Banana Bread

Winter holiday has come and gone, and now I'm back in the Good Old Land of Wahoo-Wah. Sorority rush started yesterday, my work at Ragged Mountain Running Shop starts today, and classes start Wednesday; with everything so hectic already I'm so blessed to have had such a wonderful month-long break full of family, friends, fun, and of course delicious food.

Below is one of the last little goodies I made before heading back to school, our family's favorite banana bread. Made in one bowl with nothing more complex than a whisk and a spoon, it's not only super easy, but super delicious. Perfect slathered with cream cheese, butter, or just plain hot out of the oven.

Even though I'm back at school, I still might try to do a few posts here and there :)

Banana bread

For bread

3 ripe bananans

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips or nuts, optional

Make bread:

Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a loaf pan.

Mash bananas in a large bowl. Whisk in the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract until well combined. Add in eggs one at a time. Whisk in the sugar, followed by the flour, baking soda and salt. Finally fold in the chocolate chips or nuts, if using. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy with a steaming cup of coffee or a refreshing glass of orange juice.

Sweet Monkey Bread

And I thought the herb-parmesan bread monkey bread I made earlier the summer was good. Wow. Now, don't get me wrong that was really good. And I mean really good. But this monkey bread right here? It's gooder than good. It's the goodest stuff around. So good, I could eat it every day for breakfast with a cup of coffee. Nom on it as my afternoon snack. And then finish the day with a sweet bite as my dessert before bed. It's that good.

The brown sugar and butter caramelize in the oven, leaving the sweet and doughy pull-apart pieces engorged in a sweet and gooey caramel crust. And the glaze. Oh, the glaze. I mean really, cream cheese and sugar- can it get any better?

To describe this in one sentence: it's the best cinnamon bun you've ever had on the strongest steroids you can get, and then some.

Sweet Monkey Bread

For dough:

1 1/8 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups flour

2 tsp. yeast

For coating:

4 tbs. melted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 tbs. cinnamon

For cream cheese glaze:

2 oz. block cream cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1 tbs. milk

Prepare dough on the dough cycle of your bread machine. Upon completion, grease a bundt pan and prepare one small bowl to hold the melted butter, and another small bowl to hold the combined sugar/cinnamon. Breaking off small sections of dough at a time, roll them into approximately 1 inch ball sizes and then dip in melted butter, followed by sugar. Arrange the coated balls in the bundt pan snugly. After all the dough has been used, drizzle any remaining butter/sprinkle any remaining sugar over the top. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350. When the dough has risen for the right amount of time (it should have risen to almost the top of the bundt pan) bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and delicious smelling.* Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before placing on a serving platter with prepared glaze, below. Best when served warm :)

To prepare glaze, simply beat the cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. Add in the milk first followed by sugar. This makes a pretty thick glaze, how I like it, but you can always add more milk if you like it more "glaze-y."

*Also, it's a good idea to place the bundt pan on another baking dish as the caramelized brown sugar may seep through the pan.

Herb Parmesan Monkey Bread

Ever since I was little, the only time we've have store bought bread was on two occasions; if we were on vacation or if my mom was out of town (even then, sometimes I made some though, so that's not entirely true). My point being, we've always had homemade bread in the Arquiette house, and we each have our favorites. From crusty Cuban or Portuguese sweet, to French Honey or even Crescent, they're all delicious, and one of the things I miss most about being away at school.

After further reading through my mom's bread books though, I began to look past the traditional bread loaves into the special rolls, bagels and even doughnuts you can make in our machine- crazy! I've been wanting to make sweet monkey bread for awhile, but when I saw an herb Parmesan variation I got the machine out right away, it looked fabulous, and tasted even better. At dinner the night I made it, my parents and I ate half the Bundt ring, yeah, it was that good. I'm thinking you're going to see many more posts about my wanderings with the recipes in our bread maker...

Herb Parmesan Monkey Bread

For dough:

1 1/8 cups water

2 tbs. olive oil

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

3 tbs. fresh oregano

3 cups bread flour

2 tsp. rapid/quick yeast

For topping:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

After the dough has been completed, remove from the machine and place on a lightly floured surface to prevent sticking. Grease a Bundt pan and place on a cookie sheet. Put the olive oil and cheese in two separate bowls to prepare for assembly.

Pinching off one inch sections at a time, roll the dough into tiny balls. Dip first in oil, then in the cheese and arrange in the Bundt pan. After shaping all of the dough in this way, drizzle the remaining cheese and oil over the top of the bread. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for one hour prior to baking. With about 20 minutes left of rising, preheat the oven to 350F. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and your whole house smells wonderful.

Banana Bread

This bread almost shouldn't qualify as a breakfast food because it is as sweet and delicious as a dessert, but the bananas make it healthy right? It's the best way to use up those bananas lying on the counter that seem to just get darker by the minute...and the batter, well it's almost like a mousse, so if you happen to try some off of the spatula I won't judge at all, I did it myself as well...

Sour Cream Chocolatey Chip Banana Bread:

1 stick of salted butter, softened to room temp.

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2 to 3 large ripened bananas mashed

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 Tbl. cocoa powder

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 cup of chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×5 loaf pan (or, two make two smaller loaves, 2 mini pans) with non-stick baking spray. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in, by hand as to not overbeat, the egg, mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla until well blended. Add baking soda, cocoa, and flour. Add chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan (or pans!) and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 20 minutes before inverting and cooling on a wire rack!

*Perfect to serve when warm with a large slab of butter and a cup of hot coffee in the morning, or even with a heaping scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream for dessert!