Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Whoever invented/came up with using bananas for baking is a genius. I mean, really! They're amazing for muffins, and cakes, and well, bread. And it's kinda recomforting to know that when there's 2 bananas on the counter, dying and blackening as days go by, it's not a total loss...in fact I almost, sometimes, let them "mature" on purpose, so that I have an excuse to bake something!!
So this week I was gonna, again, make muffins, but I decided to make a loaf for something different, and for some new material for this blog(yes, I'm still thinking of you, readers, even if I don't show up on here all that often..:))
This recipe came form "Healthy Oven", yet again. It uses buttermilk, but if you're unable to find buttermilk(or in my case decide at the last minute to make a loaf rather than the usual muffins...)make your own:
2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt+1/3 cup 1% milk=1 cup buttermilk.
It's that simple, and it works!
On to the recipe:

Dry ingredients:

2 cups flour(mix half whole wheat, half all-purpose...)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:

1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas(about 2 bananas)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg
1 TBSP canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:


Mix all the dry ingredients and set aside.
Mix all the wet ingredients, by hand or with a mixer for about 2 minutes, making sure everything is well combined.
Pour the wet in the dry, add chocolate chips and mix, without over mixing though or you'll end up with a tougher loaf. In this case it's ok if there are still lumps of flour here and there...
Pour in a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan, smooth the top with a spatula and sprinkle more choco chips on top(!!!).
Bake in a 350F oven on the middle rack for 55-60 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes while still in the pan, unmold and cool completely on a cooling rack...



or...if you have no self control like me have a few slices while it's still too hot and burn your tongue...(no seriously, don't. it hurts...)

It's an AMAZING loaf, really, even after 4 days!

Banana-Carrot-Cranberry Muffins

Another day off today...so after a nice little outdoor swim I had to bake something. It was gonna be a "banana-something" because I had 2 very ripe bananas begging to be used.
But I also wanted to make something with carrots, for variety and because I've been making a lot of shakes lately, I want to keep my frozen fruit for smoothies!! So, I looked through some books, found a recipe for carrot muffins, but not using bananas. And then there's my favorite recipe of banana-oat muffins, not using carrots. So I took a shot and kinda combined the two. The carrot muffin recipe looked amazing as it was though, I will try it eventually!

These came out great, they are moist and light. The molasses taste comes out a little, but not over-powering. It gives it a nice darker color too.

Ok. Here's the recipe, adapted from Marg Ruttan's "Biscuits et Muffins":
(yields 9-10 big muffins)



Dry ingredients:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Wet ingredients:

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
1 cup mashed bananas

1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Grease up some muffin molds, and turn the oven at 375F. Set the rack in the middle.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl, set aside.
In another bowl, mix all the wet until lightly frothy.
Pour the wet mix in the dry mix, along with the carrots and cranberries, mix until just combined, without over-mixing.
Scoop in the muffin tins(ice cream scoop works best), and bake for 20-25 minutes.
When they're done they will spring back when you press on them, or do the knife test...
Cool for 10 minutes in the molds, then carefully unmold and cool on a wire rack.

Very nice and tender muffins.



With margarine and a glass of juice, it's a nice little pre-workout snack or afternoon sugar fix.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Saturday morning is usually muffin baking morning. I always make the same recipe but this morning I was out of appelsauce and maple syrup, 2 major ingredients in this favorite recipe. But I had 2 ripe bananas and plenty of brown sugar so I looked through another one of my favorite baking books called "Biscuits et Muffins"(in french)by Marg Ruttan, and found a banana oatmeal muffin recipe. Perfect.


(now THAT'S a Muffin top!!)

Start by pre-heating the oven at 375F and grease muffins mold.
This recipe will yield about 9-10 big muffins.

Dry ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour.
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup brown sugar(or regular white sugar, but I prefer brown sugar with banana recipes...)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg(magical with bananas, seriousy.)

Wet ingredients:
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter or canola oil
3/4 cup milk
1 cup very ripe bananas, smashed into a puree.(about 2-3 bananas)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

-Mix all the dry ingredients, set aside
-Beat the eggs, then add the rest of the wet ingredients.
-Pour the wet in the dry, with chocolate chips, mix until just combined, without overmixing.
-Bake for 20-22 minutes
-Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, demold and cool on a wire rack.



*To make sure the muffins don't break when you take them out, put a cookie sheet on top, flip it and shake the pan a bit to make them come out. It might take a few minutes but that way you won't end up with separate tops and stumps.
**These muffins are very moist and tender, so be careful when they're hot, handle them gently...
***Also they freeze well, but make sure they are completely cooled before freezing, wrap in plastic wrap and in a anti-freeze ziploc.

This morning I couldn't help myself I had 2 of them(it's ok, I'm swimming later...). They go really good with coffee.



Happy Easter week-end!