Carl's Mom's Banana Bread

I love to bake. In these times of Covid-19 and staying inside and isolated, I have been baking quite a bit! It is therapeutic to create something you and others can enjoy plus the smell of fresh baked bread, cookies cakes etc is usually so wonderful- you feel happier!

One of the best things about baking  are the memories that we have of our mom's or dad's baking or our grandmothers, aunts etc.  Granted some of them weren't the best but they sure are memorable!  And yes my dad did bake.  He baked bread,  after my mom (Sadie)  passed away to have at our  Friday night dinners to keep the tradition alive. So in these times of isolation, there is something very comforting in going back to some of those recipes that remind us of their presence and happier times.

When I was talking to my friend Carl (Carlos to me!)  the other day, he said he was going to bake his mom's banana bread.  He didn't have a pan though, so was going to get one...eventually. I am not sure his bananas will survive.  I happened to have some bananas and decided to make Carl's mom's recipe.

I am sure her banana bread was better...but I still think she would be happy that I made one for Carl and of course Eric too!

Dan and I took a drive over to their place and left it on their doorknob (yes we are keeping our distance) ...
Hope you enjoyed it Carl and Eric and it gave you some memories of your mom, your Mother Hen.

Here's the recipe that Carl gave me:

• 1 Cup butter
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 Tsp Baking soda
• 1/3 Cup Sour milk
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar (I think)
• 1 1/2 cups Mashed bananas
• 1 Tsp salt
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Vanilla

Note: you can use Buttermilk instead of sour milk.  If you want to make your own sour milk

Here is how....
To make  1 cup of sour milk put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a measuring cup and fill it up with milk until you get to the 1 cup mark. Give it a stir. I recommend using whole milk or 2% milk.
Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so it can become soured and it’s ready to use. This recipe only uses 1/3 cup.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs  and vanilla, then add the remaining ingredients. Divide the batter into the 2 loaf pans and bake for 1 hour.

Thought you would also get a chuckle at the following video of Carl's mom baking a christmas giant cookie!

Until we bake again
Stay healthy and wash your hands!
Penny

My Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Loaf Ain't Your Mother's Banana Bread

The February Daring Baker's Challenge

 I rarely have bananas left over but I had a few bananas the other day that were quite ripe.  They were perfect for the banana bread I was planning to make for this month's Daring Baker's Challenge!  Camera Guy doesn't like ripe bananas...not even close to ripe bananas...he won't touch them.....so why I ask did he eat them? YES HE ATE THEM!!!! Ok, he left one, but that isn't enough for this banana bread.  It really is not easy to find ripe bananas in the store and so my friend Meredith brought me a couple of ripe bananas she had in the freezer - yes you can freeze ripe bananas. Thank you Meredith!   They get a little watery but that's ok because the loaf is quite forgiving, which is why I added chunks of chocolate and a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter...I am drooling thinking about it....

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

One of the conditions for this month's challenge was that it had to be made realtively quickly - about 1.5 hours.   This one is very easy...

Starring our ingredients! (the frozen bananas are in the plastic bag)

In one bowl add butter, eggs, sugar, peanut butter and ripe bananas. 

In another bowl combine the dry ingredients...

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

And add the chocolate or chocolate chips (only if you want)... then pour into a greased loaf pan.

I forgot to take a picture of that....ooops.....

Bake and voila! 

Camera Guy smelled it and oooohed and ahhhed and then he tasted it and oohed and ahhhed a lttle louder...He liked it.

Until we bake again....

Penny

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Here is the recipe: Adapted from one of my favourite bread blogs - The Fresh Loaf

Makes 1 full-sized loaf or 2 small loaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In one bowl, combine:

• 1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2 or 3 very ripe bananas
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large tablespoons Peanut butter

Use a potato masher, fork, or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together.

In another bowl, combine:

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.

• 1/2 cup of chunks of chocolate ( I used a dark chocolate bar)

This is where I added the chocolate...If you like, stir in additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans, dried cherries or apricots, or chocolate chips. A handful is good.

Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Small loaves take around 30 minutes, and  normal-sized loaves take around 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

It is really tasty warm especially  with the chocolate in that melty state....I am drooling again....

Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes.  Once they are cool they can be individually wrapped and frozen.

Enjoy!