Clean Eating Banana Bread

Let me first start off by apoligizing that I have not been posting. I truley believe "any excuse no matter how valid lessens the man", that being said we have been traveling as a family. Supporting my husband in his mountain bike racing. Also our oldest daughter is having open heart surgery in less the 1 week. Needless to say I have excuses and truthfully my family is always my #1. That being said please forgive me and I hope to start posting more regulary after my daughters surgery. UGH how not fun was that. K now to the fun.

Around here we always have ripe bananas laying aroud. If I can't start baking right away I jusp pop the banna into the freezer for later use!  I LOVE making banna bread or muffins out of this recipe. I always double or triple this recipe, because it goes fast.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:


Nonstick cooking spray

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 slightly beaten egg whites

1 c. mashed ripe bananas (3 medium or 2 large)

1/2 c. agave nectar

1/4 c. canola oil

1 vanilla bean seeded or 1 tsp. vanilla
A pinch of sea salt (1/16 tsp.)

Directions:

Coat an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Mash bananas and set aside. In a medium bowl combine whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine egg whites, banana, agave nectar, and oil. Once mixed well, add flour mixture all at one time to banana mixture. Stir until moistened. The batter should be lumpy. Spoon mixture into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Test doneness by inserting a wooden toothpick near the center of the bread. The toothpick should come out clean.

Cool in pan on a wire rack for approximately 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

Baked french toast with praline topping served with Carmel syrup. Also recipe for cinnamon raisin bread.

I made this for a graduation brunch for some wonderfully fun girls in my ward. I've promised to post it for weeks, but I just now am getting to it OOPS. It's decadent and a lil sinful. The praline topping is so rich and scrumptious. Add the Carmel syrup and you've got one amazing brunch dish. Kinda like a bread pudding desert, sounds like breakfast to me! Sorry no picture it was all gobbled up so fast.

I also included a recipe for Cinnamon raisin bread. Kneaders sells this but if you are a bargain shopper like me making your own comes out to around 75 cents! Yep and you can add as many raisins as you do or don't want. I'm boring but raisins just are not my thing!


Ingredients


1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces) or cinnamon bread (can be purchased at Kneaders or make your own, recipe at bottom)

8 large eggs

2 cups half-and-half

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dash salt

Praline Topping, (recipe follows)

Carmel syrup (recipe follows)

Directions

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered/sprayed 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup or Carmel syrup.


Praline Topping:

1/4 pound (1 sticks) butter

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans (omit if you want)

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole. Spread evenly and bake in oven. 350 degrees for 40 minutes until puffed and golden.



Kneader's Carmel Syrup

1 c. Brown sugar

1 c. Cream

1 c. Light Karo Syrup

Blend together and heat on stove top until sugar is smooth. Serve warm.

Cinnamon raisin bread

Ingredients


1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

3 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup margarine/butter, softened (I'm an all butter gal myself)

1 cup raisins (I do not like raisins so I don't use them, which is why I like to make my own bread)

2 tbs dough enhancer (dough enhancer gives you light fluffy bread, like the store)

8 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling

2 tablespoons milk

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water, and set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and raisins. Stir in cooled milk. Add the flour and dough enhancer gradually to make a stiff dough.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.

Something I've also started doing with my bread is to let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours after the first rise. It really helps develop the texture and taste of the bread! So if you have time, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for a couple hours in the fridge!

Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten dough with 2 tablespoons milk. Mix together 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon, and sprinkle mixture on top of the moistened dough. Roll up tightly (think like cinnamon rolls); the roll should be about 3 inches in diameter.

Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends. Place loaves into well greased 9 x 5 inch pans. Let rise again for 1 hour.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then place a piece of foil over the top. Don't worry about tucking the edges under or anything, you're just preventing the top from browning too much, so just lay it over the top. Bake an additional 30 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when knocked. Remove loaves from pans, and brush with melted butter or margarine. Let cool before slicing.

Yields 3 loaves

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

I and my fam love banna bread. I like to make mine with fresh bannanas (not black ones.) We went through 4 loaves in 2 days. I also love making mine 1/2 white flour 1/2 wheat flour. I now prefer it to plain ol white? Call me crazy but it's delicious. So this is a delicious kinda sorta good for you bread. RIGHT!

3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup plain apple sauce
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups bananas smashed
3 tps. vanilla
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup pecans (opt. I usually leave these out)
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 tsp. cinnamon

In LG mixing bowl mix eggs, oil, and sugar. Add bananas and then ingredients in order listed. Blend just until smooth. Put into 2 loaf pans. Bake 45-55 minutes at 350.

Variations:
I always double this.
Go all white flour. but I promise you should try it with the wheat.
Leave out the spices, I love it this way.
Yummy as muffins, I don't make it this way because it disappears WAY TO FAST!

Buttery bread sticks

Buttery Breadsticks
This is the exact recipie from RHODES bake and serve rolls

Seriously so delicious better then SCRATCH. I get more complements on these then on almost anything else. Kinda sad I know. They are great at showers or paired up with soups. salads. pastas you name it. These cheesy-buttery breadsticks are the perfect addition to any meal.



Prep Time(min): 25 minutes (not including thaw time)

Ingredients
24 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
garlic salt

Instructions
Pour melted butter on an 11x17-inch baking sheet. Roll each roll to about 6-inches and then roll in butter until completely coated. Place cheese in separate bowl and roll buttered breadstick in cheese. Place breadsticks on baking sheet in 2 rows of twelve each. Sprinkle with garlic salt, if desired. Cover with plastic wrap.

Let rise until double in size. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 20 minutes or until golden brown.