Banana Bread

Do these bananas look yummy to you?  No?!  

How about now?  Fine!

I know you think they are tasty looking now!  What do you mean no?

Alrighty then... so we do a little of this.  Add a little of that.  

  

Put it in these.

Apply a bit of heat and wham-o bam-o thank you mam-o!

(Don't make fun of my lopsided mega muffins!  I had a loaner stove that had clearly not been leveled lol!)

Banana Bread

by My Sister's Table

adapted from King Arthur Flour recipe

makes one 9" x 5" loaf

Ingredients

4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

5 ounces light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

12 ounces peeled & mashed ripe bananas

2 1/4 ounces apricot jam

3 ounces honey

2 large eggs

6 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

3 ounces King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour

3 ounces chopped walnuts, divided

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.

Using your stand mixer with a paddle attachment combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, beating until smooth.

Add the mashed bananas, jam, honey, and eggs, again beating until smooth.

Add the flour and 2 ounces of the walnuts, stirring just until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and give it a finish stir with your spatula.

Scoop the batter into your loaf pan, smooth the top then sprinkle with a few chopped nuts - the ounce that you had left over. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes, then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning.

Bake for an additional 20(ish) minutes until a long toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs or clean. The tester shouldn't show any sign of uncooked batter. If it does, bake the bread an additional 5 minutes, or until it tests done.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove it from the pan, and cool it completely on a rack.

This bread freezes well so make some for later or to share with family and friends!

Printable recipe here.

Enjoy!

: )

Cheese-Filled Sweet Braid

I get it!!

I completely understand now why bakers are up so early.  Because then they actually get their brunch braid done before lunch time!  I was up plenty early but didn't decide to make this until around nine o'clock in the morning.  Maybe I should have had more than one cup of coffee.  O.o

Ingredients into the mixer.  Mix, switch to hook and knead for about 5 minutes.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour.  It won't get all big a sassy but will be puffy and quiet.  

Divide the dough in half and roll out one piece.

A ruler and pizza cutter will come in handy with the next steps.

First cut out the first "strips".  You won't want these to bulk up your ends.

Now you want to cut strips on the two sides.  I wasn't measuring!  Want perfect go to Ikea. I was just using the ruler as a spacer and straight edge so my braid wouldn't be completely special.

Once I cut the wide strips I went back and cut in between to create skinnier strips.

Added the filling and fold in the end caps.  This is kind of important, if you don't do this the goo will be all over your baking sheet.

Time to start braiding!  Oh wait that would be complicated and it isn't.... just criss cross the strips.

I found the dough got stickier as it sat while I criss crossed and took pictures.  I tried to be smart and use my pastry scraper to get the last couple of strips up off the parchment.  Yeah ummm that didn't work. I've had easier time of getting the darned 3m stickum strips off the wall!

The last strip just gets tucked under the end.  Not too shabby!

When doing the second one I got smart and used the edge of the ruler to imprint a line from one end to the other to use as a guide for how far to cut the strips.

This braid I left the strips wide. The criss crossing went much quicker and I think I like the look a bit better.

End tucked.

Let them rest and then brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with sparkle sugar.

Baked and cooling.

Smel-o-net where are you?!

These were tasty but it just seems to need something.  Maybe next time I will add a little bit of fruit.  KA's recipe calls for Fiori di Sicilia or vanilla.  The Fiori di Sicilia would be very good but my son is not a fan of the flavor so I opted to use the vanilla.

Cheese-Filled Sweet Braid
~ adapted from the King Arthur recipe ~


Dough
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 ounces lukewarm water
4 ounces lukewarm milk
2 ounces butter, softened
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, lightly beaten
12 3/4 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 1/2 ounces sugar
3 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla

The following are KA's directions. I have made comments in them on how I executed the bread and italicized the comments. 
Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients, and mix and knead them together -- by hand, mixer or bread machine -- till you've made a soft, smooth dough. I used my mixer.  First mixing with the paddle then switched to the dough hook, kneading for about 5 minutes. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until it's puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk).

Filling: While the dough is rising, prepare the filling by mixing all of the ingredients together till smooth. Chill till ready to use.

Assembly: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and divide it in half. The oil didn't work for me.  The dough was very sticky so I used flour and the dough behaved much better.  Roll each half into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle. At this point I moved the rolled out dough to a sheet of parchment paper.  I am not sure I would have had success moving the braid once done without destroying it. I cut my strips using a pizza cutter before spreading the filling onto the dough. Spread half of the filling lengthwise down the center third of each rectangle. Cut 1-inch-wide strips from each side of the filling out to the edges of the dough. Fold about an inch of dough at each end over the filling to contain it, then fold the strips, at an angle, across the filling, alternating from side to side.

Baking: Allow the braids to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till almost doubled in size. Brush with a glaze made from 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water, and sprinkle with sparkling white sugar, if desired; then bake the braids in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool on a wire rack. Yield: 2 braids.

Enjoy!

:)

No-Knead Crusty White Bread

Love, love and really love the blog and recipes over at King Arthur Flour.
For those that are new to baking to those that are old hats - there is something for everyone.

I love to make bread but get board with the kneading.  Yeah I know - want great bread then you got to need the knead.  Then I saw this recipe and the spot light turned on and the choir sang a nice ahhhhhhhh...

I am putting the basic recipe here but I encourage you to go and read the whole recipe that includes further explanations and useful tips for making this bread.

You ready for the gosh darned easiest bread?!  Ok ... go!

No_Knead Crusty White Bread

24 ounces lukewarm water (warm - not ouch hot - 105°ish)
2 pounds King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast

Put all the ingredients into your bowl - my Kitchen Aid I love you! Beat at medium speed with the beater blade for 30 to 60 seconds. If you don't have a mixer, just stir with a wooden spoon  until everything is mixed.  It will be a sticky dough.

Move the dough to a large bowl or bucket.  Cover the bucket, and let the dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

Then refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, or for up to about 7 days. The longer you keep it in the fridge, the tangier it'll get; if you chill it for 7 days, it will taste like sourdough. Over the course of the first day or so, it'll rise, then fall. That's OK; that's what it's supposed to do.

When you're ready to make bread, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour; this will make it easier to grab a hunk. Grease your hands, and pull off about 1/4 to 1/3 of the dough. It'll be about the size of a softball.

Place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then sift a light coating of flour over the top.  Let the dough just rest there for about 45 minutes to an hour.  It won't get tall but might expand a bit.

While it is resting preheat your oven to 450° F. Place a shallow metal or cast iron pan (not glass or ceramic) on the lowest oven rack, and have 1 cup of hot water ready to go. I use one of those Marie Callender pie tins from back when they charged you a deposit of 15 cents on the tins - I am getting my 5 cents worth!

When you're ready to bake, take a sharp knife and slash the bread 2 or 3 times, making a cut about 1/2" deep. The bread may deflate a bit; that's OK, it'll pick right up in the hot oven.

Put the bread in the oven, and carefully pour the 1 cup hot water into the shallow pan on the rack beneath. It'll bubble and steam; close the oven door quickly.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until it is a nice golden brown.  Then move it to a rack to cool.

Ok where is the soft butter?

:)