Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
User Journal

Journal bethanie's Journal: "My god, it's *Soft* *Moist* and tastes great!" 13

Journal by bethanie
Hey -- I didn't even have to make that one up, folks!

At kormoc's request, here's my tried-and-true recipe for:

Banana Tea Bread
(I apologize, but I have long since lost the source of this recipe -- it's from one of my mother's cookbooks)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup bananas, well-mashed (about 2 or 3 -- *really* ripe)

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan, or 4 mini-loaf pans (shortening is best for greasing, but liberally applied cooking spray [Pam] works, too.)
  2. I'm going to give you the experienced cook's shortcuts -- cookbooks *always* tell you to sift together the dry ingredients and set them aside. I never do this -- it's just a good way to get an extra mixing bowl dirty and add to your cleanup efforts. So this isn't "cookbook kosher," but it works.
    Mix together the 1/3 c. shortening, 2/3 c. sugar, and 2 eggs. Beat them till they're *very* creamy -- about the consistency of hand lotion.
  3. Now you add in the dry ingredients. Start with the little stuff and the smaller measurement of flour: 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 3/4 cup flour. Mix that on low speed for about 7 seconds -- it may not all be incorporated, but you just want to start getting the dry stuff wet. Do your best NOT to overmix, as that overactivates the leavening too early, and will make it less light & fluffy after baking (i.e., tough/hard-to-cut).
  4. Add in about half of the bananas, and mix for another ~7 seconds.
  5. Add the rest of the flour (1 cup) and mix for a few seconds.
  6. Add the last of the bananas, and mix all ingredients until the mixture is pretty homogeneous. Remember: Mix it *just* enough to get it stirred together -- NO MORE. Consistency will be thicker than cake batter, but not as thick as cookie dough. (Sorry not to give a better description, but I can't think of anything to compare it to.)
  7. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan (it should be about half-full), and bake it on the middle of the middle rack in your oven. A standard-sized loaf pan will take about 60 minutes. Four mini-loaf pans will take about 20-30 minutes.
  8. To determine when the bread is done, you *really* need to use the toothpick test -- stick a toothpick *deep* down into the middle of the loaf, and when it comes out clean, the bread is done. Don't be tempted to pull it out early (advice that is wisely applied in *many* areas of life!) -- it needs to bake *thoroughly* or else you'll end up with banana pudding that will quickly go bad because of the leavening.
  9. Once it's done baking, set it on a cooking rack for about 10 minutes. If you don't wait long enough, it'll fall apart when you turn it out of the pan. Waiting too long won't really be a problem if you've greased the pan well.
  10. After it's cooled somewhat (let's say you can touch the sides of the pan without *really* burning your fingers), turn it out onto a cutting board. Ideally, it should cool even more, but that's just so it won't make too many crumbs when you cut it. And who can wait that long, anyway, right? Use a good, *serrated* knife to cut, and Enjoy!

This stuff also freezes well, and if you have two loaf pans, it doubles very easily. Makes *great* toast (in a toaster oven -- not recommended for the "vertical" toasters), and is also good with some butter melted over it, though it doesn't really need it. kormoc prefers his with cream cheese spread on it.

Please, if you make this, let me know how it comes out, and what modifications or clarifications I should add to the instructions, OK?

Feedback is good!

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

"My god, it's *Soft* *Moist* and tastes great!" More

"My god, it's *Soft* *Moist* and tastes great!"

Comments Filter:
  • FP!!!

    I *LOVE* banana breads!
    Thanks, I'll pass this on to my wife.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Hmmm... Well, actually, by the time the bananas get ripe enough to make into banana bread, I can't say that they really remind me of anything I'd like to think of as a phallus. That's probably why it didn't occur to me.

      Oh, and the quote isn't mine, it was kormoc's, which, IMO, makes it even better! :-)

      ....Bethanie....

  • Whenever we overbuy bananas and they get too ripe to eat, they go into the freezer where they turn a lovely crap-brown color. Once we get enough of those stockpiled, it's banana bread time! The freezer-ripened bananas make the bread tast fantastic!

    Sometimes, my forgets how many we actually have in there. We did a freezer cleanout once and found a dozen and a half scattered here and there...

    • You probably do this, but just so others know, you should peel the bananas BEFORE freezing, then you can use them right away from the freezer (I put in in smoothies directly into the blender).

      If they still have the peel you have to wait for them to thaw before using them and that can take a while - plus they no longer make you smoothie quite as thick. I usually put two peeled ones broken in half in sandwich sized ziplock.

  • I'm going to give you the experienced cook's shortcuts -- cookbooks *always* tell you to sift together the dry ingredients and set them aside. I never do this -- it's just a good way to get an extra mixing bowl dirty and add to your cleanup efforts.

    I'm not a baking wizard, but believe this advice is more necessary in some cases than others. In this case, the amount of mixing needed to get the bananas mixed in probably makes premixing the dry ingredients superfluous. When the mixing of batter has to be limi

    • Mixing of the batter is "always" supposed to be limited. The same principles apply to all the recipes. I just don't bother to do it. Yes, you see the cooks on TV do, and Martha does it -- but they don't have to clean up after themselves, do they?

      No, in 20+ years of baking, I have "sifted" maybe 3 times -- and it hasn't made a difference. You just gotta hold back from overmixing, that's all.

      And the name of the recipe is "tea bread," I think because this is the kind of thing that would be served at an aft
      • Why screw with perfection? :-)

        When Bo Derek and I...

        When Natalie Portman and I...

        Oh never mind. ::::mumbling things about people not understanding:::::

      • No, in 20+ years of baking, I have "sifted" maybe 3 times -- and it hasn't made a difference.

        Mmm...banana bread.

        The way I figure it, you need a largish bowl for the final mixing, so you sift the dry ingredients into that. The second bowl (for the wet ingredients, including the bananas) can be a smaller bowl...given that it's less than a minute to clean up, it doesn't bother me.

        I don't bother mashing the bananas beforehand, though...they tend to fall apart as you peel them, and the chunks will get p

  • What do you call a 'regular' sized loaf pan? I just whipped up a batch and it overflowed the pan after 10 minutes :P

    We put it on a cookie sheet for now, but for further excercises, I'm curious to see what size pan you're using (its definately not a 'mini-loaf' pan btw).

    Thanks!
    • Eeew. Sorry 'bout that!

      Lesseee.... whipping out measuring tape kept right here at the computer (don't ask)....

      What I consider a "standard" loaf pan (my Pyrex one) measures 8.5" long x 4.5" wide x 2.5" deep. I also have a longer (cheap, aluminum, from the grocery store) pan that measures 10" long x 4.5" wide x 3" deep. My mini loaf pans (Calphalon non-stick, very nice -- I highly recommend it for bakeware in general) measure 5.5" long x 3.25" wide x 2.25" deep. Four minis = about 1 "standard" loaf, at le
  • For the nut lovers like me, and no guys, I'm NOT referring to what's between your legs - so let's not go there...heehee
    You can also add 1/4 to 1/3 cups (depending on your own personal perferences) of your favorite nuts such as "Pecans" or "Walnuts" (my personal favorite). And to clarify what she means by *really* ripe, my grandmother always waited until the peel on the bananas turned brown (definately doesn't look inviting at all to eat) and she baked it perfectly every time! Yummmy! The memories of the c
    • Nope. No nuts for me (at least not in edibles, thanks!). I prefer the unadulterated flavor and texture of things like banana bread, cookies, and fudge all by themselves. Finding little chunky nutty things in there just ruins the experience for me.

      But to each her own, of course! :-)

      ....Bethanie....

Slashdot Top Deals

When you don't know what to do, walk fast and look worried.

Close