Best Ever Banana Bread

Best Ever Banana Bread
3 large overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil*
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts*

I mixed all of this together in a food processor in the same order as the ingredients listed above starting with breaking down the bananas in the processor.  *I substituted whole wheat flour for white flour and vegetable oil for butter.  I also added chopped nuts.  Once all of the items are mixed together, pour into a non-stick loaf pan.  Although this type of pan is suppose to be non-stick, I still spray it with a baking spray like Baker's Joy.   Bake for an hour in a preheated 325 degree oven. 

This recipe is from the Faculty Favorites cookbook. Faculty members of the Magothy River Middle School in Arnold, Maryland put this together in 1990 as part of a fundraising effort. My mother was a faculty member there and taught special education. A previous post on Carrot Tea Bread was actually from this same cookbook although I originally thought it might have been from a Betty Crocker cookbook.



Honey & Spice Banana Muffins

I was checking out my box of bran flakes cereal.  The same bran flakes that I always buy from Kroger that I think are the most amazing bran flakes.    I'm always shocked at how cheap they often are...like...$1.88 or even $1.66 a box.  As they say, you can't beat that with a stick. 

The flakes are pretty large in size and very hearty. The cereal does not get soggy fast. I always keep them in the house because it is one cereal that I really enjoy and it is healthy and filling. I usually add raisins or a banana.  I've never cared too much for raisin bran cereal, name brand or generic.  The flakes are lightweight and get soggy really fast.  The raisins are often hard.  The cereal tastes too sweet.   I bet you didn't know that raisin bran could be deconstructed in this way. 

So, I was looking at my box of bran flakes and noticed the recipe for the Honey & Spice Banana Muffins.  I have not used recipes from cereal boxes although I often read them.  Growing up, I do remember a recipe for baked chicken that came off the side of a box of cornflakes.   We took chicken (whole fryer, cut up), seasoned it, and rolled it around in crushed cornflakes.  We poured melted butter on it and baked it.  I remember it tasting really good.   Of course, I always wonder if it tasted good because I was in middle school and didn't know no better or was it really good?   Last night, I asked my mother if she remembered when we made that recipe.  Yes, I remember...  Do you remember it tasting good and was it really that good?  Yes, I remember...it was good...does it matter?  She gives me a strange and quizzical look that could be interpreted a many a ways, none which are good.   The memory of it tasting good is what is most important and I can leave it at that. 

So, I am trying out this muffin recipe from the side of a cereal box without the highest of expectations.   

 

Honey & Spice Banana Muffins

1 cup of bran flakes cereal
1/4 cup of skim milk
1 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup melted margarine
2/3 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoonn of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

My substitutions and additions based on my fridge, pantry and druthers:

• 1% milk for skim milk
• real ginger for ground ginger
• added half cup of raisins (more tasty, more fiber and more calories)
• added half a cup of chopped walnuts (more tasty, more fat, more calories)
• use of a 6 cup muffin pan instead of 12 (bigger muffin, larger serving size, more calories and no 12 cup muffin pan)

Heat oven to 375 F.  In a small bowl, soak cereal in milk for 5 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, then add cereal mixture.  Beat at medium speed until well mixed.  If adding raisins and nuts, fold them into the mixture.  Spoon into greased or paper-lined 12-cup muffin pan.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes until tops spring back when touched lightly.  Larger muffins require a little longer cooking time, maybe 30-40 minutes. 

Thoughts on this recipe.   This was a pretty tasty muffin.  In terms of taste and moistness, it just cannot be compared with a pre-packaged muffin that you would buy from the grocery store or from a restaurant that is full of eggs and butter which could be 350-500 calories.   Actually, you probably could eat a slice of cake for breakfast for the same amount of calories and fat.  I found them to be rather dense but not dry.  This recipe was sweetened by honey which was the predominant flavor so the recipe is appropriately named.   I like honey, but in terms of taste would want to scale back some so that other flavors could be more prominent.  For example, I did not taste the banana and I like banana.   I was glad that I added raisins and nuts.   The fresh ginger was a good choice.

I determined that these muffins are 242 calories without the addition of raisins and walnuts.  I calculated the calories for the entire recipe and then divided it by 6.  With a piece of fruit and coffee, this makes for a healthy and filling breakfast.   Obviously, these muffins would have been half the calories if I had made them with a 12 cup muffin pan.   I opened one up and added a little margarine to the center.  I endorse these muffins although I plan on experimenting more with the recipe.   

Oatmeal, Wheat and Banana Pancakes

This is the story about how one recipe becomes another.  I started out with the intention of making the Flying Biscuit's Organic Oatmeal Pancakes I mentioned in a previous blog.   But, I'm going to tell you what really happened.

At the start of this weekend, a Friday, I decided to get my grocery shopping completed for next week.  I concluded I didn't want to do much of nothing this weekend, so I had to get the shopping out of the way.  I did this without a grocery list and without recently reviewing the recipe.  This means, I had no buttermilk for the intended recipe. 

I intentionally purchased wheat flour as I've been thinking about making wheat bread.  My mother is visiting this month and I'm hoping that we will make the wheat bread she used to make when I was in high school.  I decided to wait for her arrival because I haven't kneaded bread or worked with yeast since high school.  I might as well wait for Momma.  In the meantime, I thought I would use some of the wheat flour and make wheat-based pancakes.

I buy bananas almost every week, only about 3 or 4.  Sometime weeks I eat them up but most times I don't.  Very ripe bananas are great for cooking.  I needed to get rid of a few.  I often freeze ripened bananas and use them in smoothies or baked recipes.

In my freezer I keep items for baking and toppings such as coconut, semi-sweet chocolate chips and an assortment of nuts that I buy in bulk.  No matter what happens, these tasty toppings can add flavor and make it look pretty.

Organic.  I just can't call my recipe organic.  What exacly does organic mean?  I started to research the term organic, but that is for another post for another day.  I didn't want to get lost in the internet abyss.  I've started a search on a single topic and en route - looked up the price of the newest Juicy Couture fragrance, discovered that The Walking Company has professional shoes, bookmarked blogs of interest, downloaded music and check the weather.   Two hours later...I decide that I don't have enough information to make an informed decision.  So, after careful consideration of what could happen should I go this route, I decided not to call these organic pancakes.  Instead, I'll call them exactly what they are- Oatmeal, Wheat and Banana Pancakes.

Oatmeal, Wheat and Banana Pancakes

The night before I combined one cup of oatmeal with 1 cup of 1% milk in a container and placed it in the refrigerator.  I kept this suggestion from the Flying Biscuit Recipe except that it called for buttermilk. 

Combine dry ingredients
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of sugar
Pinch of salt

Combine wet ingredients using a food processor
1 cup of oatmeal and 1 cup of 1% milk mixture (refrigerated from overnight)
1 mashed banana (the riper the better)
1 egg
1 tablespoon of oil

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the food processor.  Mix long enough to combine.  I ended up adding almost another half cup of milk to loosen up the mixture. 

Cook on oiled, preheated griddle until bubbles form and edges start to dry. Flip and cook until lightly browned.   Add oil as needed between batches.  Normally I cook pancakes on a relatively high heat.  I decided to reduce the heat to medium/low.  After the first batch, I reduced the heat to a level 3 out of 10.  I'm cooking on an electric stove. 

Although halved, this recipe produced 12 small pancakes.  These are heavy, dense pancakes.  I had three which were very filling.  I topped them with a sliced banana,  a sprinkling of semi-sweetchocolate chips and a little syrup.  I thoroughly enjoyed this meal.  I wrapped most of the remaining pancakes and placed them in the freezer.

A few more thoughts on this recipe, in case you haven't heard enough about this experience.

• I found a recipe online for wheat pancakes that I used to get the ratio correct for the dry ingredients
• I forgot to add cinnamon which goes very well with oatmeal and bananas.
• In the future I plan to try folding in beaten egg whites after combining all of the ingredients to see if this makes the pancakes lighter or fluffier. 
• A serving of oatmeal provides 4 grams of fiber.  Likewise, so does a serving of whole wheat flour.  Regular (white) flour provides no fiber.  Bananas provide additional natural sweetness, 2 more grams of fiber and other nutrients.