Tips For Enjoying Banana Bread

Inviting some friends over for a Sunday brunch can be relaxing and entertaining experience. Brunch itself is famous for being one of the easiest meals to prepare when entertaining. The best thing about it actually is that there are so many different recipes that give you the chance to prepare brunch in advance so that you can enjoy the time when your guests arrive. As it is very easy to make and exists in many variation, banana bread seems to always be a favorite addition to any brunch.

It is in fact so easy to make banana bread that you can even use your children to help you with it. You can get them to peel and mash the bananas. Then just let them mix the ingredients with their little hands. All the ingredients are soft enough you can leave the mixer standing in its place while the kids are having fun. Another good thing about it is that it’s easy to clean up after making banana bread as the majority of are for one bowl mixtures.

An easy and tasty variation of banana bread is made by adding chocolate chips into the batter. Chocolate taste blends well with bananas and the chips themselves hold their shape in the bread. The only thing you have to remember is to put the chocolate chips just before pouring the mixture into the pans. Adding some chopped walnuts is also a good idea, although it is a bit risky, because in case you decide to go for it you’ll have to be absolutely sure that none of your guests is having a nut allergy.

In case you are pressed by the time you can always make banana bread in the bread machine, just follow the instructions and add the products in the same order as they are listed. And if you feel bored and want to make it a bit different you can use the muffin tins for the mixture and bake some banana muffins. There are banana bread recipes that are good even for people strictly watching their fat intake. The result is still moist and tasty banana bread with reduced fat.

You can also use overripe bananas in these recipes and what’s more we often get them cheaper, don’t we? Of course we can freeze some too. Freezing bananas is easy – just peel and mash the amount you need, then put in a plastic bag or an air-tight container and straight into the freezer. Next time you are making banana bread just take the frozen bananas out and put them in the mixture.

Another thing you would like to know is that prepared banana bread freezes well also, so when you are next making a loaf, just make some more, pack it tight and freeze it. Afterwards you can use it anytime you decide. It makes a great hostess present to take along when you're invited to somebody’s house. So next time you are out for groceries, get some extra bananas and try preparing a loaf or two of banana bread – it’s easy to make and most people enjoy it. What’s more it’s also easy to have on hand, as it freezes well.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning food and drink. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting Banana Bread

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Recipe For Moist Banana Bread

What do you do with bananas that are going ripe more quickly than your family can eat them? Make Banana Bread! It's great as a after school snack, lazy winter morning breakfast or dessert with your favorite meal. It's a comfort food that no one willingly passes up. It's pleasant fruity aromas filled the house and bring every one to the kitchen asking, is it done yet? Enjoy it warm, cold or even toasted.

Banana bread first made it's way in to cookbooks in the 1930's. Shopkeepers and grocers would have recipes available for shoppers when they had too ripe fruit on their shelved to try to make a sale for the product before it hit the trash bin. With the resurgence of home baking in the 1960's it regained the popularity it once had. Unlike some other recipes it was straight forward and required very little skill to create.

Banana bread is a popular gift giving item during the holidays, making it's way onto many platters for family, friends and neighbors.

The following recipe will make the moistest Banana Bread you have ever tasted. It's easy and takes no special ingredients. For best results use very ripe bananas. Be sure there are brown spots all over the peels and mash them well.

Ingredients:

1- 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas, about 3-4 bananas
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare greased 9 x 5 x 3 bread pan.

2. In a bowl, combined mashed bananas, butter, sugar and 1/4 cup milk. Mix to combine.

3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add in the banana mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla extract and 1/4 cup milk. Beat for about 1 minute on medium speed.

4. Pour batter evenly into the greased pan. Place pan in oven on the middle rack. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick or knife inserted in the middle of the bread comes out completely clean.

5. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.

For this recipe you can also use a 9 x 13 cake pan.

To add a different flavor use raisins or add pecan or walnuts. For the chocoholic try adding chocolate chips. Top with powder sugar or a cream cheese frosting.

If you have ripe bananas but have no time for baking, they can be frozen in a brown paper bag.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about moist banana bread recipes, please visit Dessert Recipes Site for current articles and discussions.

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All About Baking - Quick Breads

The Versatile Quick Bread

It's no wonder quick breads are so popular. They are easy, fast-as the name implies, nearly foolproof, versatile, and oh, so good. We commonly know them as sweetened loaves with fruit or nuts, somewhere between yeast breads and cakes in texture and sweetness. They are leavened with baking powder and baking soda. Banana bread and date nut bread are typical though some books list recipes for savory varieties.

Quick breads have less sugar and less fat than cakes. The nuts often found in quick breads add to the fat content. The fruit adds to the moisture as well as the flavor. Because quick breads tend to be drier than cakes, they are often spread with butter, cream cheese, or jam. Peanut butter is one of our favorite toppings.

Quick breads tend to be more dense and moist than muffins though the batter for quick breads can be baked in muffin tins. Generally, muffin batter is thinner than quick bread batter.

Quick breads are wonderfully versatile, appropriate whenever the richness of a cake is undesirable. They are often served at breakfast and brunch, for snacks, and they finish a meal well in place of a sweeter dessert. When used for a dessert, they can be topped with ice cream or a syrup. Slices can be toasted or dipped in eggs and made as French toast. They make great sandwiches-though a bit fragile unless "stuck" together with cream cheese or peanut butter. Try a fruit filled quick bread topped with shavings of ham or turkey.

How to Bake Quick Bread

There are two methods for mixing quick breads: the creaming method and the muffin method. With the creaming method, sugar and fat (butter, margarine, or shortening) are beat together to entrain air in the mixture and provide added lift to the batter. With the muffin method, the liquids are combined in one bowl, the dry ingredients in another, and then the two are mixed together. The creaming method tends to make a more cake-like bread. The steps for each method follow.

The Creaming Method

1. Place softened butter, margarine, or shortening in a bowl. Add the sugars, spices, and salt and beat until light and fluffy and air is entrained throughout the mixture. (Do not let the butter or margarine get warm enough that it approaches the melting point. Friction from the mixing, especially with an electric mixer, will increase the temperature.)

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

3. Add any liquid ingredients and stir lightly.

4. Stir or whisk the remaining dry ingredients together. Add them to the mixture and stir until just combined.

5. Remove to the baking pan(s) and bake.

The Muffin Method

1. Sift or whisk the dry ingredients together to thoroughly disperse the salt, sugar, and leavenings throughout the flour.

2. Combine all the liquid ingredients including the melted fat.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Mix with a spatula until just combined-some lumps may remain.

4. Remove to the baking pan(s) and bake.

Pointers for Success

1. Do not over mix. Over mixing will develop the gluten and make the bread tough instead of tender.

2. Choose low gluten flour, either pastry or all-purpose flour. Bread flour will make a tough loaf.

3. Do not scoop the flour. Sift or whisk the flour to make it light and fluffy, not packed, then spoon it into the measuring cup.

4. The creaming method produces a more cake-like product and is well-suited for those recipes that have a high fat or sugar content. Consider the creaming method for those recipes that call for more than four tablespoons of butter per loaf.

5. Bake soon after mixing before the effect of the leavenings begin to dissipate.

6. If you use dry milk in your recipe, add it to liquid ingredients so that it can be stirred and thoroughly dissolved.

7. Commercial muffins tend to be very high in fat and sugar-more like a tea cake than a bread. Your quick bread should be more bread-like and not as rich as commercial muffins.

8. Grease pans well and consider dusting the pans with flour as well. (If you use butter, always dust your pans to absorb the water in the butter.) With the high sugar content, the loaves tend to stick in the pans. Non-stick pans are helpful.

9. Breads are easier to remove from the pan if they set for five or ten minutes before removing the bread.

10. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into a crack in the center of the loaf. If the bread is done, the toothpick should come out clean.

11. Quick breads are best if they are tightly wrapped and stored in the refrigerator overnight. After the bread has completely cooled, wrap it tightly in plastic or foil. As the bread chills, both the flavor and the moisture permeate the bread. The bread can be stored in the refrigerator for five to seven days.

12. Quick breads can also be frozen. Place the wrapped breads in freezer-grade plastic bags and freeze them for up to three months. When ready to use, thaw the loaves in the refrigerator while still wrapped.

Troubleshooting Tips

1. Cracked top: A cracked top is desirable and not a fault.

2. Tunnels and voids: Tunnels and voids in the bread are a symptom of over mixing. Mix only until the dry ingredients are moistened. Some lumps may remain.

3. Tough texture: A tough texture instead of a tender texture is another symptom of over mixing. Occasionally, too high of baking temperature will cause toughness.

4. Soggy texture: If the batter is left for too long before baking, it may be soggy or sunk in the middle. If the there is too much liquid or not enough leavening, the bread may be soggy.

5. Coarse, crumbly texture: The bread should be moist and dense. Too much fat or too much leavening will cause the bread to be crumbly.

6. Bitter, soapy aftertaste: Too much baking soda or baking powder will create an aftertaste.

7. Too thick or too brown of a crust: A tough thick crust may be caused by too high of oven temperature or too much sugar.

8. Greasy crumb: Too much fat will create a greasy texture.

9. Crisp edges: Too much fat or too much fat and sugar will create crisp edges.

Dennis Weaver is the author of "How to Bake", a free 250-page e-book. Which is free at The Prepared Pantry The Prepared Pantry sells bread mixes and other baking mixes and offers a free Bread Center with recipes and techniques.

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MOCK ITALIAN CREAM CAKE DESSERT

1 1/2 pkgs. Anisette sponge cookies
1 (3 1/2 oz.) pkg. instant chocolate pudding
1 (3 1/2 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
Rum extract
Cool Whip
Nuts and cherries

Cut cookies in half lengthwise.

Make the chocolate and vanilla pudding by following directions on box. Line rectangular shape dish with cookies. Cover bottom in rows, side by side. Put a little drop of rum extract on every other cookie.

Layer chocolate pudding over first layer of cookies. Line second layer of cookies over the pudding in rows, side by side. Little rum extract over the cookies (not too much).

Layer vanilla pudding over second layer of cookies. Little more rum over cookies. Cover the top with Cool Whip. Decorate with nuts and cherries. Refrigerate overnight to let it settle.

The Guaranteed to Be Moist Banana Bread Recipe

Don't you just hate eating dry banana bread? I know I do. And the worst part is that it seems like almost every banana bread I try is incredible dry (you know, the kind of dry that literally shuts the top and bottom of your mouth together).

That's why I had to come up with my own moist banana bread recipe. After a little experimenting in the kitchen, here's the recipe I came up with to guarantee a moist banana bread experience.

Here are the ingredients for the Guaranteed To Be Moist Banana Bread:

2 1/2 cups of Flour
4 Bananas (very ripe)
1 3/4 cups of Sugar
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 cup of Vegetable Shortening
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
3 Eggs
1/4 cup of Buttermilk
1 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of Walnuts (chopped)

This recipe provides enough batter for two standard 9 inch by 5 inch loaf size cooking pans. If you would like to make just one loaf of moist banana bread, just reduce the ingredient amounts by half.

Recipe Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, vegetable shortening, and salt. Stir until creamy, and then transfer into mixer.

3. Add the eggs and mix.

4. Add the buttermilk, flour, and baking soda and mix until batter has become uniform in consistency.

5. Mash up the ripe bananas and place in mixer along with walnuts. Mix up the batter one last time.

6. Grease up both loaf pans. Dust some flour to keep it from sticking.

7. Pour batter evenly between both loaf pans, and bake on oven for 45 minutes.

8. When you place a toothpick or knife blade into the banana bread and it comes out clean, then you know that the bread is fully cooked.

9. Let stand for thirty minutes before serving.

By following this recipe, I can pretty much guarantee that you will make deliciously moist banana bread every time. No more having to chug down a glass of milk to regain the ability to talk. I personally prefer my banana bread served warm with a slight spread of sweet butter. The combination of the melting butter and the moistness of the bread is incredibly satisfying to my taste buds.

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