Healthier Banana Bread

Bananas ripen so quickly here in Florida. We seem to get only three days before I have to put them in the fridge to stop them from ripening further. And then a lot of times we forget about them. I blame my fridge--I hate it and complain about it daily. It's one of those horrid side-by-side things, but it was brand spanking new when we moved into this house 5 years ago and I can't justify replacing it just because it has space issues. The side-by-side fridges are deep but narrow making it impossible to find anything because everything is shoved to the back and covered by what's in front. So I end up buying doubles and triples of products and...I could go on and on. I. Hate. My. Fridge. But I love banana bread, which I make often because, well, see above. I've tried to healthy-up the recipe since we eat so much of it.

You will need:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (Smart Balance!!)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (or egg substitute)
4 overripe bananas
cinnamon (to taste)
one loaf pan



In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda, and salt--set aside. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add butter and applesauce and mix together. (I made this recipe with cinnamon applesauce once because we were out of unsweetened and it was really good, so any applesauce will do.)



Add sugar and cinnamon, mix, then add eggs one at a time. I don't measure cinnamon in my recipes, I just shake it out until it looks right. Add to your taste, but I suggest about a tsp or so.



Now gently add your flours and stir. You can use a spatula or wooden spoon for this step if you are worried about overmixing. Stir until just combined--you don't want your bread to be tough.





Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until center is baked.





If you are worried that your oven temperature is not accurate then bake this bread at 325 until the center is baked. A common complaint about quick breads is that the centers are still raw while the sides are overdone, which is most often caused by an oven that is too hot. If it happens, you can tent some foil over the top until the center is done. Another cause of a raw middle is a pan that is too small. Make sure your loaf pan is large enough--if you are unsure, make 2! A crack down the middle of the bread is perfectly normal.


Let cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack and then turn out.



Banana bread is better is wrapped overnight and eaten the next day. But who does that?? We love our banana bread hot from the oven and smothered in butter.



To add a punch of extra flavor try adding 1 tsp of banana extract. I do that sometimes (when I'm not out of extract). I love it with or without!



One final note: the more whole wheat you use, the drier the bread. White flour keeps bread moist and tender. If you insist on using all whole wheat, up your fat in the recipe (at least 2 more T butter). Your bread will be denser and much less tender, but still tasty!

Enjoy!!

my recipe card:

The Best Apple Pie Ever!

Apple pie is my least favorite pie. Un-American, I know. I love apples, love brown sugar, love cinnamon, love pie, don't like them mixed together. I don't even like the smell of apples and cinnamon. Weird, I know. But, this recipe I like. Not love, but like and based on my tolerance and my family's adoration for this pie I figure it must be the best darn apple pie ever.
You will need:

1/2 to 1 cup flour
6-7 cups Granny Smith apples
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 T butter
1 tsp cinnamon (I use more...lots more.)
2 pie crusts
1 pie pan
cinnamon sugar



One apple equals about one cup, so I used 6 apples. If you get your hands on some tiny Granny Smiths you might need closer to 8. I used my handy dandy apple peeler (it also cores and slices). I love it and wish I loved to bake with apples more so I could use it more often.



The peels were so pretty I just had to take a picture.



Mix the flour, sugars, and cinnamon in a large bowl. I used 3/4 of a cup of flour. Finding the right amount of flour is tricky...it all depends on the juiciness of your apples. Unfortunately, you usually can't tell how much liquid they will give up until they are baked. It's a crap shoot--you could end up with an overly-juicy pie or one that is too thick and can stand on its own. Those pie slices that are thick and stand up high are beautiful in magazines, but they don't taste so great in real life. I have found that 1/2 cup is almost always too little, though.



I like to chop my apples instead of slicing them. With the slices you have to cut up your pie and I don't like that. I just want to dig in and get a forkful. The large chops cook all the way through, I promise.



Now add your apples to your flour, sugar, cinnamon mix and get in there with your hands to mix. Kids love to help out with this part!



Line your pie plate with one crust. I just use the refrigerated ones. Easy and super yummy. Add all of the covered apples to the pie pan. You will have lots of the mix leftover--just pour it over the apples.



Cut up the 2T of butter and place around the top of the pie.



Now here's a trick. I use mini cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the top crust. This trick allows more steam to evaporate from the pie and caramelizes the sugars inside. SO GOOD! (Save your cutout shapes.)



Place the top crust on top of your pie and seal the edges. Now brush the entire top crust with milk and place your cutout shapes anywhere you like, except over the openings. Now brush the tops of the cutouts with milk and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top of the whole pie.



Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes. I use a cake tester to poke the apples and make sure they are soft. I've never had to bake for more than 55 minutes.





This pie speaks for itself, don't you think?





Enjoy!

**note: I baked this pie a few months ago. I'm still not turning on my oven in this heat and I am really, really looking forward to the big cool down in September (if we are lucky) or October. Definitely cooler by November. Or December. I'm having trouble remembering when it was cool... :)

Flag Cake

As the 4th of July holiday approaches picnickers and backyard bbq-ers all across the nation frost their sheet cakes and decorate them with blueberries, raspberries, and even strawberries. The red, white, and blue Flag Cake is a unique American tradition. Even non-bakers can throw together a box cake and slap on some berries. It really could not be easier! It is also the perfect project to let your kids help with--and you can feel good about encouraging them to eat the decorations as they help. So, make your favorite cake from the box or from scratch, make some buttercream or open a tub of white frosting, and wash some blueberries and raspberries (or strawberries if you prefer)--make sure you get them really dry so they don't leak all over the cake.



You will need:

a rectangular cake (size doesn't really matter...hee hee)
white frosting to cover the cake
blueberries
raspberries (or strawberries)


If you are familiar with my blog then you know I didn't use a box cake. I made Martha Stewart's flag cake, which uses her white cake recipe. I didn't change much. She used a 12x18 inch sheet cake pan and I didn't have one and couldn't find one at Wally Mart, so I just used a 9x13. It was perfect!



I used buttercream instead of her cream cheese frosting because we aren't cream cheese people. You will probably get a truer white from the cream cheese, but I used Smart Balance sticks, which are pretty yellow and my frosting still came out white. I do recommend giving her white cake recipe a try. It was unbelievably tender and so, so yummy.

I followed her directions. She recommends using a toothpick to outline the flag on the cake. Super easy.



Now call in the kiddies and show them where to place the raspberries. I did the first stripe for them to give them a better idea how to line them up. Then I left them alone and let them have fun.





We didn't try to line up the blueberries at all after the initial outlining. We just took handfuls and pressed them into the frosting.





Boy, oh boy is this cake delicious!!





You will definitely want to store it in the fridge until you are ready to eat it. We dug in right away. :) I would not recommend applying the fruit the night before. Even if you get them super dry, the natural juices tend to leak out after a few hours. The juices give the cake an excellent flavor, but they don't do much for the presentation. We didn't have much left to store in the fridge overnight!



I'll leave you with the perfect bite. Enjoy!

Monkey Bread

This recipe is so much fun for the weekend. Quick, simple, and so, so good!

You will need:

One bundt pan
3 (12oz) cans of refrigerated biscuits
1 cup white sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter (Smart Balance)
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

optional: 1/2 cup walnuts or raisins (I don't add either)



Mix the white sugar and cinnamon in a bag or bowl. Cut each biscuit into fourths and drop into bowl/bag of cinnamon sugar. Kitchen shears work really well for cutting up the biscuits. It also helps to have a little monkey give you a hand. Kids love to get their hands messy.



After they are coated with cinnamon sugar, drop the biscuits into a heavily greased bundt pan.



Set aside. Place the 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 stick of butter into a small pot and melt over medium heat.



Bring to a boil and stir continuously for one minute.



Pour over biscuits in bundt pan.



Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.



After removing from oven, immediately invert the pan onto a plate. A standard dinner plate works great. You should not have any sticking at all.



If you can stand to wait, let it cool for a couple of minutes. If we make it two minutes before cutting into it I am impressed. The biscuits puff up and the syrup coats every piece, along with the cinnamon sugar. Mmmmmm.



We rarely have leftovers, but when we do I store them in a ziploc bag on the counter overnight. If you want to heat up the leftovers, give them about 30 seconds on half power. The reduced power keeps them from hardening when reheating. Enjoy!!

German Chocolate Cake

I found this recipe for German Chocolate Cake in my very first issue of Food Network Magazine. My very favorite magazine and now our family's favorite cake! One thing I discovered in making this recipe is that I am no good at making jelly rolls. Every time I make it the cake just flops into three sad, broken layers, but it still tastes amazing. :) This time I made the cake for our 16th wedding anniversary and since I wanted to post pictures of it, I added one teaspoon of baking powder so that the cake would rise a bit. Then I used two 8-inch round pans and made an actual layered cake.



Look at how pretty their jelly roll cake turned out! Good thing this cake is fabulous no matter how it is baked. One note, though...this recipe uses a lot of bowls, measuring cups, pots, pans, ingredients, and counter space. That's why I only make it on special occasions.



You will need:

1 cup evaporated milk
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 large eggs
2 1/2 sticks butter (Smart Balance!)
3 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cups sweetened, toasted coconut
1 cup chopped pecans (optional--I don't use them)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ounce finely chopped German chocolate
1/3 cup strong, hot coffee
1/3 cup buttermilk

See, lots of ingredients.

If you can't find toasted coconut you can do it yourself. Spread out the coconut on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 5 minutes, then remove, toss, and put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes. Then toss it again and see if it is toasted to your liking. You can always give it a couple more minutes. Then just leave the oven on at 350.



While the coconut is toasting, add the evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, 1 stick of the butter (cubed), and the 3 egg yolks to a pot.



Whisk constantly over medium heat until it is thick and creamy. It will take about 10 minutes.



Remove from heat and add one tsp of vanilla and the coconut. Pecans, too, if you are using them. Unfortunately, my youngest has braces and can't have nuts. Mix together and set aside to cool completely.



Try not to taste it while it cools. Seriously, it is so good that you won't be able to stop "tasting." I put the frosting in another room because it is just too darn tempting!

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk the cocoa and chocolate in another, smaller bowl. Add the hot coffee mixture to the chocolates and whisk until smooth. I measure 1/3 cup of hot water in a 2-cup measuring cup and add one full single-serving envelope of instant coffee, then mix. You get a nice strong coffee flavor. Then add the buttermilk and vanilla to the chocolate/coffee mixture.





Set both bowls to the side.



Beat together the remaining (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar in a large mixer bowl on high speed until light and fluffy. It should take about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the 3 whole eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add one third of the flour mixture and beat just until combined.



Then add one half of the chocolate mixture and beat on low until combined.



Add another third of the flour, combine, add the rest of the chocolate mix, combine, and end with the rest of the flour. Your final mixture will be a light chocolate color and very fluffy.



I greased two 8-inch round pans with cooking spray and evenly divided the cake mix between them. Bake for about 20 minutes, checking them after 18 minutes. I used a toothpick to check for doneness. (The dark coloring on the edges of my cake is from the cooking spray.)



When the cakes are completely cool spread about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of frosting on the bottom round, top with second cake, then dump all of the remaining frosting on top. I spread it just to the edges and then let it slide down however it likes. There is enough frosting to completely cover the cakes, but I like the way it looks with the natural drips.





This cake is worth every dirty pan, pot, cookie sheet, mixing bowl, measuring cup, and teaspoon. Absolutely delicious!!