Thursday, July 1, 2010

It’s Ok to go Bananas!

“Why did the banana go out with the prune? Because he couldn’t find a date.”

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Do the days sometimes fly by so fast that it seems like you’re going bananas? I don’t think the summer has ever flown by so fast for me..guess it must be the full-time job haha! But sometimes going bananas is the way to go—in this case, today’s recipe actually requires it. But hang on to your hat’s for a little longer..first up is a work week wrap-up.

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Half of our lovely kitchen staff—so much fun!

june26din

meatpatties

stromboli

Tomato soup (recipe here), stromboli (recipe here), gateau breton, and fresh watermelon.

june29dinner

Minnesota State Fair night—corn dogs, corn on the cob, fresh French fries with gravy, homemade cheese curds (recipe here), and a tossed salad.

cheesecurds

Cheese curds are a huge seller at Minnesota fairs and carnivals during the summer—I was in charge of making them. It was my first time, but boy did they turn out tasty!!

Ok..so now I give you permission to go bananas—but don’t over-do it..tomorrow is Friday!

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Peanut Butter & Banana Bread

**This bread is now my go-to banana bread recipe..perfect texture and taste!**

10-12 Servings

Ingredients:

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  • 2c. flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 c. butter (soft)
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 bananas (mashed)
  • 1/2 c. peanut butter, I used PB & Co Cinnamon Raisin PB
  • 1/2 c. chopped walnuts, I used almonds
  • 1/2 c. granulated sugar, I used Splenda
  • I also added 1/4 c unsweetened applesauce to soften the batter up a bit.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

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3. In larger bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter & eggs.

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4. Stir bananas into creamed mixture. Stir well. Add flour mixture, and nuts. Mix well.
5.Pour batter into greased 9"x5" loaf pan.
6.Bake for 55-60minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool 15 minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling on baking rack.

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And one last treat that I am going bananas over lately..

parfait

Dairy Queen’s banana sundae!

What is your favorite way to have bananas?

10 comments:

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said...

I know it's simple, but I love slicing a banana, sprinkling it with cinnamon, drizzling it with honey, and dipping the slices in almond butter.

Adventures in Domestic Cooking said...

Nothing like the combo of Peanut Butter and Banana.

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a treat this must be. It really sounds delicious. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

Krista said...

You sure have been cooking up a storm! It all looks great. I'm not a HUGE banana fan, but I love them mixed into a recipe, like your PB banana bread, for instance! ;)

Anonymous said...

Yummmm! Peanut butter and Bananna bread made with PB&co raisin swirl!? SEND ME SOME PLEASE!?

DANA xo
http://happinessiswithin.wordpress.com/

Jenny said...

I just told that banana joke to Gingie and it took about 20 minutes for me to explain it to him. I still don't think he gets it. He just doesn't understand food humor ;) Made me laugh though!

I LOVE bananas. In fact, I think they may be my favorite fruit of all time. They're so versatile! Case and point: this post :)

Cookie Sleuth said...

That peanut butter banana bread looks great! I will be making that soon... My mom said I spent a whole year when I was little eating only bananas and cheese (protesting not getting baby food anymore), so I like bananas with pretty much anything!

Sook said...

Looks like you are having fun cooking and baking lately! I feel like going bananas because of all the crazy people that are around me. ha ha

Erica said...

Cute picture of you and the other kitchen staff! Looks like you guys are doing a fantastic job. I have never added PB to my nana bread. I totally want to try this. YUM!

Kerstin said...

Mmm, PB and bananas are just so perfect together! I haven't tried putting PB in banana bread before, but so need to!