Lemon Banana Bread

Lemon makes everything better. Well, almost everything and the right amount of it anyway. I was skeptical about adding lemon to banana bread. But it made these muffins feel so light and taste so good that I have to give it a try.







It was good. To quote the boyfriend, this is the best thing to happen to over ripe old bananas.



Adapted from Cooking Light's Basic Banana Bread. I skipped the glaze, upped the bananas, reduced the sugar and replaced all the spice with juice and zest from a large lemon. I also made this dairy free by using oil instead of melted butter and used lemon juice + soy milk instead of yogurt and milk.



Here's what I got:

Ingredients

• 5 medium very ripe bananas - mashed



• 1/3 cup soy milk mix with juice from 1 lemon (It will thicken and curdle.)



• 1/4 cup light tasting olive oil



• 2 eggs



• 3/4 cup sugar



• Juice and zest from one lemon
  
• 1 1/2 cup flour



• 1/4 cup ground flax seed



• 1 teaspoon baking soda



• 1/2 tea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan or line it with parchment paper.



2. In a large bowl, whisk bananas, curdled soy milk, oil, eggs, sugar and lemon together.



3. Combine flour, flax, baking soda and salt in a clean bowl. Pour into the egg mixture and stir until just combined.



4. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning into a cooling rack.

Soda Bread With Raisins

I didn't understand what the fuss was about with Irish Soda Bread. The only time I tasted it before this was in the dry stale tasteless quick bread somebody brought to the office for St. Patrick's day. Every year around this time, I see recipes for it popping up all over the internet. So I went out and bought a box of raisins and baked this Irish Soda Bread with Raisins.



Wow. This is basically a giant scone with crunchy delicious top. The bread was flavorful and just sweet enough from a few tablespoons of sugar and a bunch of raisins.



Lesson from this story: never trust any leftover food in the office's kitchen.

Plantain Peanut Bread

I'm slowly getting over my not-so-great baking experience two weekends ago. I even felt adventurous and tried something new. Well, not really. I substituted plantains for bananas and peanuts for walnuts in this banana bread recipe. To reduce the risk, I baked half a recipe in two small remekins.



Why all these substitutions? The same reasons as everybody else'. I had these ingredients and not the one listed in the original recipe. And these said ingredients needed to be consumed ASAP or they would have been wasted.

The bread came out not bad at all. The plantain gave it sort of banana flavor but more on the nutty side. And peanuts - you know - are awesome whenever and wherever.



Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter (1 oz.) - melted


• 2 generous tablespoons brown sugar (1 oz.)


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 generous tablespoon honey (1 oz.)


• 1 large ripe plantain


• 1 egg


• A pinch of salt


• 1 cup whole wheat flour (4 1/2 oz.)


• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/4 cup peanuts (1 oz.)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


2. In a clean bowl, whisk melted butter and brown sugar together. Add vanilla extract, honey, plantain and egg. Whisk until combined and the plantain breaks down into tiny pieces.


3. Add flour, salt and baking soda. Stir until just combined. Fold in peanuts.


4. Divide the batter into two remekins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. It's delicious warm and even tastier cold the next day.

Pear Bran Bread

Aka the ninja bread. Let me tell you how the bread got its name. Five of us, including the driver, were in one of these Jeeps. No, not the big comfortable SUV one. Not the new shiny one either. The one that's made for one driver and one passenger plus some space for equipments. The one that's about 10 years old with raggedy canvas roof and noises coming out of its transmission system every time it hits a bump. Five of us plus our camping gears were in that cozy Jeep for 3 hours.



When I pulled out a slice of the bread to munch, I was asked what it was. The conversation went something like this:

Driver: What is that goddamn black-biscuit looking thing?

Me: It's pear bread. It's black because I put molasses.

Passenger1 (at the top of his lung): What bread?

Me (screaming): PEAR BREAD! It tastes almost like ginger bread.

Passenger2: WHAT??!! NINJA BREAD?!?

Everybody: Awesome! Ninja bread! Give me one.

Driver (oblivious): I eat no nuts but this black biscuit is delicious.



Here's the recipe: KingArthurFlour.com.

Update - 11/18/2010

The second time I baked this bread, I measured out all the ingredients, in case I get more request to make it. Here's what I have assuming that my scale works properly.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 oz molasses


• 2 1/8 oz honey


• 1 large egg


• 1 cup buttermilk


• 3/4 oz light tasting olive oil


• 7 1/4 oz all purpose flour


• 2 1/8 oz bran


• 2 oz brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 pears - chopped


• 2 oz chopped walnuts

Whole Wheat Cardamom Cranberry Olive Oil Yogurt Loaf

This seemed like a very good idea in my head. Why not? Cardamom goes very well with oranges. Cranberries are great with any citrus. And I made very successful whole wheat olive oil yogurt loaf before.



The execution was simple. I followed Dorie Greenspan's recipe, replaced whole wheat flour for the all purpose, and added a cup of dried cranberries and a teaspoon of ground cardamom.



The result wasn't as brilliant as the idea... Although it was nice to burp cardamom, the spice doesn't compliment the aroma of extra virgin olive oil. I'll use light tasting olive oil the next try.

Tomato Quick Bread

This is way up in my list of what not to bake.

The idea was exciting, at first. People make all kinds of zucchini baked goods. I successfully made eggplant muffins. So why not tomato bread?

The execution was simple, I replaced zucchini in this excellent zucchini bread recipe with chopped tomatoes.



The bread looked beautiful and tasted weird. Tomato seeds and gooey chunks of tomatoes in a slice of quick bread are not very appetizing.

To improve it, one might need to chop the tomatoes more or peel them. I simply won't mix fresh tomatoes with baked goods ever again.

Strawberry Rhubarb Bread

I forgot to put fat again and have come to believe that straight fat, i.e. oil or butter, in small amount in quick bread sometimes is not that important. Take this bread. It's full of strawberries and rhubarb to give it enough moisture. Agave nectar sweetened it just enough. I think it was delicious.



Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour


• 1/2 cup all purpose flour


• 1/4 cup toasted wheat germ


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 eggs


• 1/2 cup plain yogurt


• 1/2 cup Agave nectar


• 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries


• 1 stalk rhubarb - sliced into 1/4 inch thick (about 1/2 cup)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan or a 9-inch square pan (I used tube pan.)


2. Mix together whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, wheat germ baking soda and salt.


3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, yogurt and Agave nectar until combined. Pour over the dry ingredients. Stir until just wet.


4. Fold in strawberries and rhubarb. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes if using a tube pan or longer in a square pan.

Note: I was told that I just got used to eating dry low fat, whole grain and too little sugar in my baked goods. She insisted butter made everything 500 times better.

Wholewheat Blackberry Banana Bread

You are wondering why I only baked wholewheat things in the past few weeks. Truth is I secretly want to eat healthy despite all the temptation around me.

This quick bread is based on pineapple banana bread recipe. I substituted fresh blackberries for canned pineapple. Fresh blackberries in the winter? I know. Eating fruits out of their season is not planet friendly. I don't have excuses. I saw them in Chinatown and I bought them.

I have a lot of success with wholewheat baked goods lately. Maybe my baking karma level is exceptionally high this month. The bread came out moist, not too dense and just sweet enough to pass as breakfast.



Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour


• 1 cup wholewheat flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 3 bananas


• 2 eggs


• 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil


• 1/4 cup Agave nectar


• 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a tube pan or a loaf pan with non-stick spray.


2. In a large bowl, combine all purpose flour, wholewheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.


3. In a separate bowl, mash 3 bananas and whisk with eggs, oil and Agave nectar.


4. Pour the wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix until just wet. Fold in blackberries. Do not over mix.


5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes in a tube pan or 40 minutes in a loaf pan. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Rosemary Pear Bread

I found bunches of rosemary tied together with flowers in a park. I guess somebody had a wedding party there. What a great idea - adding herbs to flower bouquets. Not to waste perfectly good herb, I tool a few sprigs home and made this subtly spiced moist quick bread.



Ingredients

• 2 Bosc pears - peeled, cored and chopped


• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary


• 2 eggs


• 1/3 cup Agave nectar


• 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil


• 1 4oz. package of unsweetened applesauce


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 cup whole wheat flour


• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.


2. In a large bowl, whisk egss, Agave nectar, oil, applesauce and vanilla extract until well blended.


3. In a separate bowl, combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and all the spices. Sift the mixture over the we ingredients. Stir until the mixture is just wet.


4. Gently fold in pears and rosemary.


5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.


6. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Scrape the sides of the pan with a knife and invert the cake onto a cooling rack.

Pineapple Banana Squares

I didn't think this would taste so good. It came out looking a little dense. I brought a few pieces to the park on Saturday and wished I had brought the whole cake. Maybe we were just hungry rolling around in the grass all day. The cake came out really moist and sweet although I used only a quarter cup of Agave nectar. It's probably the pineapple juice.



I made this in a bread pan once with all kinds of modifications including (accidentally) skipping oil altogether. This time I pretty much followed the original recipe from "Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too" by Susan G. Purdy except that I used two whole eggs instead of 1 whole eggs plus two eggwhites, and 1/4 cup Agave nectar instead of 3/4 cup sugar.



These squares are delicious and I think healthy enough to qualify as breakfast. I might try to make it in a muffin pan the next time.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups wholewheat flour


• 3/4 cup all purpose flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


• 1/4 cup extra light tasting olive oil


• 2 eggs


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/4 cup agave nectar


• 1 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple in its own juice


• 2 large banana - mashed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of an 8x8 cake pan (I used 2.2 Qt. rectangular Pyrex pan) with parchment paper.


2. Whisk flour, flax seed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together.


3. In a separate bowl, manually whisk oil, eggs, vanilla extract, agave nectar until well blended. Add pineapple and banana. Whisk until well combined.


4. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and gently mix until all the flour is wet.


5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.


6. Let cool in the pan. Run a knife around the pan and cut into squares.

Pear Blueberry Oat Bread

I was inspired. I saw a recipe and pretty pictures for Oat Pear and Raspberry Loaf almost a month ago and I promised myself that I had to try it. Upon reading the recipe, I realized that it used 11 tablespoons of butter.... I think I consumed enough fat this weekend from all the tiramisu. So I turned to my favorite book - Have Cake and Eat It, Too by Susan Purdy - for a lower fat recipe.

I found a recipe for Nectrarine-Raspberry Coffee Cake using only 3 tablespoons of oil. So I combined the two recipes plus the fact that I have blueberries and no raspberry. And I give you delicious, moist and kinda healthy Pear Blueberry Oat Bread!



Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour


• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour


• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats


• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 egg


• 1 cup buttermilk


• 3 tablespoons extra light tasting olive oil


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/3 cup Agave nectar



• 2 pears - peeled and chopped


• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries



• Crumb topping


• 1/4 cup raw sugar


• 1/4 cup quick cooking oats


• 1 tablespoon butter - chilled and cut into small cubes


• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.


2. Whisk 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour with baking powder and salt together in a clean bowl.


3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract and Agave nectar together until well combined.


4. Gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.


5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle pears and blueberries over the batter.


6. Rub 1/4 cup raw sugar, 1/4 oats, cubes of butter and all purpose flour by hands and sprinkle over the fruit layer.


7. Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan. Run a knife around the pan's edges and remove from the pan.

Very Low Fat Pineapple Banana Bread

Or oooops! I forgot to put oil in my bread. I was intending to make Pineapple Banana Cake from the book Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by Susan G. Purdy but ended up changing a lot of things in the recipe. And then I forgot to add 1/4 cup of oil into the batter.

Although I didn't get a cake, I got a very nice - moist - not too sweet - and hearty bread. The fact that it's very very low in fat (from 1 egg) and has no sugar added (sweetness from pineapple and its juice and agave nectar) makes it the yummiest and healthiest cake I have ever baked. I'm going to keep this recipe and make it many many more times.



Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups wholewheat flour


• 1/4 cup ground flax seed


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


• 1 egg and 2 egg whites


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/3 cup agave nectar


• 1 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple in its own juice


• 1 large banana - mashed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.


2. Whisk flour, flax seed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together.


3. In a separate bowl, whisk an egg and two egg whites, vanilla extract, agave nectar until well blended.


4. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and gently mix. Fold in pineapple and banana.


5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.


6. Let cool in the pan. Run a knife around the bread and pop out.

Olive Oil Loaf Cake

My God. A cake without an ounce of butter. A cake made with extra virgin olive oil and yogurt. This might be the recipe I have been waiting for. And it has to be really good because it's from Dorie Greenspan.



I made the cake from all wholewheat flour, half a cup of Agave Nectar instead of sugar, and non-fat yogurt instead of whole fat yogurt and the cake still came out super delicious.

I think the texture and crumbs from my cake looked a little more coarse than the one from original recipe's picture. But I really like it. I could smell olive oil in the cake which went really well with lime.

It's less guilt kind of cake to eat.

Pineapple Coffee Cake

My first fat-free vegan cake.



Got recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen. The cake came out ok although I didn't know what Ener-G Egg Replacer was and just used 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed instead. I also messed up by misreading the 1 cup of crushed pineapple to 1 can of crushed pineapple. Ooops. Oh well - my cake came out a little too moist and too sweet...

Black and White Banana Bread

This banana bread is awesome. I whipped it up - stuck it into the oven - went out to dinner - came back to this wonderful smell of baked banana and cocoa and perfectly baked cake/bread. I would name this recipe out-for-dinner-marble-banana-bread.



Got recipe from Culinary in the Desert. Just didn't put nutmeg because I don't like nutmeg. Didn't put lemon zest and juice because I was too lazy to grate a lemon.... I was going to just pour the batter half and half and let them mix because I was too lazy to spoon. Fortunately, my wonderful neighbor (also my dinner companion that night) didn't let me and helped me spoon the batter into baking pan. She's the only reason the cake came out wonderfully marble-y...