Bread - Banana Bread

Recipe Inspiration Source:  Connoisseurus Veg

First - This recipe is NOT WFPB.   Not a bit.  It is vegan, but it has sugar and oil and flour and all sorts of evil ingredients.  However, we're in the middle of a pandemic.  I'm old enough to be in a high risk group.  If I end up in an ICU ward with a shortage of supplies, they will yank that ventilator right out of my throat in order to save some  ungrateful young person who likely got the virus while partying with friends. If I'm going down, I will have some comfort food first!

I  love banana bread. The other day, I saw I had 3 overly ripe bananas. Too ripe to eat, but perfect for banana bread. Unfortunately, I was missing ingredients for my basic recipe and others I found on the internet. Vegans don't have eggs or milk in the house. I searched for "vegan banana bread" and came across this one.

OMG! It is wonderful.  I like it better than my previous recipe. It's not exactly healthy and nowhere close to whole-food plant-based, but mmmmmmm, it's good! 

Also, I often search through loads of similar recipes and use bits and pieces of them all.  This time, I will not change a thing.  The recipe here is just like the source.  Please do go to her page.  She has tons of great photos and a great write-up with more details and tips.  I plan to explore her blog and look for other recipe gems.

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Arrange a strip of parchment paper width-wise along the center, with just a bit hanging out over each side.

Peel the bananas and place them into a large mixing bowl. Mash them well with a fork or potato masher.

• 3 medium overripe bananas

Add sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla to the bowl. Stir until well-mixed.

• 2/3 cup organic granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil (or your favorite baking oil)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Add the flour to the bowl, then sprinkle the baking soda, cinnamon and salt on top of the flour. Stir everything together just until mixed. Don't over mix. The batter will be thick.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Fold in the walnuts.

• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon.  Sprinkle the top with sugar.  Bake for 50 minutes.

The parchment paper idea is good, not only for cleanup, 
but it also seemed to help in the final results of the bread.
I almost skipped it.  Glad I didn't.

Here's another banana bread recipe -

Oh dear.  This looks really good.  It hits my weak points - bread and sweet, but a tiny bit healthier.  I haven't made this one yet because I'm so happy with the one above.

Inspiration Source:  Shane And Simple
I plan to browse his blog.  I love his photos!

"You’re not going to find any dairy, oil, or sugar in this recipe and that’s good because banana bread shouldn’t have CHOLESTEROL in it! Just replace all those bad things with a little flax, applesauce, and maple syrup."

• 3 very ripe bananas (the browner, the better)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put bananas into a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher until fairly smooth.

Add the maple syrup, apple sauce, and vanilla extract to the bananas and mix well.

Add the flour, ground flax seed, baking soda, and salt. Stir well until all ingredients are thoroughly combined and make the batter.

Pour ingredients into a silicone or nonstick standard sized loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. Depending on your oven, it could take a few minutes longer. Use a tester or butter knife to insert into middle to check if bread is done. You want it to come out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for just a minute then remove from pan and let completely cool.

Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Cake - Pumpkin Spice OR Banana Bread - Two Ingredients!

Recipe Inspiration Source:  AllRecipes

Sorry.  This is not a healthy recipe, but if you are craving comfort foods, this is better than the store-bought pre-made stuff and it's soooooo easy.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.  

In a large bowl, mix together the spice cake mix and canned pumpkin until well blended. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool and serve, or store in the refrigerator. This tastes even better the next day.

Banana Bread

• 3 Ripe bananas
• Box of Yellow cake mix

Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350.

Easy Glaze  

The cake/bread can be eaten without glaze, but the glaze is a nice addition.

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon milk 

Pound Cake - Janie's Cream Cheese

Oh my! This is soooooo good!

• A few hours before, gather all ingredients and let them come to room temperature.
• Do not preheat oven. It’s best to put the cake into a cold oven.
• Cream sugar, cream cheese & butter. Don’t rush this step.  Add sugar in a slow stream with the mixer still running and beat until this is full and fluffy. This takes a good while, but this how you'll get a lighter cake.

3 sticks butter (room temp is best) Optional -   1 ¼ cups of butter and ¼ cup of buttermilk. Buttermilk makes cakes, muffins and breads very moist.

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese (room temp is best)

3 cups sugar (use 2 cups if you prefer it less sweet)

• Add 1-1/2 t vanilla and beat well. 
• Add 7 large eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  
• Stir in 3 cups sifted SWANS DOWN cake flour. Go easy. Stir just long enough to completely incorporate the flour.
• Spoon mixture into greased 10 inch tube pan. 
• Bake at 325 degrees.

Stoneware Bundt - about 1hr-15 min (a little gooey) - to 1 hr-25.  Take out of pan immediately.

Batter split between a tube pan & a loaf pan-

Tube 1:05 --- Loaf 40-47m