Posted on No Comments on Strawberry Banana Bread

Strawberry Banana Bread

Strawberry Banana Bread

As summer comes to a close it’s time to take advantage of the last of those Summer berries. Many of our local grocery stores have had strawberries and blueberries on sale for the last few weeks, so we’re stocking up! Both of our kids go through blueberries like their lives depend on it (I promise we feed them!), and strawberries with a few chocolate chips have been a favorite after-dinner treat this Summer.

We’re big fans of using up those extra ripe bananas by making banana bread, but with all the extra berries on hand, we decided to try a fun twist on the classic banana bread. This strawberry banana bread was easy to throw together and really took our banana bread to the next level. You have to try it!

I think I’ll go buy more strawberries so we can make a few more batches before the pumpkin spice season is officially upon us.

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter (or 1/2 cup), softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1½ cups fresh strawberries chopped
    • mix with a spoonful of flour to prevent the strawberries from sinking to the bottom of the loaf
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Strawberry Banana Bread Recipe

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
  2. Lightly coat two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
  3. In a large bowl, (I use my stand mixer), cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  4. Add beaten eggs to sugar mixture and mix until incorporated.
  5. Add mashed bananas to the mixture and stir to combine.
  6. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
  7. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir until flour is just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
  8. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans and bake at 375 F for 15 minutes.
  9. Lower oven temp to 350 F and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until slightly golden and cooked through.
  10. Let stand and cool before removing from pans.

Recipe from Recipe Critic

Posted on No Comments on My Favorite Pumpkin Bread

My Favorite Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread Closeup

Sing it with me now: “It’s beginning to look a lot like…Fall.” It’s still Fall. We may be starting to sneak a little bit of Christmas music and books into the house, but there are still a couple weeks of it being socially acceptable to have pumpkin fever. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin brownies, and a couple more loaves of this pumpkin bread are all on the menu before we jump into the official Christmas season.

The pumpkin spice crazy is out of control these days. The grocery store shelves are lined with fake pumpkin spice everything. Cookies, cereal, crackers, candy, pop-tarts…even milk. Milk! It’s pumpkin spice insanity. I don’t know about all the artificially flavored pumpkin, but there’s nothing like going back to the basics with a classic pumpkin bread. The original pumpkin spice. This pumpkin bread is practically perfect in every way. I have a feeling that we’ll be making this bread for many years to come.

Ingredients:

  • 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (if you have an Aldi near you, it’s by far the best price I’ve found)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 3 cups white sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Pumpkin Bread Loaf

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray loaf pans generously with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl or Kitchenaid stand mixer, thoroughly mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
  4. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until blended (be careful not to overmix).
  5. Pour into the prepared pans.
  6. Bake for about 35-45 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Bread Slice

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Posted on No Comments on Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Homemade Banana Bread

Does anyone else get a little excited when they see the last couple of bananas from the bunch that’s been sitting on the counter start to turn black? No? Some may see more food that they have to trash because their family didn’t finish eating it, but I choose to see the potential in those sad looking bananas that have lost their bright color…I see a delicious loaf of homemade chocolate chip banana bread. Mmm….

Banana bread is seriously one of the best comfort foods. Most of my personal favorite comfort foods are more savory than sweet, but banana bread is one of the exceptions. There’s just something so cozy about it. That’s weird. Food isn’t supposed to be cozy, but grab a slice of warm banana bread and I just feel like snuggling under a warm, fuzzy blanket while I enjoy it. It may not have pumpkin in it, but it’s perfect for cool weather.

Banana Bread Slice

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 3-4 medium-sized overripe bananas, mashed (about 2 cups)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (or regular if that’s what you have)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Spray loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  3. Cream butter and brown sugar together.
  4. Mix in eggs, adding them one at a time.
  5. Add mashed bananas and mix until well blended.
  6. Stir in baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flour one cup at a time. Be careful not to over mix.
  7. Add in mini chocolate chips and give the batter a final stir to incorporate.
  8. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until browned on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan to slice and enjoy.

    Chocolate Chip Banana Bread