banana

Cream Cheese Strawberry Banana Bread

March 27, 2017 by The Partial Ingredients

Who doesn’t love a big slice of banana bread and coffee for breakfast? I’m not even that into breakfast myself but this is probably my favorite. Simple, flavorful and easy to make ahead of time! The best part about the concept of banana bread is that it can be made as simple as you want or as fancy as you want. Occasionally I like to mix things up and add some different flavors. This time I had a few extra things lying around, namely some frozen strawberries and cream cheese. And of course some over-ripe bananas. As soon as my bananas start to turn I start thinking about the possibilities. Really what other food allows for that other than glorious bananas? It’s the only fruit whose possibilities open when they start to “go bad”… more like “go better” am I right? Frozen strawberries mash better than fresh so these worked out nicely, just thaw them out in a little warm water before using. You can definitely use fresh strawberries but they will show more in the batter. Mashed frozen strawberries will blend into the batter more than the former but the flavor will remain. If you want nice big red berries leftover after it’s cooked, you might want to mash less and use fresh instead.

The texture reminded me of pound cake but with a lot of moisture and richness. I’m guessing this was probably due to the cream cheese which added a little extra something to the flavor as well. The bread’s crust browned perfectly in the oven and didn’t get too dark. I cut back on the sugar on this one. You can always add about 1/2 cup more but I honestly liked it a little less sweet. As spring is getting underway this was a nice recipe to enjoy for this time of year.
…

Banana Oatmeal Bread

May 8, 2016 by The Partial Ingredients

I love a good loaf of banana bread. It’s a great breakfast when you’re busy during the week or when you’re just relaxing on the weekend with a cup of coffee. I chose to cut out some of the sugar on this recipe to make it more breakfast friendly while also adding some quick oats to the batch to make it more filling. The oats give it a little more texture that I like too. I love the way bananas make bread so tender and fluffy. I’m not sure what the science is behind that–perhaps the extra moisture from the bananas? They do something to the bread that makes it so soft! Banana bread really doesn’t dry out like others and you can keep it on the shelf 4-5 days without it turning stale. It’s also pretty cool that you can turn over-ripe bananas, something you wouldn’t normally eat, into something delicious. I think the final verdict is that bananas are magic, plain and simple.
…

Banana Bread Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

February 16, 2015 by The Partial Ingredients

Pop Quiz: How are bone broths and banana bread similar? Besides that they are both alliterations of the letter ‘b’, they transform normally “throw away” items into delicious food. These kinds of recipes are some of my favorite things to make. I think I just like the efficiency and, in my opinion, the transformation of these ingredients. This recipe elevates the humble brown banana (that arguably belongs in the compost bin) to a delicious dessert!

To make this recipe a little bit healthier I put in a small amount of whole wheat flour along with cake flour. I really liked the resulting texture from these two flours and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I was worried that the wheat flour would make the texture too rough but it seems that the fineness of the cake flour balanced out the roughness of the wheat. If you don’t have these on hand, all purpose flour works just fine. As for the frosting, I wanted a frosting that doesn’t have a whole lot of sweetness since the cake isn’t very sweet either. My goal was to make a muffin/cupcake hybrid so that it wasn’t overly sweet but still retained some of the finer qualities of a cupcake. The frosting was especially addictive and combined well with the banana flavor!
…

Banana Bread Scones

August 31, 2014 by The Partial Ingredients

Using over-ripe bananas in baking goes way beyond standard loaf bread! These are not your typical dry and crumbly scones. They are a lot more moist, but just as dense as a typical scone. The insides are more light and fluffy and totally delicious! A lot of banana bread scone recipes call for a brown sugar glaze but to cut down on the sweetness I only topped the scones with cinnamon sugar and a dusting of powdered sugar. Which still sounds like a lot right? But it actually turned out being not overly sweet at all. If you have a bunch of over-ripe bananas languishing on your counter give these scones a try!
…

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

May 25, 2013 by The Partial Ingredients

I had a few over-ripe bananas that were just begging to be turned into bread. Instead of banana bread I wanted to try something a little more portable and great for breakfast. I made a few muffins without chocolate chips on top and since the recipe is fairly low in sugar it was a nice option for the morning. I loved the combo of semi sweet chocolate, banana bread and spices. The texture of the muffin was fluffy and tender, spiced with nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cinnamon. You can make these substituting one cup all purpose flour with a cup whole wheat flour for a healthier alternative.

…

Pumpkin and Banana Bread

December 6, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

I have really been enjoying the results of adding pumpkin to different recipes. This bread is just like a banana bread with a hint of pumpkin flavor. The bread is seasoned with ginger, allspice and cinnamon and this recipe works great for the holidays. With the addition of the pumpkin to the mashed banana the result was a very soft, moist bread. I can’t wait to make this again!

…