So for my Tupperware meeting last week I was charged with making a dessert out of the Tupperware Stack Cooker Set Cookbook. I ended up making a bananas foster bread pudding (yum) and had to buy a bunch of bananas to test out the recipe...
And what do you do when you have extra bananas lying around?
Now.. you're going to need very ripe bananas. I mean really ripe. I mean skin paper thin and fruit flies starting to hone in RIPE bananas.
Here is what else you will need to get started.
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 medium RIPE bananas
¾ cup sour cream
½ cup butter, soft
1¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1½ cup All Purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1¼ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt (yes, it makes a difference. =D)
STEP 1: Set oven to 350°. When it's warm, toast those walnuts! While they toast, peel and mash your bananas. After you've mashed the banana, pull the walnuts from the oven.
Kinda look like mashed potatoes. ... I said Kinda.
STEP 2: Add the sour cream to the bananas, mix it up, and set it aside.
Oh... this cool little contraption? Well if you don't have one.. you should get one. I got mine at Bed Bath & Beyond, inspired by Alton Brown (Or Doc. Brown as I like to call him) where I saw it first on Good Eats at The Food Network. It's fantastic for measuring semi viscous ingredients like mayonnaise, oil, sour cream, peanut butter... and can also be used for solidly dry ingredients or liquid ingredients.
Seriously. Go buy one.
Go on. And while you're out... buy a box of Kosher salt.
It's okay if you already have one... you could always use more.
Go.
I'll be here when you get back.
Go on. I'm not kidding.
I'll be waiting.
STEP 3: Measure out butter and brown sugar, place in mixer, and mix mix mix. (you don't need a stand mixer if you don't have one. You can use a hand mixer, or if you don't have one of those either.. you can melt the butter and use some good old fashioned elbow grease. If you do it the traditional way.. your bread will likely be a bit denser.)
Mix the butter and sugar until it comes together.
STEP 4: Scramble up the eggs and add them very slowly. I generally add about a tablespoon, let it mix up and come together, and then add another tablespoon. I keep going like that until all the egg is gone. This allows the extra fat from the egg yolk to incorporate slowly with the butter, and for the egg white not to be shocked by all the fat. Doing it slowly like this is the only sure fire way for the mixture not to break.
It should look a bit like whipped frosting. If it doesn't, mix it more. If it looks greasy and separated, then you added the eggs to fast. =( If this happens, don't worry about it. You can still make your bread, the texture will just be a little off. (no wasting food...*insert finger shake* don't throw it out!)
STEP 5: Add the vanilla. And for the love of baking... NOT imitation vanilla. If you shop at Costco, Sams Club, or HEB, you can get a huge bottle of vanilla like this one for about a dollar or two more than the imitation junk.
If you have the imitation junk, feel free to throw it away. Or give it to a neighbor you don't like.
You won't be needing it any more.
If you don't have one of these measuring guys either... you should get one of them, too. And maybe some more vanilla while you're out.
It's okay if you already have some.
You can always use more. (I actually have two bottles waiting in my pantry for use... next to my extra box of Kosher salt.)
STEP 6: Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sour cream and banana to the butter/sugar mixture. Everything will separate at this point. Don't worry about it.
STEP 7: Add all the dry ingredients. (minus the walnuts) Mix on low until batter just begins to come together.
I like to put all the dry ingredients on a paper plate. It makes dumping them into the mixer much easier, as the paper plate bends and you don't have to worry as much about dumping flour all over your counter and mixer. (trust me.. took me a few messy counters to figure this one out)
When your batter looks like this, add the walnuts, and continue to mix on low until combined. I like to shut off the mixer a little early and finish it by hand. It helps ensure that all the ingredients are mixed on the bottom.
STEP 8: The pan! Here is a baker's trick for loaf pans...
Pam and parchment!
By letting the parchment float over the side of the loaf pan, you will have a MUCH easier time pulling out the loaf for cooling. When it cools outside of the pan, it cools faster, which means you get to eat it sooner!
STEP 9: The filling! In a separate bowl (it doesn't have to be awesome and pink like mine) melt half a stick of butter (preferably the other half of the one you used in the banana bread) and combine it with half a cup of brown sugar, a tsp of cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.
It should look like a paste.
STEP 10: Pour about ⅓ of your batter into your prepared loaf pan. It should fill about ¼ of your pan. Then spread ¾ of the brown sugar paste over the batter, so it looks like this:
Using the handle of a spoon (or fork, or knife... doesn't matter), swirl the mix around. Don't mix it into the batter, just give the surface a nice swirl!
STEP 11: Now add half the remaining batter on top of the swirl, so that your pan is nearly full, then drizzle the remaining brown sugar paste down in a straight line down the center of the batter. There is a reason for this, you'll see.
Into the oven it goes! Let it bake for about 55 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Now... what to do with all this extra batter....?
Sure... you could make some mini loaves. But me?
I like muffins.
So, I whipped out these awesome free standing muffin wrappers I bought the last time I visited my family in Texas. I've been waiting to use them.. so I figured my feeling too lazy to wash muffin tins tonight was the perfect excuse!
Aren't they ADORABLE?! I filled up the muffin cups about ¾ full, then sprinkled a streusel topping over them (because, let's face it, muffins aren't muffins if there is no streusel). If you don't know how to make it.. it's SUPER easy. I generally mix 1 part brown sugar to 1½ parts flour, and splash some vanilla extract on it until it just comes together and looks crumbly. (that's the 20 second quick version.)
And into the oven they went.
I just adore those little Texas cups. =)
While we waited for the banana bread, boyfriend and I enjoyed the muffins. (That's kind of the whole point for making them)
...
you still have to wait to let it cool.
I know, I know. It's the hardest step, but it's by far the most important.
See, if you cut into a warm loaf of bread, any bread, from quick breads like pumpkin, banana, or zuchinni to hard breads like ciabatta or baguettes... you will let all the steam caught in those beautiful gluten bubbles to escape... and you will be left with a sad, dry loaf.
So, for the sake of moisture, let it cool!
And that brown sugar line down the middle?
I call it a moist maker. =D
It acts as a kind of seal down the middle of the loaf where the batter usually splits to let out the excess moisture. No split means it's all trapped inside, giving you deliciously moist banana bread!
And hours later (about two, actually) it is finally safe to cut open your bread:
I love the caramelization of the brown sugar through the middle of the bread. It adds a unique flavor very similar to banana's foster, and is how this bread gets its name. If you'd like to get closer to the traditional banana's foster flavor, feel free to add a splash of rum (Malibu is best) to that brown sugar paste mixture.
Ingredients:
Banana Bread:
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 4 medium RIPE bananas
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup butter, soft
- 1¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1½ cup AP flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1¼ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Brown Sugar Paste:
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tb Malibu Rum (optional)
Streusel:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾cup AP flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Banana Bread
- Set oven to 350°.
- Prepare loaf pan
- Toast walnuts. While they toast, peel and mash your bananas. After you've mashed the banana, pull the walnuts from the oven.
- Add the sour cream to the bananas, mix to combine, and set aside.
- Place room temperature butter and brown sugar in mixer and mix on high until a paste is formed.
- Scramble eggs in a bowl, and add to sugar mixture slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, without stopping the mixer.
- Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla, then mix until vanilla is thoroughly combined
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sour cream and banana. Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients. Mix on low until just combined, then add the walnuts. Mix for another ten seconds, then shut off the mixer and finish by hand, being sure to mix in all the ingredients on the bottom.
- Pour ⅓ of batter into prepared loaf pan.
- Spread ¾ of brown sugar paste over the batter, and swirl around with the bottom of a spoon.
- Pour ½ of remaining batter over swirled paste, then draw a straight line down the middle of the load with remaining paste.
- Place in oven and bake for about 55-58 minutes or until skewer inserted into center comes out clean.
- Remove loaf from pan and allow to cool for about 2 hours before cutting.
- Use remaining batter for muffins, top muffins with streusel, and bake about 10 minutes.
Brown Sugar Paste:
Stir ingredients to combine.
Streusel:
Stir ingredients to combine.
That's it! ENJOY!!
Oh... and Happy Birthday to me. =)
Oh... and Happy Birthday to me. =)
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