Category Archives: bread

I have been staring at three very brown, ugly bananas for about a week already. Joel kept asking me what am I doing with them? should he throw them out or what. I have to admit , these were 3 of the most pathetic looking rotten bananas I have ever seen. I kept saying I am going to do something with them, and days would go by. Finally , I had enough of them staring up at me day after day. I wanted to make a banana bread in a bundt form for a while now, so what better day than today? I had yogurt in the house, 3 lousy looking bananas, and all the other ingredients on hand. This is what I did.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter ( softened)

1 1/4 cups white sugar

2 eggs ( room temperature)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 very ripe (over-ripe large bananas) app. 1 1/4 cup, mashed

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 container plain yogurt ( you can use nonfat) just use plain ,a small container app. 6 oz.

*3/4 cup chopped pecans , optional

*confectioner’s sugar to sprinkle on top , I didn’t but if you’re serving it’s a nice

touch

Bundt Pan for baking , or 10″ tube pan

Shopping List:

plain yogurt , 6 oz. container . I usually have the Greek one in the house nonfat is fine.  * chopped nuts

Staples:

butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, all-purpose flour, table salt, baking powder, baking soda ( check expiration dates* see note) ripe bananas.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I sprayed bundt pan with baking spray, you can butter it and sprinkle with flour if you don’t have spray. Why not save on the calories? and clean up is a snap. I am loving Bakers Joy Spray these days .

Beat softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat one egg into butter/sugar mixture until completely blended, then beat in vanilla and second egg, fold in bananas. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir flour mixture into creamed banana mixture alternating with yogurt, mixing until just combined in electric mixer, do not over-mix. Fold in pecans if you’re using them and pour batter evenly into prepared bundt pan.

Bake in preheated oven until a cake tester comes out clean, my cake baked in app. 43 minutes. Check after 40 minutes, all ovens are different and out here in altitude I find it’s always a challenge. You may have to bake for a full 50 minutes or more, just keep checking. Cool for at least 15 minutes before turning out. I cut into it and it was warm and delicious. If you’d like dust with confectioners sugar before serving. Feel free to freeze this cake for another time. Wrap well, and usually I cut into 2 halves, and wrap and place in freezer bag that is labeled with date and item. Allow cooked dishes to cool to room temperature and then wrap tightly before storing in the freezer or refrigerator.

Note about stale flour, baking soda and baking powder:

You may think these pantry staples never go bad but they do, they all have expiration dates and while I believe they are fine for a while after those dates you must use your nose. I tend to throw away baking soda and baking powder when they’re expired because they can cause your baking to fail .

Remember to smell and taste ingredients for freshness, always check dates on flour, baking soda , baking powder etc. Flour has a distinct smell when it has gone bad. I slip a piece of the original wrapping in my flour jar with expiration date, I bake a lot so I stay on top of it but you want to be sure. If an ingredient is slightly off it will wreck all your hard work, so be diligent. Even cooking spray has expiration dates, I am particularly crazy about this little detail and because I go back and forth to 2 houses, sometimes it’s really crazy, but necessary.