble the dough evenly over the top of the blackberry mixture in the skillet.

Bake the cobbler until the blackberry filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let the cobbler rest (and cool the heck down) for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

Like most cobblers, this one plays well with ice cream. 

This tastes like summer. Enjoy! 

You put the lime in the coconut... olive oil greek yogurt cake.

Happy Monday, eaters!

I'm really excited about this cake. Like, really, really excited. 

I'm one of those strange birds who doesn't really like icing on cakes. It actually really used to stress me out when I was younger. My mom was typically a no-to-light-froster on birthday cakes and when I found myself at a friend's birthday party with a store-bought, icing covered cake, I would get really stressed out... What if some poor soul handed me an end piece? It doesn't sound like such a dilemma now, but when you're 8 years old and the highlight of the party is the cake, and you've been waiting for it the whole party... waiting for a middle, only-on-the-top frosting piece feels like eternity. 

As it turns out when you are 26 years old, waiting for this cake to bake feels like an eternity. Don't get me started on how long it takes for it to cool...

Anyways!

This cake is first and foremost delicious, without any frosting. And secondly, it's quite lovely without any frosting.

I combined two recipes (found here and here) to make this one. I'm a big fan of using both Greek yogurt and olive oil in cakes- the Greek yogurt keeps things light but the olive oil adds a certain je ne sais quoi. This cake turned out incredibly moist, light and super fresh- perfect for the end of a Memorial Day cook out.

Coconut Lime Greek Olive Oil Cake

3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup low-fat vanilla Greek yogurt
3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
3 tablespoons lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4  cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the topping:

Zest of one lime

1-2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp desiccated coconut

 

 

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease an 8-9" round pan. 

In one bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Add olive oil, yogurt, milk, zest and lime juice. It'll look like you're making a key lime pie at this point. Really pretty and really great smelling. Add your coconut and whisk gently or use a spatula to fold gently into the mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk together your flours, baking powder and salt. 

Slowly add your flour mixture to your wet ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until there are no clumps (you'll be able to see the coconut, but no lumps aside from that). 

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. 

While the cake is baking, prepare the topping. Combine sugar and lime zest in one bowl and mix together with a fork. Keep your sugar zest separate from your coconut for the topping. Mixing together just creates for a soggy mess. 

Once the cake is done and cooled, sprinkle the sugar zest and coconut on top of the cake and garnish with lime wedges. 

Until next time,

24 Hour Bookclub & Lemon Cake

I stumbled upon these folks a few weeks ago -- 24-Hour Bookclub. They announce what book to read, when to read it, and everyone (well, everyone that joins in) reads the book and tweets up a storm about it! 

I love Twitter and books, wasn't too busy last Sunday, so I jumped on the band wagon.

We read Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. It was a fantastically interesting read about a girl who can taste what people are feeling in the food they prepare. Among many things, she tasted sadness in a lemon cake (didn't see that coming), anger in a sandwich and care and devotion in a quiche. To cope with this, Rose often ran to the "safety" of processed foods -- she particularly appreciated foods that a human hadn't touched so she didn't have to experience anyone else's emotions. It was very interesting. 

And, to make a day of reading even better, Laura made lemon cake!

She took my favorite blogger, Cup of Jo's "Best Lemon Cake You'll Ever Have" recipe, and it was, quite possibly, the best.

For the cake:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
2⅓ cups sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup heavy cream
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
1 stick, plus 7 tbsp unsalted butter (15 tbsp total), melted and cooled

For the syrup:
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of two lemons

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F. Butter two 9×5-inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. 

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Put the sugar and the lemon zest in a large bowl. Working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist, flecked with zest, and smells wonderfully lemony.

Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then whisk in the cream. Use a large rubber spatula to gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions until combined. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing with a rubber spatula. (Now’s the time to lick the bowl:)

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color. If they seem to be browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.

Once the cake is in the oven, make the syrup: Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and set it aside to cool.

When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for five minutes before removing them from their pans and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer or cake tester, poke holes all over the cakes. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Be sure to use all the syrup—it will seem like a lot but it’s worth it! Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.

Yum!

Happy eating. Or reading. Or whatever joys this weekend holds for you.

In season: Blueberries

[Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins]

It's beginning to look a lot like blueberry season! Not only are they one of the best superfoods, they're also on sale this time of year! I found them for 2 cartons for $5.

I needed to make a treat for book club, so I pulled out my favorite baking cookbook of all time (I don't know if I've ever mentioned this cookbook before, but it is my absolute favorite in the whole wide world. ever. of all time. Have I convinced you yet? Go get one now. Amazon, folks. You don't even have to leave your chair.) and flipped to the Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins recipe.

That sounds like a lot of things to have in one muffin, but the bright, fruity flavors marry so well with the subtle, nutty almonds. And look how pretty! The recipe encourages you to use sliced almonds to decorate the tops in a floral pattern. I love those little touches.

So go out and grab you some fresh blueberries (and an orange and some almonds) and whip these up today! Your friends/coworkers/family members will thank you--they are delicious and nutritious (sorta)!

Orange Almond Blueberry Muffins

from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Grated zest of one orange (this is a pain, but worth it)

1/2 cup orange juice (I used the juice of the above orange and supplemented with regular OJ)

1/2 cup milk (they suggest whole, I used 2%)

2 egg whites

4 Tbs (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled (so you don't scramble the eggs)

1/4 cup finely ground almonds (pulse in food processor until fine)

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted (didn't toast 'em. because I'm lazy.)       

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup blueberries (I used more like 1 cup, and it turned out fine!)

sliced almonds for decoration

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare muffin pan with nonstick spray or muffin papers.

In a medium bowl, combine orange zest, orange juice, milk, egg whites, and butter (if your butter isn't slightly cooled to room temperature, it will scramble the eggs. promise. and that's gross). Whisk until combined.

In another medium bowl, combine ground almonds, flour, sugar, sliced almonds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined (over-mixing makes tough muffins!). Fold in blueberries.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full, and decorate with sliced almonds. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 15 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

Made 20 muffins

      

Healthy (Carrot) Cupcakes

Book Club (the best night of the month) is tonight! 

We pot-luck the food situation. I found this recipe in this month's Real Simple and since Martha's chocolate chip cookies are my go-to, I just had to try these Carrot Cupcakes. 

And Ms. Stewart came through for me, like always. So I'm real excited to impress my friends.

For the Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (from about 4 medium carrots) **

For the Frosting:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional)

Action:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Prepare your muffin tins with liners, Pam, whatever you want.

2. In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, egg, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir in carrots. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture mixing until well combined. Divide among muffin tin. Bake 25-30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

4. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Action:
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla and orange zest. Top each cupcake. 

Used the cut-the-corner-off-the-ziplock method (to impress yall).

**Note/ Confession: I asked Vasily to grate the carrots because I didn't want to work too hard. He grated 3 cups instead of just the 2 I needed and I felt bad for not telling him "when" so... I used all 3 cups. I was nervous, but the cupcakes turned out tasty, healthy, not overly carrot-y. 

Also, I found this: Me and Amanda during our study abroad in Sienna, Italy circa 2008. We wore sleeveless shirts to the cathedral so... had to sport these amazing super hero capes! 

Facing my fears: frying french donuts

I love Saturday mornings because they're my time to really experiment in the kitchen, usually in some form of breakfast food. and it usually takes so long that it turns into lunch also, which I'm totally fine with.

I usually try to attempt something that I wouldn't have time for on a weeknight. something that scares me even. something like heating extremely flammable oil up to ridiculous temperatures and putting stuff in it. Yes, I have a fear of frying. Not so much the frying part but the how-fast-it-can-go-from-good-to-bad part. It's trial by error and I'm not a fan of failing. Or achieving a failure. Or any of that nonsense.

[370° is scary hot, people.]

I decided that the potential deliciousness in this pin for French cruellers with honey glaze was greater than my fear (who doesn't love a twisty, fluffy, donut covered in a sweet glaze?!), and I dove right on in. I had a huge jug of canola oil on hand from the last time I attempted to fry something (spoiler alert: it went poorly). So I heated that up with my handy dandy candy thermometer and got out the fire extinguisher.

I've made pastry before (or as the French would say viennoise) but it's another thing that majorly intimidates me. Soooo many things that have to be just so and sooo many opportunities to go wrong. But I'm here to tell you this story has a happy ending.

I mixed the pastry according to the recipe (below), without burning the roux (heated mixture of milk, butter, and flour that makes the base of the "dough") and successfully incorporating the eggs. I ended up with this thick, sticky dough-stuff that I dumped into my piping bag with the biggest star tip I could find.

[Things are literally heating up over here.]

The recipe advises piping the cruellers onto squares of parchment to make the frying easier. And I'm an ESTJ so that's what I did. and it was brilliant, because it enables them to keep their shape because the dough is so sticky!

Okay. Fry time.

 [that is boiling oil, people. BOILING.]

Using tongs, I dropped five squares in at a time, parchment paper on the top. It almost immediately pops off and you can pull it out with the tongs. I left them for about 30 seconds on this side, but next time I'd do a minute. But I was so scared of burning them, that I was timid.

 [swirly twirly goodness]

Then I used the tongs to gently flip them over for the next side. I was thrilled to see how they kept their crueller shape! I gave them another 30 seconds on this side, but again I'd probably give them a minute both sides next time.

[My little beauties. no fire or anything!]

I used the tongs to pull them out, and dragged them, dripping, to the opposite counter to a cooling rack covered in paper towels, thus dripping boiling oil all over the floor. So I angled the rug to catch it all and carried on.

After I fried all of them (about 2 dozen total, though I'd make them thicker next time for fewer donuts), I mixed together the honey glaze and dipped the cruellers, twisty-side down. I had to add a little more milk to make the glaze thin enough to dip, but it was delicious.

[I think the French would be proud of these.]

I then proceeded to take a trillion photos, and by the time I got around to eating them they were kinda cold. Food blog problems. But I threw them in the microwave (shhh don't tell the French) for a few seconds and they were warm and perfect with a cup of coffee (at what ended up being 1pm).

All in all, my kitchen was covered in oil due to my bad practices, but the recipe itself was surprisingly easy! And the ingredients are all things you usually have on hand. I could hardly believe they actually turned out the way they were supposed to! Folks, if I can do this (fear and trembling and all), then you've got to give it a try. They are beautiful little treats that will really impress your friends. (Side note though: they don't save well. Like, not even one day. They turn to gritty mush. So eat up!)
   

French Crullers
from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni, originally found here

1 cup water
6 Tbs unsalted butter (I used salted, no shame)
2 Tsps white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour (sifting recommended, but who has time for that?)
3 eggs
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying (I used canola oil, you know, to be healthy)

Honey glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbs honey
4 Tbs milk (I used 5 to make it thin enough for dipping)

Bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to a brisk boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour all at once and continue stirring until the flour is completely incorporated. Keep stirring over medium-high heat. Lara says the more moisture you can remove, the more eggs you can mix in later which will result in a lighter pastry. When you see a thin film start to coat the bottom of the pan, the batter is ready. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to stir the dough for a minute to help it cool. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add one egg. Don’t add the next egg until the previous has been completely incorporated into the dough. Then add the egg whites a little bit at a time (I used two egg whites) until the dough becomes smooth and glossy and holds a little shape (not much). Lara warns not to add too much egg white or else the crullers will become heavy. Transfer the dough to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip.

Fry the crullers in 2-inches (or more) of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. The oil should register 370°F. While the oil is heating, cut a dozen 3-x3-inch squares of parchment. Lightly grease the squares on one side (I brushed with vegetable oil) and pipe a ring of dough onto each of the squares. When the oil has reached temperature, carefully place a cruller, paper-side up, into the hot oil. Do this one at a time unless you like the idea of hot oil burns and other disasters. After a minute or so, I would use tongs and a sharp knife tip to gently peel the parchment off the cruller. When the cruller turns golden (about 2 minutes), flip it over and let it fry for another couple of minutes before removing it to drain on a cooling rack or paper towels.

Make the glaze: While the crullers cool, mix the confectioners’ sugar, honey, and milk together until smooth.

When the crullers are cool to the touch, dip the top of each cruller into the honey glaze and set on a cooling rack to let the drips run off. When the glaze has set, the crullers are ready to serve.

Crullers can also be baked. Preheat oven to 450°F. Pipe crullers onto a parchment-lined baking sheet at least 2-inches apart. Bake for five minutes then reduce oven to 350°F and bake another 15 minutes. Turn off heat, open the oven door a crack, and let crullers sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Glaze and serve.

Banana bread so good you'll slap yo mama

[spiced chocolate chip banana bread]

Happy Thursday, eaters! It's almost the weekend, which means you need to be thinking about what you're going to eat this weekend, right? ...Right?

Good thing we've been bringing you our favorite banana bread recipes all week so you can budget for some delicious banana-y goodness this weekend to impress your friends. What's your fancy: an extra kick in your morning muffin? What about a little sweet and buttery extra sumpin sumpin on top? Or is it all the chocolate chips? We three eaters just couldn't put enough chocolate chips in our banana bread this week.

Well, chocolate or no chocolate, this here recipe for banana bread is the absolute best I've found. I could make this in my sleep. This one's different for a few reasons: I use half whole wheat and half regular flour, but this recipe does NOT come out too dense, dry or cakey because of the whole wheat. I also use olive oil instead of oil and/or butter. It also has some added spices: ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Don't be afraid. Once you taste it, you'll be kicking yourself for not putting ginger in your banana bread before.

You'll need:

3-4 medium to large bananas

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

To be alone when you eat this otherwise you might slap somebody

 

Preheat your oven to 325 and grease a large bundt pan (or bread pan).

Peel and mash bananas in a large bowl. Add olive oil, brown sugar, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and beat until everything is incorporated.

In a separate bowl combine the flours, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda and mix well. This is important. I know I'm always tempted to skip the "in a separate bowl" step, but don't. You want your baking soda to mix properly with the flour. I've found if you skip this step, there is some kind of dark magic about baking soda in banana bread (in particular)- if you don't mix it well in the flour prior to adding it to the bananas, you get disgusting pockets of bitter baking soda in your banana bread.

Once all your dry ingredients are mixed, slowly add and gently stir to your wet ingredients. I'd like to reiterate here something Laura said on Monday: don't over stir your batter. The worst thing banana bread can be is tough and dry. Now, add your chocolate chips at this point if that's what you fancy.

Pop that sucker in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour and it's done when you can stick a knife in the middle and it comes out clean.

[no mamas were hurt in the baking of this banana bread]

Enjoy, eaters!

Until next time,