Since it is the start of a new year, and many of us choose this time to try a fresh approach to healthful living, I thought it would be a good time to share a healthy and delicious breakfast bread.
Of course, I got to wondering about the origins of Banana Bread…Wikkipedia and Foodreference.com both agree that it is possible that Banana Bread has its origins in the late 18th century. In the early 1790’s in America, a new form of “Quickbread” baking was taking the nation by storm: Pearlash (a form of potash in which produces carbon dioxide in dough) was the new chemical leavening agent that housewives used in simple quick breads. So it is possible to postulate that Banana Bread was first made during this Quickbread infatuation. During all of this research on bread, I found an interesting tidbit for bakers: Baking powder was not developed commercially until 1857!
Though I often follow the time honored recipes of chefs past, in the spirit of “Quickbread” making, I have altered the general recipe for Banana Bread (1997 revision of the Joy of Cooking Recipe for Banana Bread found at the bottom of the post).
Preheat your oven to 350–If you have a convection option, use the convection option as it will shorten the baking time by 15 or so minutes.
Assemble:
- 1cup Almond Flour
- 1cup All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1cup Baker’s Sugar
- 1/4cup Butter, softened
- 1 1/2cup Mashed ripe Bananas (about 3 Bananas)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3cup plain Kefir yoghurt
- 2 heaping Tbs Valrhona Cocoa Powder or other cooking cocoa
- Cooking Spray
Combine flour (almond and All-Purpose), baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside–I like to add almond flour instead of adding nuts–one of the popular additions to banana bread. Since my husband is allergic to walnuts, we usually opt to make all breads without nuts, yet I am also trying to add some of the nutritional benefits of nuts into our daily intake, so I have started adding almond flour to many recipes.
The bread is delicious warm or cold–can be kept on the counter for two days or refrigerated for about a week (not that it ever lasts that long in our house)
Banana Bread
Makes 1 full-sized loaf or 2 small loaves
Preheat the oven to 350.
In one bowl, combine:
1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
2/3 cup sugar
Use a potato masher, fork, or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together. It is alright for there to be small (1 centimeter) chunks of banana in the batter, but you want most of the banana to be reduced to mush.
In another bowl, combine:
1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.
If you like, stir in additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans, dried cherries or apricots, or chocolate chips. A handful (about a half a cup) is about right.
Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Small loaves take around 30 minutes, a normal-sized loaf takes around 50 minutes.