Category: bread

Maple Pecan Banana Bread

maple pecan banana bread

If you’re looking for a super sweet banana bread recipe, look no further than this one. Between the maple syrup and maple pecan topping, this bread is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Or if you’re Harper, nothing can satisfy a sweet tooth as much as a donut hole can! Every Sunday our church has donuts in the kitchen and Matt and Harper go get some after church service. Each Sunday she seems to be eating more.

I remember when she was only a few months, I found out Matt gave her a couple of licks. Then it became a few bites. Then it became a whole donut hole. Then two. Then three. Today she ate THREE AND A HALF donut holes!! Don’t worry, she washed it down with a cup of milk. Lol.

toddler and donut

So as I said, this maple pecan banana bread may not be as sweet as a donut, but it’s pretty good. The crumb topping is the best part. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I might just eat the topping of the bread, and leave the bottom part for later.

Haha. Enjoy!

maple pecan banana bread maple pecan banana bread

 

Maple Pecan Banana Bread
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Source: Tutti Dolci
Ingredients
  • BREAD
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed banana
  • 1/3 cups maple syrup
  • 3 Tbsp. maple sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • MAPLE PECAN TOPPING
  • 1/3 cup pecans, halved
  • 3 Tbsp. maple sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. flour
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
  2. FOR THE BREAD: Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
  3. Combine banana, maple syrup, maple sugar, coconut oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl; add to flour mixture and fold in just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth top with an offset spatula.
  4. FOR THE TOPPING: Combine pecans, maple sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add coconut oil and toss mixture with a fork until crumbly.
  5. Sprinkle over batter and bake for 30 minutes; rotate pan and cover with foil to prevent over browning. Continue baking another 31 to 33 minutes. Bread is done when golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; carefully remove bread from pan and cool completely before slicing and serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.
Serving size: 1 Calories: 225

 

Featured

Orange-Cranberry Yoghurt Bread

Cranberry Orange Yoghurt Bread

Bring out the Christmas lights, tree, presents and wrapping paper because now that Thanksgiving is over, the holiday season is in full swing! Actually I think I saw Christmas trees already being displayed in Michaels in September, but now we can officially focus on the season!

To celebrate all the festivities, each year we like to make a dish using cranberries such as cranberry scones, or cranberry nut bread. This year I decided to jazz up our cranberry quick bread by adding an orange syrup glaze and yummy Noosa Yoghurt!

Noosa Yoghurt reached out to me with some of their Aussie style yoghurt to try, and let me tell you… it’s amazing! Their yogurt is thick, creamy and velvety, and in addition to eating it straight from the container, I wanted to create a recipe with the delicious yoghurt.

Noosa Yoghurt

Orange-cranberry yoghurt bread is just the recipe. I used plain flavored Noosa yoghurt, but a list of all Noosa flavors are HERE and include pumpkin, blueberry, mango, strawberry rhubarb, coconut, and more!

If you’ve ever sunk your teeth in a piece of dry, plain, unflavorful bread, I feel your pain. This bread is extremely moist as sweet, as delectable orange flavored syrup is drizzled over the bread for a wonderful combination of sweet and tart cranberries.

I’m a sucker for sweets, so I drizzled fresh local honey on top as well. I know… sugar is my weakness. But hey, local honey builds immunity, right?!!

Seriously though, I think I demolished this bread is less than 48 hours. Soo good! My whole family enjoyed it, and it will be on our holiday menu each year.

Enjoy!
Cranberry Orange Yoghurt Bread

Cranberry Orange Yoghurt Bread

Cranberry Orange Yoghurt Bread

Plain-Orange-Cranberry-Yoghurt-Bread-Dallas-Duo-Bakes

Orange-Cranberry Yogurt Bread
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • BREAD
  • 1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour, divided
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 cup plain Noosa yoghurt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. grated orange zest
  • 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed, and chopped in half
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • ORANGE SYRUP
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
  2. FOR THE BREAD: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, sugar, eggs, orange zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the cranberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold gently into the batter. Fold in the chopped pecans.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.
  5. FOR THE ORANGE SYRUP: While the loaf is cooling, stir together the orange juice and sugar over medium heat in a small saucepan. Stir until sugar is dissolved, and then continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from heat.
  6. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops of the warm loaf. Brush the top of the loaf with the orange syrup. Let the loaf cool completely then slice and serve.

 

Pumpkin Banilla Bread

pumpkin banilla bread

Where has the time gone? My favorite time of year is fall, not just because of the cooler weather we get here in Texas, but for the fall food. Fall is a time to savor those cozy dinner recipes, warm casseroles, hearty soups, and delectable pumpkin desserts!

My favorite pumpkin bread recipe of all time is Eddie’s Autumn Pumpkin Bread with Pecan Streusel Topping. While it is an excellent pumpkin bread, the recipe here for Pumpkin Banilla bread is not too far behind. 🙂

My mom and I recently bought Jessica Merchant’s first cookbook titled “Seriously Delish“. Merchant, creator of the highly popular food blog that I love reading: How Sweet Eats, creates imaginative recipes that are both delicious and original. One of those recipes includes this  innovative pumpkin banilla bread.

I never in my wildest dreams would have though to combine pumpkin bread with banana bread, but it winning combination and perfect for fall!

I have to give credit to my mom and sister to who baked this bread. I haven’t quite been in the mood to cook since being pregnant and all. 🙂

pumpkin banilla bread

This bread is especially delicious if you add a dollop of Williams-Sonoma Pecan Pumpkin Butter. The grocery store brand just won’t cut it for me, so every October I’ll go and spurge at William-Sonoma.

If you’re a quick bread lover, you should love the ripe bananas, classic pumpkin spice, and premium vanilla bean paste in this tasty bread.

Enjoy!

pumpkin banilla bread

Pumpkin Banilla Bread
Cook time:
Total time:
Source: Simply Delish
Ingredients
  • 1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup loosely packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/3 cup canned light coconut milk
  • 4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 2 Tbsp. molasses
  • 2 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 5 x 9-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the pumpkin puree and bananas and mix until combined. Stir in the coconut milk, butter, molasses, and vanilla bean paste. Mix until the ingredients come together.
  3. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake until the top of the bread is golden brown and set, 85 to 90 minutes.
  4. Remove the bread from the oven and let cool for 1 hour. Remove the bread from the loaf pan and allow to cool on a cutting board before slicing.

 

Unleavened Bread from Ski Trip

unleavened bread

Take me back!!! Such good memories were made on our ski trip to Breckenridge, Colorado just five months ago, especially the food!

Not only did we have a blast skiing, we also sat down to every meal together, just like a big family would. It was a group of us from church, and since we arrived to Breckenridge on a Sunday afternoon, we had all missed church that morning due to travels, so needed to take communion.

Breckenridge ski trip
Breckenridge, Colorado

My friend Robin brought homemade unleavened bread that she cooked up in Dallas before we left for Colorado (recipe below). All we needed was to trek to the grocery store…. boy was that an experience!  Jeff’s truck got stuck in the snow for 2 hours and a larger truck had to tow us out! We learned our lesson and us Texan’s bought our first pair of chains to wrap around the tires.

At the store, we bought some grape juice to go along with the unleavened bread for communion, as well as lasagna, mixed greens, garlic bread for dinner, and a few other breakfast and dinner items to last us for the next week of our trip.

While the frozen lasagna was cooking, we did a short devotional and then took communion: unleavened bread and grape juice.

first meal
Our first meal together in Colorado…. lasagna, tossed salad, and garlic bread

I don’t how to describe the unleavened bread as it was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. The unleavened bread we take in church reminds me more of a crispy, unsalted cracker, very different than what we had that Sunday evening in Colorado.

Robin actually got this recipe from her friend named Cassandra, when they were living in Searcy, Arkansas at Harding University. The bread has a sweet taste to it from the honey and brown sugar, in addition to a nice, chewy texture.

unleavened bread

Unleavened bread can be made in a wide variety of ways, but the commonality across all of the breads is that they are not prepared with leavening agents. (Leavening agents are used in dough and batters that lighten and soften the finished product. It works by incorporating gas bubbles into the dough. Agents include baker’s yeast, beer that is unpasteurized, buttermilk, ginger beer, kefir and sourdough starters.

unleavened bread

This bread obviously does not have any leavening agents present, and includes just five ingredients: flour, butter, brown sugar, honey, and water.

Requiring only 5 minutes of preparation, and 17 minutes of bake time, this is super simple to make and gives you no excuse next time you’re on vacation, or away from church and can’t take communion.

unleavened bread

Thanks again to Robin and her friend Cassandra, I’ll be making this when I know I’m going to miss church, or simply make it as a snack since it tastes soooo good!

Enjoy.

unleavened bread

Unleavened Bread
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8-12
Source: Robin’s friend Cassandra from Searcy, Arkansas
Ingredients
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp.) melted unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 Tbsp. honey
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Mix all ingredients together. No electric mixer necessary.
  3. Prepare a flour-lined space to knead and roll out dough until it is 1/2-inch thick.
  4. Place dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 17 minutes at 350 degrees F.
  5. Let cool, and slice into strips.

 

Beer Bread

beer bread

It’s hard to believe that in my short (I guess) 25 years on this Earth, I have NEVER eaten beer bread before….  boy was I missing out!!!

Even though no one in my family drinks (my husband, myself, my parents, my sister, my in-laws, and my brother and sister-in-law … we’re special, we know :)), beer bread is something EVERYONE needs to try regardless if it contains alcohol in it!

My parents invited my husband and myself over to their house for dinner and had made chili in a biscuit bowl, except instead of the bread bowl, we made beer bread instead!!

With 1 stick of butter in the batter of the 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, you really don’t need to butter this bread at all. 🙂 The beer cooks out of the bread and leaves it’s wonderful flavor behind. Since the recipe calls for “good quality” beer or ale and since we don’t drink, my Dad relied on Central Market’s suggestion of the best beer to use in beer bread. They recommended Rahr & Sons Texas Red Amber Loger, which was a winner!

So, as the weather gets cooler here in Texas, this just means more opportunity for beer bread and chili. Yum!!

Enjoy!

IMG_1908
Use a good quality beer such as Rahr & Sons Texas Red Amber Loger.
beer bread
Combine beer with flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
beer bread
Stir until just incorporated and note that the dough will be sticky.
beer bread
Pour half the melted butter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spoon in the bread dough.
beer bread
After adding all the dough, pour the remaining butter on top.
beer bread
Bake for 50-60 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
beer bread
Slice and serve immediately. Note the excess butter dripping from the bottom of the bread. Yum!
Chili in a bread bowl
Beer bread is an awesome side to Chili in a Bread Bowl (you can omit the bread bowl and substitute beer bread!!)
Beer Bread
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Source: Rebecca Rather’s “The Pastry Queen”
Ingredients
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 (12 ounce) bottle good quality beer or ale
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick, melted)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Pour in the beer and stir until just incorporated. (The dough will be sticky and heavy).
  2. Pour half the melted butter into the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. Spoon in the bread dough and pour the remaining half of the butter on top.
  3. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the bumpy top is golden brown. Remove from the pan and serve immediately.
Notes
Variations: Beer bread lends itself to numerous mix-ins, including chopped chives, chili peppers such as jalapeños, green onions or any grated cheese.

 

Parmesan Skillet Croutons

IMG_0825

Unless you count restaurants, I doubt very many of you have ever eaten homemade croutons….I sure haven’t.

I think my mom was in the “baking mood” as I like to call it, and wanted to make something different than cookies or muffins in the kitchen. Flipping through Jennifer Perillo’s cookbook, Homemade with Love, mom discovered this quick and easy recipe for croutons!

Not only are they well seasoned, these croutons are easy and quick to make, they are impressive to serve. Mom made these for dinner, served a top a caesar side salad, fresh bread and spaghetti.

Did I mention Italian food is my favorite? Enjoy!!

IMG_0851
Serve croutons with a caesar side salad.
parmesan skillet croutons
Parmesan Skillet Croutons

 

Parmesan Skillet Croutons
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 cups
Source: Homemade with Love by Jennifer Perillo
Ingredients
  • 2 cups (80 grams) cubed day-old baguette
  • 1 tsp. (2 grams) finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 Tbsp. (6 grams) grated Parmesan cheese
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
  1. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until the bread cubes are well coated.
  2. Heat an 8-inch (20 cm) skillet over medium heat. Add the seasoned bread cubes to the pan and cook, turning occasionally, until golden all over, 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

 

Banana Blueberry Bread

As mentioned before, I write a food column for our monthly neighborhood magazine. For the month of February I featured my neighbor’s banana blueberry bread, which is out of this world good! (She was gracious enough to bake Matt and I an extra loaf of bread!) Below is an excerpt from my column:

Feeding a family of seven can be tough, especially when five kids are involved. Fortunately for Chas, her entire family LOVES this banana blueberry bread. It’s quick, easy to make and simple to double or triple the recipe when you have lots of mouths to feed!

“If you’re looking to lighten up this recipe, feel free to use a sugar substitute such as Splenda. The look may be slightly altered, but the taste is just as good,” says Chas. Enjoy!

Chas presenting her banana blueberry bread. The loaf in the middle contains Splenda, so it looks a little different…BUT tastes just as good!


Banana Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk (substitute 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice and enough milk to make 1/2 cup)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions
1. Position oven rack to the lowest rung. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottoms of 2 (8×4-inch) loaf pans or 1 (9×5-inch) loaf pan. Or use aluminum so you can give them as gifts.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter. Stir in eggs until well mixed. Stir in bananas, buttermilk and vanilla and beat with a spoon until smooth.
3. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.
4. Divide batter evenly between two 8-inch pans or all in the 9-inch pan.
5. Bake 8″ loaves for about an hour and 9″ loaf about 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Yield: 2 (8×4-inch) loaves or 1 (9×5-inch) loaf
Recipe from: my neighbor – Chas

Eddie’s Autumn Pumpkin Bread with Pecan Streusel Topping

Tis the season for some pumpkin bread! Halloween is just around the corner, and today I pulled out my fall wreath, pumpkins and gourds to decorate.  I also bought myself some candy corn, my favorite candy of all time.

My mom made this recipe for pumpkin bread last weekend and gave me a half of a loaf to enjoy.  By Wednesday, I had finished it, and was already craving more.  As I said earlier, decorating put me in a festive mood, so I decided to make this pumpkin bread recipe again.  Instead of making two 9 x 5-inch loaves, I baked the bread into 4 mini loaves, and had leftover batter to make 8 standard-size muffins.  (This recipe makes a lot of bread, so I recommend either halving the recipe, making mini loaves or muffins to pass out to family and/or friends, or freezing the extras.

As far as taste, this is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe.  I think this homemade version tastes better than Central Market’s and Williams-Sonoma’s pumpkin bread, which are both very good.  Our version is extremely moist (it does not dry out), has 4 flavorful spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice, and the toasted pecans add a nice crunch.  The recipe calls for a pecan streusel topping, but to save calories, we omitted it.  I encourage you to try the streusel topping and let me know what you think.  It sounds delicious!

I know that pumpkin is very nutritious for you, but I’m not sure I’d call this bread “healthy”.  Our pumpkin bread has 3 cups of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil (however, the recipe makes 2 loaves, which probably serves 32). In addition, the streusel topping contains 1/2 a stick of butter.

Quick breads are so easy to make and are one of my favorite mid-morning or late-afternoon snacks.  Don’t forget to spread a large dollop of pumpkin butter on your pumpkin bread. A perfect complement, and unlike the name, this “butter” has 0 grams of fat and is only 35 calories per serving! Much healthier than adding cream cheese icing to the top…I’ll save the icing for cupcakes instead!

Don’t forget to toast the pecans, they taste ten times better, are more aromatic, and are crunchier. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Eddie’s Autumn Pumpkin Bread with Pecan Steusel Topping

Ingredients
BREAD
1-1/2 cups toasted pecan pieces (reserve 1/2 cup for topping)
1 cup vegetable oil, such as canola or safflower
3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 (15 ounce) can pure pumpkin
1 cup water
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

TOPPING
1/2 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces (above)

Directions
TO MAKE THE BREAD:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast them in the oven for 7 to 9 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Reserve 1/2 cup of the toasted pecans for the topping.
2. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans or 36 standard-size muffin cups with butter or cooking spray.
3. Whisk the oil and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, pumpkin and water and whisk until combined. Stir in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Gently stir in 1 cup of the pecan pieces. Pour half of the batter into each loaf pan. For muffins, fill the muffin pans almost to the top with batter.

TO MAKE THE TOPPING:
4. Stir the sugar, butter, cinnamon, and the reserved 1/2 cup of pecan pieces in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the topping liberally over the loaves or the muffins before baking.

5. Bake the loaves for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Bake the muffins 30 to 35 minutes.

***Tip: Pumpkin is a nutritional powerhouse on its own, but if you want to increase the health quotient here, substitute a cup of whole wheat pastry flour for 1 cup of the all-purpose flour.

Yield: two 9 x 5-inch loaves or 36 standard-size muffins
The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country’s Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe” by Rebecca Rather

 

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

 


The weekends are always a time of baking sweets for me, so on Sunday, I needed my “baking fix”.  I went to Stillwater, Oklahoma on Saturday to run a 10k with my sister.  While we were there, we tried baking “Rum Raisin Bars” from the Fat Witch Brownies cookbook.   Unfortunately they were a flop…. we soaked the raisins in dark rum instead of light rum, and so the bars tasted like alcoholic, liquid blondies.  For those of you who don’t know me, I HATE the taste of alcohol and DO NOT drink (nor does anyone in my family).  Thus, these bars tasted disgusting, so we threw them out.  
 
When I got home from Stillwater, I was still craving something sweet, since the Rum Raisin Bars did not turn out.  I immediately flipped through my cookbooks, and found in my recipe box, a yummy looking quick bread called Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze.  The recipe was photocopied out of some magazine my mom had bought a while back, but since it has been so long, I can’t remember what magazine the bread came from.  
 
If you are looking for a twist on your typical banana bread, this is the one to try.  It has sweetened coconut, ripe bananas, and luscious lime juice combined with powdered sugar for a tart and tangy glaze to complement the sweet and savory bread.  This bread reminds me of Martha Stewart’s Coconut Banana Bread, that I dearly love, except this recipe has a lime glaze.  For those of you who may not know this, I am in love with anything with lime in it!  Key lime pie, limeade pie, key lime bars, and now key lime pie frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt in Stillwater (which I discovered this past Saturday).  Enjoy this delicious bread!
 
Combine sugar and butter and beat until smooth in electric mixer.  Add eggs, beating after each addition.  Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt until just moist.  Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.  

Pour into greased loaf pan.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of coconut.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour, or until cake tester comes out clean from the center.  (I halved the recipe and baked one mini loaf for about 40 minutes).

Let bread cool.  Meanwhile, whisk together lime juice and powdered sugar.

Drizzle glaze over warm bread.  Let bread cool completely.

Slice and enjoy!
 
Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

Ingredients
9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp 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 (I non-fat vanilla yogurt)
3 Tbsp dark rum (I omitted)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 Tbsp flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with knife.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3.  Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until well blended.  Add flour mixture; beat a low speed just until moist.  Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.
4.  Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until wooden toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan.
5.  Combine powdered sugar and juice; stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread.  Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield:  1 loaf, 16 slices

Nutrition
Calories: 193
Fat: 4.6g
Protein: 29 g
Carbohydrate: 35g
Fiber: 11g
Cholesterol: 35mg
Iron: 1mg
Sodium: 179g
Calcium: 15mg

Perfect Corn Bread

Here is my mom’s classic corn bread recipe that she has made in our family for years.  We’ve made it in dressing for Thanksgiving, as a side for Taco Soup, or just by itself, dipped in milk (I remember as a kid my sister dipping her cornbread in a huge, round, glass of skim milk.  She loved it!).

Over spring break, my sister and I made my mom’s Perfect corn bread as a side to go with our Grilled Shrimp and Green Bean Salad.  It was delicious.  Unlike the skillet cornbread recipe, which can get a little greasy around the edges due to the melted shortening, this corn bread is crispy on top, and warm and soft on the inside.  The name says it all, “Perfect” Corn Bread.  In addition, it has just a touch of sweetness from the 1/4 cup of sugar.  Enjoy!!

 

Perfect Corn Bread
Serves: 12-16
Recipe adapted from: Better Homes and Garden Cookbook
Ingredients
  • 1 cup sifted flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 4  tsp. baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup shortening (vegetable oil)
Instructions
  1. Mix first five ingredients (flour through cornmeal).  Add eggs, milk, and shortening. Beat until smooth.
  2. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 425 degree oven in a greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan.  Be aware that a glass pan conducts more heat than a metal pan, so adjust your baking time accordingly.