Banana Bread Bonanza!

Today was a banana day. In the midst of baking, the Eldest Wingman of Mayhem calmly walked in my kitchen and made off with several of my bananas. I later found the peels strewn from one end of the hall to the other. What fun! I guess he just could not wait for the bread to be finished!

So, I am notorious for being unable to follow a recipe. It's not that I can't, per se, but that I just end up changing it. BUT.... in the interest of finding out exactly how fabulous Claudia's recipe is, I followed it, exactly. Whew. I did it. And, boy, am I glad I did.

Here we have the half mixed recipe.... I just added the sugar and noticed the boy had stolen my bananas. Luckily, the bananas had already been added to this.

Here we have the glorious bread ready to go in the oven.

And the gorgeous end results! The front loaf is Claudia's Bread and the loaf in back is Gift of the Faerie's Bread (I'll get to that in a moment.)

Oh, my.... doesn't it just look scrumptious??

The Girl certainly thinks so! She might have just had a transcendental experience. Or something... LOL

I say "Thumbs Up" on this recipe! Very yummy and sooo moist. Next time I make it I will use the Kaluha... and maybe some nuts! LOL

Littlest Wingman was attacking his piece like it might get away! He says "thank you" to Ms. Claudia for the yummy recipe, too!

Now. This past Christmas I made a new recipe. And, being how I am, it changed considerably from the beginning to the end.

It started off as "Gift of the Magi" bread.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)

1 can (11 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup sliced almonds, divided

1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries

1/2 cup chopped dates

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with bananas.

Stir in the oranges, coconut, chocolate chips, 1/2 cup almonds,

cherries and dates.

Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining almonds. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves.

Well. That was pretty good but I did not like it with the chocolate chips in it. I'm not sure why. So, I tweaked it. And tweaked it again. And this is what I came up with.

The Gift of The Faeries Bread

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 mashed ripe bananas

1 can (11 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained

1 small can crushed pineapple, drained as much as possible

1 cup flaked coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped maraschino cherries

1/2 cup chopped dates

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with bananas.

Stir in the other ingredients until well mixed.

Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans or one loaf pan and 3 small loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves or 1 large and 3 small loaves.

This makes a great alternative to traditional fruit cake. Very moist and with something different in each bite! I love it.

Here is the batter before the extra ingredients are added.

Here is everything else, ready to go in!

Here it is, ready to go in the pans.

And here is the finished product!! Yummy.

The eldest Wingman just says "Got Milk?" around the mouth full he is scarfing....

So, there you have it! My day of baking in pictures.

Next, I plan to tackle the Peanut Butter Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins that Asthma Girl turned me on to. They are originally a product of Noble Pig. They look wonderful.

Then, I may try to make Banana Jam! Check out this recipe at Joy of Desserts. Thanks Joy for giving me that heads up! Just think of fried peanut butter and banana jam sandwiches... or banana jam on ice cream.... yum....