Banana Bread w/Sour Cream*

I will be KEEPING this recipe so I can make more of these!

INGREDIENTS:  

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, smashed (but not into "mush")
2 cups (16 oz.) sour cream (I used Daisy brand)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 level teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Grease three of 4¼" x 8½" pans (I measured inside the edges of their top opening).  I like to not only grease/spray the pans, but I also put a long strip of parchment paper down the end, along the bottom and up the other end of each pan and then lightly grease that, too (or very lightly spray it with  "non-stick").  By doing that, it makes loaf-removal less of a "breath-holding" experience.

1. In a large bowl, cream the softened butter with the 2 cups of white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar. (I used my stand mixer for this.) 
2. Mix in eggs (one at a time), smashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon.
3. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour... until evenly blended.
4. Stir in nuts.
5. Divide into prepared pans (my pans ended up being filled to almost 1/2" of their top edge).  Before baking, I sprinkled a small amount of chopped walnuts on top of batter and gently pressed them in (just a little).
6. Bake for 1 hour plus 15 minutes OR until the small/clean/sharp blade of a knife gently inserted in the center comes out clean.  (With the oven I was using, I had to add just a few more minutes.)
7. Remove from oven, let sit in pans for about 10 minutes.

Remove from pans and lightly butter the tops.Let cool.  Slice.  Enjoy!   (Because these came out of the oven at bedtime, I set them on a layer of dish towels, covered them up with a few more; these were SO READY to CUT and ENJOY by this morning.)

* I changed a few things in the recipe I was sent. I first put a strip of parchment paper into the greased/sprayed pan and then sprayed that.  Then,... the original recipe said to dust the inside of the greased pans with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, but I opted to NOT do that because I didn't want their outsides to get too dark.  I replaced one cup of white sugar with a cup of dark brown sugar; I used UNsalted butter; and baked the bread in three "larger" pans instead of the four "smaller" ones called for.  Also,...I added 1/2 cups of walnuts, and used some of those for sprinkling on top of the batter before baking.

100% Whole Wheat Coconut Oil* Banana Bread

For the two loaves pictured, I doubled the following recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup raw honey)
• 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil* (My note about this is at the bottom)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas (5-6 medium)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used a tiny bit less)
• 1 and 2/3 cups 100% whole wheat flour (Next time, for an experiment, I'm going to try the coconut flour I have on hand.)
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnut halves)
• 1 cup shredded coconut (The coconut I used was very 'fine'.)

Here's a photo of the 'shredded' coconut that I used...

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Grease the bottom only of one 9x5" loaf pan.  (For just in case, I greased pan bottom and also put one sheet of parchment paper in just the bottom of the pan and greased that.)  Set aside.
• Mix sugar (I used raw honey) and coconut oil until well blended.  With using the honey, I was very surprised to see I had a very 'thick/white mixture' when I first combined the two but I kept the 'beater' going until it was very smooth/well blended-- until the two started to 'behave' and 'get along'!
• Add mashed bananas and water, mix well.
• Add baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Mix in evenly/well.
• Add flour and mix ONLY until all is just moistened.
• Stir in nuts and coconut.
• Pour into prepared loaf pan.
• Bake until toothpick or sharp knife inserted in the middle of loaf comes out clean-- this will be about one hour.

Let it cool for about five minutes; loosen edges with knife and remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely before slicing.

I adapted this recipe from a site with free coconut recipes.  It was originally submitted by Rachel of Costa Rica.

*Through the years, there's been 'hoopla' about coconut oil.  First, it was safe.  Then, it wasn't.  Then, it is, again.   When I did the following 'GOOGLING', this is what came up:

• Coconut Oil Benefits: 4,820,000 sites
• Canola Oil Benefits:  1,050,000 sites
• Olive Oil Benefits:  3,370,000
• Butter Benefits:  42,700,000
• Coconut Oil Dangers:  522,000
• Canola Oil Dangers:  132,000
• Olive Oil Dangers:  1,410,000
• Butter Dangers:  5,110,000

The percentage of 'dangers' sites vs. 'benefits' sites of each is probably the most interesting.  Still,... could some of the information on the sites be considered 'suspect' because of the writer having a biased opinion in order to promote another product?  Well,... for what it's worth, you can look/read for yourself.  So,...

Do the 'Google' for yourself, read away and draw your own conclusions-- there is SO MUCH information available on the pros and cons of almost everything.  More information, I think, than any human could ever cover!   I just know that through the years, I faithfully used canola oil and olive oil-- now, as I've aged, I question the smartness of my relying on canola oil as much as I did.

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What can I say!?!?!   The two slices were just...................really that good!

Banana Bread (with PHOTOS)

I typed up and included this recipe in my regular "Family Chatter" blog during the month of April-- now, I've copy/pasted it into here.   First of all, here are the pictures of how this bread turned out for me-- I was VERY satisfied!!!

Banana Bread: 

I already had/have what I consider some good recipes for making banana bread.  But,... from 'someones?' blog site about baking, I ended up watching a 'you tube' video of an 89 yr. granny making banana bread with her daughter-in-law.  You can find this video by clicking on this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcUy88gELWo  The recipe I found there is what I've typed out below. 

To make this recipe of banana bread, you will need:

6 very ripe bananas with some brown spots on them, but not rotten (LOL!).  Smash/crush these, but not so much that they turn into 'banana soup'... in fact, pieces that are still 1/4 to 1/2" are okay.  Set this aside until it's time to add it.
Start mixing together (you don't need a mixer for this):

2 large eggs, beaten
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar  (Ever since the first time I made this recipe, I've used only 1 cup of sugar-- it works!)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 finger pinches of salt 

Add:  Smashed bananas and stir in until well blended

Add:  3 cups all-purpose flour (stir only long enough to incorporate; do not over mix it)  and 1 cup walnuts, optional (chop them only 'slightly').

 Put this batter into "VERY" greased or buttered pans, paying special attention to the corners of the pan (so the loaves don't act like they are part of the pan after baking).  In fact, I like my daughter Paula's suggestion even better:  Spray the pans with non-stick, cut a piece of parchment paper the size of the pan, put it in there, spray that with the non-stick and........... magic!................. pops out before there's time for any kind of 'wonder if you will' feeling! 

If you are using two large (9" long) loaf pans, bake them about 1 hour at 350-degrees, or until a toothpick or sharp clean/dry knife stuck into the center comes out clean.  I baked mine in three of the smaller (8" long) loaf pans and they were done in about 45-minutes.  Before trying to remove from pan, run a knife around all the edges to loosen them a bit.

Okay, ... done!!!   Wayne was in here as they came from the oven and he wanted a 'sample' right away.  I preferred to first let them cool for a while, but..... he won! (See photo at top.)  He asked me to wrap up a couple of slices for him to take to the woods were John is cutting wood.   I believe this IS a good recipe!  This house smells better than ANY scented candle could accomplish!!