Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

  I still have quite a problem with my bananas turning dark brown or black before I can use them all.  I don't buy them for any other reason than to make smoothies, but somehow they always get the best of me.  I'm super picky about eating a banana as is (it has to be fairly unripe and slightly green, not too sweet or mushy), so I feel like it is always a race against the banana.


 A few weeks ago, there wasn't any chance that I would use the bananas before they were ready to be transformed into a baked good.  I've made just about every variation of banana bread there is ( I think I have made every Cooking Light version), as well as cakes, muffins, etc., so when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I immediately decided it would be the perfect way to use my bananas.  I knew I could send it to work with my husband, so there were not any worries about it being eaten.

I never, ever use more that a 1-2 Tablespoons of oil when I make quick breads or muffins.  I discovered that low-fat buttermilk can be a wonderful substitute that has less calories, less fat, but still makes things moist and delicious.   I always use this method and I have never had any problem. 

 I did cut a slice of this bread for my kids to try and I had a small bite.  It was pretty good.  It could never dethrone my favorite banana bread recipe, but it was a fun twist.  And, my husband brought home an empty plate, so I know that it was enjoyed by quite a few people.



Here is the recipe for Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread 
* I used low-fat buttermilk in place of most of the oil, all but 1 Tablespoon
* The mini Reese's stuck to the bottom of the pan a little bit, so I had to get creative and make a glaze to cover some of the holes and spots I had to patch up.

  

Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bread

When I saw this Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bread recently, I thought it would make a great after school snack. I decided to make mini loaves because they bake up a little bit faster and also because then everyone can have their own little loaf- no fighting over the end pieces or the one with the most chocolate.

My kids absolutely loved these. I would say that it tastes more like a muffin than a cookie, but it really didn't matter. I liked this bread because it wasn't overly sweet and it felt like a healthier option than a cookie.

My son declared that this was the best snack ever. That means it will reappear sometime in the near future.

Here is the recipe for Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bread
* I used low-fat buttermilk because that is what I keep in my fridge
* I forgot the sugar sprinkle on top



I also made these from the same blog, on a Sunday afternoon when we all wanted a treat and have no photo as proof because we gobbled them up quickly.

Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cake & Meyer Lemon Cranberry Muffins

Okay, here are the other 2 recipes that I used my Meyer Lemons in. I saw that The Food Librarian made this Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Meyer Lemons and I decided to follow her lead.
It was a stir and mix kind of cake with a nice powdered sugar glaze. I didn't make the blueberry sauce because I was trying to keep this sweet and simple. It sure was delicious. I made 1/2 the recipe in a 6-inch pan.
My daughters really loved this one. I really enjoy the texture that a little bit of cornmeal adds to a recipe.
This was simply delightful and one that I want to make again for sure. I don't think I got the glaze thick enough and it pooled in the middle, but that middle section was really citrus-y and delicious. Extra glaze added a bunch of flavor!

I used the last of my Meyer Lemons to make these Meyer Lemon Cranberry Muffins. I can't remember where I saw this recipe but I always have a stash of frozen cranberries in my freezer, so I figured this was the perfect time to pull them out.
This recipe was originally baked in a loaf pan, but I rarely have the patience for a loaf of quick bread. Muffins are easier and quicker.

The most interesting thing about this recipe is that the wet ingredients are mostly Meyer lemon juice. There is an egg and a little bit of oil, but for the most part, lemon juice does the job. As you can imagine, that gives this muffins a really bright, lemon-y flavor. Very lemon-y and citrus-y and just tart enough with that lovely edge of sweet that the Meyer lemon has.

The cranberries sunk the bottom of the muffin tin, so when I turned them out of the pan, I left them upside down. I added some of the leftover glaze from the cornmeal cake above, but for some reason I think these were better without the glaze.

That my friends, is the end of my Meyer Lemon extravanganza for this year. I hope I find them again next year and I can experiment even more.

Here is the recipe for Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Lemon Glaze that I adapted via epicurious
* I used Meyer Lemons
* I made 1/2 the recipe in a 6-inch pan

Here is the recipe for Lemon Cranberry Coconut Bread adapted to make muffins from Baking Bites
* I omitted the coconut
* I made muffins, baked them at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

Fig, Ginger, and Pear Quick Bread

Let the festive baking and giving of baked goods begin- or continue, if you have already begun doing so.
I made a bunch of cookies and this quick bread and sent it off in the mail to some family and friends. I chose this bread because it specifically stated that it should be baked, wrapped in plastic and saved for the next day. So, I figured that if I shipped it quickly to someone in another state, an extra day would make it that much better.

This bread contains shredded fresh pears, which I have never used in a baked good before. The keeps the batter nice and moist and I'm sure adds great flavor.

This bread is topped with dried figs and crystallized ginger. It smelled so good. I really wanted to cut a slice and give it a taste, but who wants to receive a half-eaten goodie in the mail?

I will just have to make another batch into mini-loaves, so I can try it for myself.
Happy Baking!


Recipe for Fig, Ginger, and Pear Quick Bread
* these particular version of the quick bread is one of the options below the original recipe

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

This recipe was on the cover on the most recent issue of Cooking Light. Quick breads and muffins are always an easy option when you want to bake something and I wanted to take a treat to my friend, so this recipe seemed perfect.
I had some ripe bananas and I had seen Lori's in-depth review of the bread on her blog, Culinary Covers, so this went onto the calendar as a "definite make".

I made the full recipe but decided to do mini-loaves and muffins, since those are so much easier to share. Plus, I wanted us to be able to try this recipe as well. From the full recipe, I got 8 mini-loaves and 9 muffins. I left the chopped peanuts out of the batter, but sprinkled them on top of some of the loaves and muffins.

This bread was fabulous. I have made almost all of Cooking Light's varieties of banana bread and this was another great one. I didn't think that the peanut butter flavor was extremely noticeable in the bread, but the glaze and chopped nuts on top, really made it seem peanut butter-y.

I would definitely make this again. The person who I shared it with really loved it too.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Bread
* I omitted the chopped peanuts from the batter and sprinkled them on top instead, before baking
* I used skim milk in the icing and added more milk to make it the right consistency. I also added a little bit more powdered sugar.

Cooking Light's Classic Banana Bread Muffins with Nutella Swirl

We go through banana stages. Sometimes we eat them like crazy and everyone is begging for more once they are gone and sometimes, they just sit there. And turn yucky colors; begging to be turned into something much more delicious than just a plain old banana.

I think I have tried every Cooking Light recipe for Banana Bread that they have ever invented or published. Such as Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze (my personal fave), Bluberry-Lemon Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze, Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread, Molasses-Oat Banana Bread, Cardamom Banana Bread with Pistachios, Orange-Banana Nut Bread, etc. I think you get the idea.

I have also made their Classic Banana Bread before, which is the recipe I used for these muffins.
I saw a post over on Barbara's blog, Barbara Bakes where she swirled Nutella into the banana bread batter and I knew I would have to do that too.

Some people debate the combination of bananas and chocolate, but not in this house.
These were the perfect afternoon snack and we also took some to a friends house to share.


I used half whole wheat flour, swirled about 3/4 tsp of nutella into the top of each muffin.
Baked them for 18 minutes and they were done.

Recipe for Classic Banana Bread

Barbara's post about Banana Nutella Bread

TWD-Cocoa-Nana Bread

This week's TWD recipe, Cocoa-Nana Bread, was chosen by Steph who blogs over at Obsessed with Baking. You can find the recipe on her blog.
I accidentally "healthified" this bread.
We had just gotten back from DisneyWorld and I thought I would throw it together really quickly and take it to my nephews in DC. I had a couple of brown bananas and I didn't think to check if I had everything else I needed.
I was only making 1/2 of the recipe and I started mixing away.
That's when I realized I had no eggs. None. Not even 1 little egg.

So, I frantically checked the freezer for possible stashes of frozen egg whites and found some.
I had subbed whole wheat flour for half of the flour and used low-fat buttermilk, because that is the kind of buttermilk I always keep in my fridge, so I had a semi-healthy Cocoa-Nana Bread.
1/2 of the recipe made 3 mini loaves (pictured) and 1 larger, not really mini, but also not a regular sized loaf.
I let my kids sample one of the mini loaves and then carefully wrapped the other 2, one for each nephew old enough to eat them, and the other small loaf (for my teenage brother, who was also going to be in DC), in plastic wrap. I then carefully transferred them to a large Ziploc bag and positioned them strategically in my backpack, hoping that they would slide through the security points at the airport undetected.

Don't worry. It all went smoothly and when my nephews woke up the next morning I was able to present them each with a personal mini-loaf of chocolate-banana goodness that might have actually been an ok breakfast item.
They loved them. So did my kids and my brother.
Can't really go wrong with chocolate, if you ask me.

Check out the rest of the TWD Bakers and see what everyone else thought. Many people were worried about this chocolate-banana combination!

Cranberry-Pecan Bread

I have really tried not to buy every Holiday Baking Magazine that I see. I have been successful! There have been a couple that I couldn't resist, but at least I am making some of the recipes out of them, so it hasn't been a waste of money.
I saw this Cranberry-Pecan Bread (the recipe originally used walnuts, but I think pecans are better, so I subbed them in) and thought it would be a fun recipe to try.
A basic quick bread with a hint of orange, cranberries and toasted pecans. Perfect for the holidays.
Of course, everything is easier to share when you make it into minis.
I halved the recipe and it made 5 mini loaves.
The recipe says to top the bread with a chopped cranberry/sugar topping, but I was a bit skeptical as to how it would stay on top of the bread, so topped half of the mini loaves with decorating sugar and half with the cranberry/sugar topping before I baked them.
I also reduced the sugar by about 1/4 cup and have been doing that lately in most recipes I bake, because it seems like it doesn't really affect the taste that much to leave out some of the sugar.

When I took out the loaves, I realized that the cranberry topping made the tops of some of the loaves sink a bit, so that is probably why the topping was supposed to be put on after baking. Oh well, I guess that is how you learn, right?
The ones with only the sugar topping was done at 20 minutes. The others took a couple minutes more.

My kids really loved this bread. I also gave a couple of these away, so this would be a good food gift for this time of year.
Cranberry-Pecan Bread from Cuisine at Home Holiday Baking
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cloves
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, divided
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 cup buttermilk (I used low-fat)
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
2 tsp grated orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (the recipe originally called for walnuts)
3 Tbls coarse or turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F; coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
Whisk together flour and next 5 ingredients in a bowl; make a well in the center. Set dry ingredients aside.
Toss 1 1/4 cups cranberries with 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl; set sugared cranberries aside.
Whisk together buttermilk, the remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar, eggs, oil, zest, and vanilla in a separate bowl until fully combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into well of dry ingredients; stir only until dry ingredients are moistened.
Stir the sugared cranberries and pecans into the batter. Pour batter in the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and bread is golden on top, about an hour. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
Pulse the remaining 1/4 cup cranberries in a mini food processor (or mince them by hand); toss with coarse sugar for the topping.
Turn bread out onto cooling rack; sprinkle top of loaf with the cranberry-sugar topping. Let bread cool completely before serving.

Blueberry-Lemon Banana Bread Muffins without Cream Cheese Glaze

My husband knows how much I love to bake.

A couple of weeks ago, he suggested that we take some kind of baked good to the people who were selling us their house.

We got a really good deal because they had to move. We even managed to get their fridge.

From the day we moved from Utah, to the day we moved into our house, I think I baked 3 things. That really isn't very many considering I was baking multiple times a week before that. I even went a whole month without baking a single thing.

Maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal, but for me, it was wierd. I love being in the kitchen.
I love baking.

Here is one of those 3 things.

I baked these muffins to take to our house-sellers. They weren't home. We ate them instead.

Now, this is supposed to be a banana bread loaf, but I was thinking that mini servings are easier to share, so I made muffins and I also decided to just do a simple powdered sugar/fresh lemon juice glaze instead of the cream cheese one that was included with the recipe. I didn't want to take away from the banana/blueberry thing that was already going on.

We all enjoyed this variation. And it just happens to be blueberry season, right here in good
ol' GA.


Blueberry-Lemon Banana Bread with Cream-Cheese Glaze adapted





2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
1/2 cup egg substitute (I used 2 eggs)
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
Cooking spray

Glaze: (I didn't use this glaze. I just mixed some powdered sugar with fresh lemon juice)
1/4 cup (2 ounces) block-style 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare the banana bread, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until mixture is well blended (about 1 minute). Add mashed banana, egg substitute, sour cream, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Gently fold in blueberries and lemon rind. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray or a muffin tin. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or 20-25 minutes, if you are doing muffins, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool the bread 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove the bread from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare glaze, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over cooled bread or muffins.

I got 17 muffins from this recipe.

TWD- Fresh Mango Bread

This week's TWD recipe, Fresh Mango Bread, was chosen by Kelly who blogs over at Baking with the Boys. You can find the recipe on her blog or check out this post from when I made this about a year ago. Last year when I made it I used Mott's Fruit flavored unsweetened applesauce, the Mango Peach flavor, in place of some of the oil and the results were fabulous.

This time I wanted quicker results, so I made this recipe into muffins. I had nice, large, juicy, ripe mangoes and a happy helper. She was really curious about the pit of the mango and was trying to find it. (She even ate some of the peel! we really didn't waste any of our mangoes!)

I made the full recipe and got 21 muffins. I only baked them for 22 minutes and they were done. Nice and golden brown. I used lemon zest, substituted half of the flour with whole wheat flour, subbed chopped pecans for the raisins, and drizzled half of the muffins with some leftover lime buttercream frosting that I thinned with a little lime juice and milk. (I will be posting the recipe for the cupcakes and lime buttercream later this week).

We all really liked this recipe, that is part of the reason why I made it again.

To see what everyone else thought, go check out the Tuesday's with Dorie Blogroll!

Up Next- Asian Chicken and Mango Salad

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

I am convinced that this is the best Banana Bread ever. I have been making it for 6 years, ever since I saw it on the cover of Cooking Light Magazine. I have tried lots of other recipes too, because I am always up for trying new things. I have made the Cardamom Banana Bread with Pistachios, the Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread, the Molasses-Oat Banana Bread, the Orange Banana-Nut Bread, the Classic Banana Bread; not to mention family and friends' recipes too. And they are all really good.
But, I always come back to this recipe. It was rated as the best Quick Bread recipe that Cooking Light has ever come out with in their 20th anniversary issue and I wasn't surprised at all when I saw that in print.
It makes for a great gift for new or old mothers, new and old neighbors, basically, I would give this bread to anyone, anywhere and they would be glad to get it. I love the combination of coconut and lime and that is exactly what is going on here. The glaze is delightful, the bread is moist and you can't really ask for anything else in a quick bread recipe. Plus, it is a little bit healthier than some of the other banana bread recipes because it has a little less butter and some plain yogurt added in there. The recipe suggests subbing apple juice for the rum and that is what I always do.

So, next time you have ripe bananas that need to be used, try this recipe and you will be happy you did!

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze Cooking Light

The tangy lime glaze cuts the sweetness of the bread. Substitute apple juice for the rum if you prefer.

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt

3 tablespoons dark rum

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.
Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.

Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan.

Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool bread completely on wire rack.

Coming Tomorrow- CEiMB- Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ginger Tea Cake and Grapefruit-Ginger Tea Bread

If you love ginger, in any way, shape, or form, you will love these two quick breads. They are both full of ginger- ground and crystallized. One has grapefruit and the other pumpkin.
I saw the Grapefruit-Ginger Tea Cake in the lastest issue of Vegetarian Times and was intrigued by the thought of combining ginger and grapefruit. It had never crossed my mind as a ingredient combination. The picture in the magazine was of a lovely dark bread with chunks of grapefruit and a beautiful glaze. Mine turned out quite light, but still very delicious.
I decided I wanted to make another Ginger Tea Cake, not really to do a taste test, but just to have 2 options to choose from and something to compare the other tea cake with.
I found a recipe on The Food Network and it included pumpkin. Ginger and pumpkin are a familiar combination to me, so I whipped it up as well.
I already had some crystallized ginger in the pantry, but that stuff can cost a pretty penny. I think that is the key ingredient that really gave both of these breads such a kick, but they would probably still taste good without that ingredient and maybe a little more ground ginger. I made these into mini-loaves and got 4 of the grapefruit-ginger and 3 of the ginger-pumpkin. I reduced the baking time by half to start and then just kept adding a few minutes at a time, until the cakes were done.
Spicy and Delicious!

Ginger Tea Cake from The Food Network
2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree

1/4 cup reduced-fat buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 packed cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

Confectioners' sugar, optional

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Line a large (4 1/2-inch by 9 1/2-inch) metal loaf pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk the pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.
Beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the light brown sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes more. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the pumpkin mixture in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix briefly at medium-low speed to make a smooth batter. Turn off beaters and add the crystallized ginger. Finish folding batter--which will be thick--by hand with a rubber spatula.
Scrape batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean and top springs back when lightly pressed, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 to 15 minutes, then invert pan to release cake onto rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Serve.

Grapefruit-Ginger Tea Bread from Vegetarian Times January 2009

3/4 cup pecans (3 oz)

2 cups white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 large eggs

6 oz. vanilla nonfat yogurt

1/4 cup milk

3 Tbls. canola oil

2 grapefruit, supremed, segments coarsely chopped, and juice reserved for Glaze

1 Tbls. grapefruit zest

1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Glaze:

2/3 cups confectioners sugar

1 Tbls + 1 tsp freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Spread pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 6-7 minutes, stirring once. Cool slightly and chop.

2. Whisk together flour, and next four ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

3. Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Whisk yogurt, milk and oil into the eggs. Stir in grapefruit zest and pieces.

4. Fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened and no lumps remain. Fold in chopped pecans and crystallized ginger. Transfer to prepared pan and bake, 55 to 60 minutes, or until deep brown around edges and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 hour or wire rack: remove from pan and cool completely.

5. To make glaze: Whisk together confectioners sugar and 1 Tbls juice in a small bowl. Add remaining 1 tsp juice until a thick, but pourable consistency is reached. Place foil beneath wire rack and drizzle glaze over loaf.

Coming Tomorrow- Peabody's Chocolate Malted Whopper Cupcakes (AMAZING)