"The truest greatness lies in being kind. " ~ Emma Wheeler Wilcox
NOTE: I spend my Wednesdays Unplugged from appointments. It's my day to stay home, enjoy cooking and welcome our kids and grandkids for dinner in the evening. We end our meal with quotes from the Norwegian 'Quote Cup' passed on to me from my grandmother. I share a quote and a recipe here each week, and sometimes some photos of family fun. I love trying new recipes…and love getting recipes you would like to share!
This was a full week… awesome women's retreat along the St. Croix… my first rehearsal as part of the Adult Choir of the MN Boychoir (also awesome)… videotaping for our new website to come in a couple months… lower temps, but still in the double digits above zero.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
I found some frozen bananas in the freezer and decided it was time for banana bread. This recipe came from Epicurious.com, a compilation of everything they liked best in the most popular versions of banana bread on their site. Here is the result… a sweet, nutty, very moist loaf.
A FAVORITE BANANA BREAD
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature- 1 2/3 cup flour
- 4 medium very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour and 9×5" loaf pan, set aside.
Combine banana, sour cream and vanilla in a medium bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar in another large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 1/2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until fully combined, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients in 2 batches, beating on low after each addition until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds per batch. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula.
Bake, rotating halfway through, until batter is set, top is dark golden brown and starting to crack, sides are starting to pull away from pan, and a tester inserted into center of bread comes out clean, 60-65 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack a least 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around the perimeter of pan to loosen loaf, then tap pan gently on its side until loaf releases. Transfer to a cutting board or plate and let cool completely before slicing.
NOTE: To quickly ripen unripe bananas for baking, bake them unpeeled on a baking sheet at 250 degrees F until soft, about 15-20 minutes.
