Really Good Banana Bread

When it comes to baking, I am not nearly as confident in my kitchen skills as when cooking.  I know that baking is a sort of science and I’m afraid to stray very far from the recipe as written.  Therefore, when the baking bug strikes, I turn to the internet and cookbooks and follow the recipes VERY closely.

During this time of “stay home, stay safe” the baking bug has been strong.  We had some bananas that were well past their prime, so I decided I wanted to bake some banana bread.  Enter Google – and I found this great recipe here: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

It was pretty easy, the prep time didn’t take very long and the banana bread was spectacular.  Super delicious with strong banana flavor and I felt it was on the healthier side because the whole loaf had only ½ cup of sugar.  Try it – you’ll like it!

Ingredients:

2 to 3 very ripe bananas, peeled (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mashed)

1/3 cup melted butter, unsalted or salted

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Directions:

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

2 In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

3 Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

4 Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F (175°C), or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

5 Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)

Click here for printable recipe.

Dark and White Chocolate Mini Scones

 I found this recipe on a super fun blog here: https://sugarspunrun.com/the-best-scone-recipe/

I’m posting the recipe exactly as the original, but I made a couple of alterations.  First, I halved the recipe because we didn’t need 32 mini scones.  I mean, they’re delicious – and it’s not like we COULDN’T eat that many scones – but let’s just say we didn’t NEED to eat that many.  Also, I made these during the “shelter in place” order so I had to make a couple off substitutions to avoid having to go to the store again.  I’ll list the substitutions after the ingredients.  Who knew you could substitute milk & butter for heavy cream??  I can’t say enough good things about these scones.  They are delectable, and really fairly easy to make!

Ingredients:

Scones:

4 cups all-purpose flour (465g)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)

4 teaspoon baking powder (18g)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup very cold unsalted butter frozen is better (226g)

1 cup heavy cream (237ml)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Glaze:

1-1.5 cups powdered sugar (110g+)

2 Tablespoon milk (30ml)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional

Substitutions:

To reiterate, I halved the recipe above, which yielded 16 mini scones. 

I didn’t have cream, so I found that you can use milk and butter as a replacement.  I used 2 tablespoons of butter and 6 tablespoons of milk.  Melt the butter in the microwave. Whisk in the milk and warm in the microwave again if necessary to melt any little clumps of butter.

I didn’t have chocolate chips, but did have Baker’s Chocolate Bars – in both semi-sweet and white chocolate.  I used 2 ounces of each and chopped it with a knife.  Turned out fantastic!  I rather liked the chunks of chocolate opposed to the chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F (190C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. (I used my stand mixer)

Thoroughly cut in butter (I prefer to freeze the butter, grate it using a box grater, and then cut it in that way. This method yields the flakiest scones, but is not mandatory -- you can use cold butter cut in with a pastry cutter).  Those are the notes on the original recipe.  I used the grated butter method – and mixed it in with my stand mixer.

Measure out heavy cream in measuring cup and add vanilla extract. Stir gently.

Carefully stir heavy cream/vanilla mixture into flour mixture. You do not want to over-mix, but due to the amount of dry ingredients it may be tricky to well incorporate the liquid and the dry mixes. You may briefly use a KitchenAid or electric mixer on a low setting to help coax the dough to cling together.

Once dough is beginning to cling together, add chocolate chips, stir briefly, and then transfer to a very lightly floured surface.  Lightly knead the dough and chocolate chips together until you are able to form a ball.

Break the dough into 4 even pieces and round each one out into a disk about 5" wide.

Cut each into 8 wedges and transfer to cookie sheet.

Bake on 375F (190C) for 14-16 minutes.

While the scones cool, prepare your glaze by whisking together milk, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Start with 1 cup powdered sugar, and if it still seems too runny you may increase the sugar amount.  Once scones are cooled, dip, drizzle or spoon the glaze lightly over the top of each scone. Allow it to sit and harden before serving.

Click Here for Printable Recipe