Here is the other recipe for banana bread I said I would post. I think this recipe produces the best banana bread I have tasted so far, and it's actually very easy to make compared to the banana nut bread I posted in the past.
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup butter/margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 ½ cups mashed (very ripe, 3 or 4 medium sized) bananas
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired
Move
oven rack to low position so that the tops of the pans will be in the
center. Heat oven 350 degrees F. Grease bottoms of only 2 loaf pans 8.5 x
4.5 x 2.5 or 1 loaf pan 9 x 5 x 3 inches.
Mix
sugar and butter in a large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add
bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking
soda, and salt just until moistened. Stir in the nuts. Pour into pans.
Bake
8-inch loaves about 1 hour and 9-inch loaf about 1 ¼ hours, or until
toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen
sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire
rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing.
Wrap
tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10
days.
Note: When I make this recipe, as you can see below, I use the 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches loaf pans. Therefore, I end up making 2 banana breads. Also, for the breads I made in the pictures below, I did not use any nuts (because I didn't have any) so the mixture was less, and the breads turned out smaller. Generally though, I prefer using nuts (walnuts in particular) because it gives the bread a nice touch and a more wholesome taste.
Ingredients: 2 cups quick-cooking oats 1 cup shredded coconut 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, at room temperature 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed 2 eggs 4 tbsp milk 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 1 cup flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1. Preheat the oven t 400 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
2. Spread the oats and coconut on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until golden brown 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Before toasting the oats and shredded coconut ^
After toasting the oats and shredded coconut ^
3. With an electric mixer, cream the butter or margarine and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, 1 at a time, then the milk and the vanilla.
I put the required amount of granulated sugar and dark brown sugar together in one bowl ^
4. Sift over the dry ingredients and fold in. Stir in the oats and coconut.
Here are the required amounts of the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon ^
Folding in the dry ingredients (in the picture above and below)
Stirring in the oats and coconut...it's much easier when you use a wooden spoon...in this picture I still have the rubber spatula in there but I did switch afterwards ^
5. Drop spoonfuls of the dough 1-2 inches apart on the prepared sheets and flatten with the bottom of a greased glass dipped in sugar. (Or, personally, I suggest flattening it with a spoon or your fingers and then sprinkling some sugar over the top...for some of them I sprinkled demerera sugar and I liked it better than using regular/granulated suar.)
^ In this picture, I'm using a non-stick pan. After this batch, I realized that it wasn't going to work out, and I switched to my my metal rimless baking sheet and a silpat. For more information, read the note below.
6. Bake until golden, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
In this picture, you can see that I'm using the silpat. My cookies turned out much better!
Note: You will have to do 1 batch at a time if using just 1 cookie sheet. I had to do about 4-5 batches. Also, I will just take this time and post to rant about non-stick pans...THEY ARE HORRIBLE! Yea, it is nice when everything comes off more easily and they are easy to wash. BUT, everything I bake in non-stick pans gets overdone way more quickly and the edges tend to start burning even though the rest of it is not done baking. I'd rather have whatever I bake turn out good than spend a little less time and effort dealing with the result. After all, I spend WAY more effort in the actual process of baking and I want to be rewarded for that effort. Anyway, For cookies, I HIGHLY suggest you to buy "Silpats" or at the least, make sure to use baking paper. When you use silpats, the cookies turn out WAY better.
Here's a recipe that's not too hard for those of you out there who are intimidated by baking...this recipe makes probably one of the best brownies I have EVER tasted...they are so chocolatey, moist, and soft...and the crispy crust is the perfect touch....there's almost nothing like eating one of these when they are warm with a glass of cold milk. Or even better, try it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate or caramel syrup drizzled over the top.
Ingredients: 6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped ¾ cup (6 oz/185 g) unsalted butter, cut into 3/4 –inch pieces 3 large eggs 1 ¾ cups sugar ¼ tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla essence 1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose (plain flour)
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler placed over (not touching) barely simmering water. Heat, stirring often, until the butter and chocolate melt. Remove from over the water and set aside to cool slightly.
(Note: Remember, NEVER melt chocolate in a pot directly over the stove. If you don't have a double boiler, use 2 pots. The one on the bottom should be slightly bigger than the one holding the chocolate. Fill the bottom pot with at least 1 inch of water and let it come to a simmer. Place the smaller pot holding the chocolate, over the bottom pot. The steam from the simmering water below will melt the chocolate in a way that it won't burn.)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla until blended. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until blended.
4. Sprinkle all of the flour over the mixture and whisk slowly just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center come out almost clean or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, 35-40 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Note: In case you notice a couple of holes in the brownie below, it's from me poking the toothpick in there to see if it was done =)
6. Using a large, sharp knife, cut into 2-inch squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Strawberry shortcakes are golden, fluffy, cream biscuits that are served with sugared strawberries and whipped cream. These fresh, warm biscuits make a delicious desert, and the big sugar crsystals that cover the top give it a sparkling and crunchy finishing touch. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did!
Ingredients: For the dough: 2 cups (8 oz/ 250 g) cake (soft-wheat) flour, or 1 ¾ cups (9 oz/ 280 g) all-purpose (plain) flour ¼ cup (2 oz/ 60 g) granulated sugar 1 tbsp baking powder ½ tsp salt ½ cup (4 oz/ 125 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces 1 large egg 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus extra cream if making drop biscuits and for brushing 2 tbsp demerara or turbinado sugar
For the filling: 4 cups (1 lb/ 500 g) strawberries, hulled and sliced 3 tbsp granulated sugar Whipped cream (Recipe on the bottom)
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 425 degrees F. Line a half-sheet pan or rimless baking sheet with parchment (baking) paper.
2. First, prepare the berry filling. In a bowl, using a fork, crush 1 cup of the berries. Add the remaining berries and the granulate sugar, mix well, and refrigerate for up to 30 minutes or more to macerate. Note: I read in another recipe to refrigerate it for 1-2 hours, which is what I did. I think the strawberries will become more juicy and full of syrup that way. Make sure to prepare the berry filling 1.5 hours ahead of the time you start preparing the shortcakes.
3. Then, in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and pulse 2 or 3 times to mix. Add the butter and pulse 3 or 4 times, or just until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of small peas.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the egg and the 1/3 cup cream until blended. Pour over the dry ingredients and pulse 2 or 3 times just until moistened.
5. For drop-biscuits shortcakes, the dough must be soft. Add additional cream, 1 tbsp at a time, as needed. Spoon out the dough onto the prepared pan in mounds 3 inches apart wide and ¾ high, spacing them 1 inch. Note: I made drop-biscuit shortcakes and I added 1 extra tbsp of cream and the dough was just right.
6. For rolled and cut shortcakes, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently a few times until it clings together. Roll or pat out into a round about ¾ inch thick. Using a 3-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out rounds, pressing straight down and lifting straight up. Place the shortcakes on the prepared pan, spacing them 1 inch apart. Gather up the scraps, roll or pat out again, and cut out more shortcakes.
7. Brush the tops of the shortcakes with 1-2 tbsp cream and sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Bake until lightly browned, 12-15 minutes. Note: It took about 20 minutes to bake when I made them, so don't worry if you have to leave them a little longer.
8. Transfer the shortcakes to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the whipped cream (see the recipe below).
9. To serve, split the warm shortcakes horizontally and place the bottom half of each, cut side up, on a plate. Spoon the berries on top, dividing them evenly. Top with the whipped cream. Cover the shortcake tops. Serve immediately.
Whipped Cream
Ingredients: 1 cup heavy (double) cream 2 tbsp confectioners’ (icing) sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence
In a large bowl, combine the cream, icing sugar, and vanilla. Using stand mixer fitted with the whop attachment or a hand mixer, beat on medium-high speed until medium peaks form.
This is something different I tried...I've never made anything with buttermilk before. And I have to admit it turned out pretty good...the texture of this poundcake is really soft and spongy. I have to make a note: although it says to use lemon extract in this recipe (I don't know what that is actually), I used to a couple of tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice along with the grated lemon zest from the squeezed lemon...that's all. Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp each: baking soda and baking powder
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour,
salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.
2. Beat
the butter in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. Slowly add the
sugar, beating constantly, until smooth and well blended. Add the eggs;
beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Sprinkle about half of the flour mixture over
the butter mixture; beat until well blended. Stir the lemon extract and lemon
zest into the buttermilk. Beat half of the buttermilk mixture into the batter.
Add the remaining flour and buttermilk mixtures; beat until the batter is
smooth and well blended.
5. Pour
the batter into greased and floured bundt pan; bake until tester inserted
in the center of the came comes out clean, 1- 1 ¼ hours. Remove from the
oven; let cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Turn out onto the rack to cool
completely.
