S'More Banana Bread - made with Kahlua Caramelized Bananas

Happy National Banana Bread Day!

 So, a week or so ago, we had a snow day and I felt like baking.
I had a BUNCH of bananas in my freezer, and thought about making some new kinds of banana breads.

Didn't know you could freeze bananas?
Lookie Here: How To Freeze & Use Bananas for future use.

So, over coffee that morning, I grabbed my iPad and marked a few I would like to try.
I have LOTS of breads saved to try on my pin board for Breads, here's a link if you're interested.

An Affair from the Heart: Recipes for BREAD

 So, after I pinned a few more, I scoped out my pantry to see what I had on hand for ingredients, because my plan was to stay in my PJ's all day, so I wasn't going to the market!

I had just what I needed for this S'Mores Banana Bread.

S'Mores Banana Bread with Kahlua Caramelized Bananas
recipe found at: Baker by Nature

Kahlua Caramelized Bananas
3 large ripe bananas, sliced
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup Kahlua
2 Tablespoons flour

Bread
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup chopped graham crackers
Kahlua caramelized bananas

Peel bananas and slice them into thin rounds.
(mine were from the freezer, so I mashed them and it worked just fine)
In a skillet over medium heat melt butter, add sugar and cook stirring until dissolved.  Add bananas and stir occasionally cooking for 6 minutes.  Remove pan from heat, whisk in Kahlua and then flour.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and grease or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
(I didn't line mine, just sprayed it, next time I will, because it will make it WAY easier to get out of the pan)

In a your mixing bowl  whisk together melted butter, sugar and vanilla, beat well.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl, and gradually add it to wet mixture folding in slowly until combined.
Fold in sour cream and bananas, then swirl in 3/4 cup chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers, saving the remaining 1/4 cup of each for the top.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 45 minutes.  Carefully remove the loaf from the oven and sprinkle the remaining chocolate, marshmallows and crackers on top.
(I took a large piece of foil and wrapped around the pan because my loaf was very rounded and I didn't want to lose all of my topping!!)

Bake for another 20 minutes or until cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

Do you love Kahlua? 

Make your own, it's SO MUCH better than the store brands!

Recipe for Homemade Kahlua

Cinnamon Streusel Banana Bread

When life gives you a snow day and 14 ripe bananas from your freezer... what do you do?

Search Pinterest and make banana bread of course!

I of course, had to make my most FAVORITE banana bread.

It always turns out perfect!

It's the very BEST BANANA BREAD!

This was the next one I made.  Isn't it pretty??

Just as delicious as it is pretty, too!!

Cinnamon Streusel Banana Bread

found at: mykitchenescapades.com

bread:

4 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

streusel:

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

To prepare the streusel, combine the four ingredients in a small bowl, using a pastry blender or two knives. Mixture will be crumbly.  

Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

In your mixer, beat bananas, sugar, butter, egg and vanilla.  Slowly add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until thoroughly combined.  Spoon HALF of the batter into the loaf pan and top with HALF of the streusel  mix.  Spoon on the rest of the batter and top with remaining streusel mixture.

Bake for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool for about 15 minutes in the pan, then the rest of the way on a cooling rack.

Lemon Raspberry Bread

I love anything lemon!

Awhile back I made some homemade Limoncello,  and had lots of lemon juice to use for other things.

This bread was top on my list.

I used the basic recipe from Key Ingredient for their Blueberry Lemon Loaf, making a few minor changes.

I love that combination, but I have to say that raspberries are one of my most favorite fruits, and I had some really tasty ones on hand.

It turned out so yummy..and so darn PRETTY!!

 Lemon Raspberry Bread

bread

1 1/2 cups flour 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

5 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray bottom and sides of a loaf pan (or 4 mini loaf pans) with non-stick cooking spray.

For bread, Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.

In your stand mixer combine all of the wet ingredients, slowly add the dry ingredients in, combining slowly.

When fully combined, gently fold in the raspberries.

Place in loaf pan(s) to bake.

Small loaves baked in about 35 minutes.

Large loaf will take about 50 minutes.

Use a toothpick test in center to see if bread is done.

For glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice.

.

Drizzle over warm bread.

Yum.

Crack Bread

I am guessing this bread can be called "Crack Bread" for two reasons.

One, because you slice the crusty bread in an "X" pattern and stuff the cracks with yummy cheese goodness.

Two, because once you eat it, it's like crack, and you can't stop.
Well, it's not as bad as crack...but it's hard to leave alone!!
:)

I had run across many versions of this bread on Pinterest and couldn't choose just one.

There were elements from different ones that I liked and so I sort of combined what I thought looked and sounded good!

The two that gave me the most inspiration were from two bloggers, 

Joan's Food Wanderings and Working Mommy is Redundant.

Here's what I did:

Crack Bread

1 loaf of crusty french bread

1 stick of salted butter, melted

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1/4 cup tops of green onions, sliced

3 cloves of minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon dried mustard

8 ounce block of each: Monterrey Jack and White Cheddar Cheese, sliced

1 package of real bacon bits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

With a sharp bread knife, diagonally cut the bread, NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH,  leaving about 1-2 inch spaces, then do the same going the other way to gt an "X" pattern.

Place bread on a large sheet of foil.

Slide the slices of cheese in between the cracks.

Sprinkle with bacon pieces and using your fingers make sure that some of them get pushed down in the cracks.

In a glass bowl or measuring cup, melt butter.

Add to it the oil, spices, onion and parsley.

Give it a good stir and drizzle it over the bread, taking care to get it down inside the cracks.

Here it is ready for the oven!

Wrap the foil around the bread and bake it for 10 minutes.

Unwrap the top and bake for another 10 minutes for cheese to get bubbly.

Serve warm.

It's a great pull apart bread, easy, and our company loved it!

I totally think you could make this on the grill with no problem.

I wrapped up the leftovers (what was left that is...) and popped it back in the oven for about 15 minutes and re-heated it.  We ate it with chili!!

Chocolate Orange Banana Bread

I love banana bread.  

I have a great recipe for regular banana bread that I use whenever I get 3 ripe bananas.

(Recipe HERE)

Sometimes, I don't have time to whip any up, so guess what?

I just throw the bananas in the freezer, skins and all!

When you take them out to use them, set them on your counter to thaw, 

and you can squeeze the ripe banana out one end into your bowl, just like soft serve! ;)

That's what I did yesterday.  But when I saw this recipe on Pinterest from ROCK Recipes, I wanted to switch it up.

I LOVE chocolate orange, and with that I was sold.

I had just bought some fresh mandarin oranges at the store this weekend, and they are so flavorful, I had to use one!

I used (most) of the recipe but where the original called for chopped white chocolate, I used white chocolate chips and semi-sweet ones, too.

You can call this a bread to make yourself feel better, but you will feel like you are eating moist chocolate cake.

Chocolate Orange Banana Bread

Rock Recipes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

juice and zest of 1 orange

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of each white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, prepare large loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine sugar and oil in your mixer, add in eggs, bananas and orange zest, mix.

Sift together all of your dry ingredients.

Alternate dry ingredients and orange juice into sugar/banana mixture.

Mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl.

Fold in chips.

Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Grab a glass of milk...or your favorite cuppa...and partake in the goodness!!

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

I am on the Food Committee at Church.

(I know, you're surprised, right?)

We belong to St. Patrick's Parish, so every year St. Patrick's Day is a big deal.

They host a dinner at church, and this year they were looking for people to make Irish Soda bread.

I am not much of a bread baker, but I figured I would give it a whirl.

Turns out, I'm either better at it than I thought, or this recipe was just top notch.

(probably the latter...)

 cooling fresh from the oven

When I wasn't sure which recipe to use, I went to Pinterest to see variations of this traditional bread.

I found the recipe that I used at Green Eggs & Spam

I liked that it had a little bit of sugar to add to the sweetness of it, plus raisins.  

I LOVE Raisins!!

Irish Soda Bread

3 cups sifted cake flour

3 Tablespoons of sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins

1 1/3 cup of **buttermilk

(**I didn't have buttermilk so I made my own using the combination of 1 Tablespoon white vinegar to 1 cup of milk, use after it sits for 5 minutes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.  

Add raisins and buttermilk, and combine. Dough is STICKY.

Turn onto a floured board and knead about 10 times. Don't over knead.

Place dough in lined pan, and score an "X" with a knife in the top.

Bake 60-65 minutes.

Cool and slice.

Eat bread in 1-2 days.  

Bread WILL NOT KEEP.

Pumpkin Bread

We always have company for dinner on Halloween.

I always make soups, usually at least 3 of them!

I love, love. love pumpkin, and decided to try a new recipe for Pumpkin Bread to go along with the soups!

steamy out of the oven

i got on the internet and started surfing around a bit and came across this recipe that was posted on a 

blog called Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Pumpkin Bread

For the bread:

1- 15oz can of pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 cup butter melted

2/3 cup water

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

For the glaze:

1 cup + 3 Tbls powdered sugar

2 Tbls milk

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2-9x5 loaf pans. 

In a large bowl with a whisk, combine pumpkin, eggs, oil, butter, water, sugars and spices.  

In another bowl combine flour and soda, and add to wet mixture, stir until blended.

Pour into loaf pans.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool bread and mix up the glaze.

Drizzle glaze on the warm bread, slice and enjoy!! 

Our Boxer sure did!!

The Boxer's NOSE, KNOWS!!

the very BEST Banana Bread

grandma's banana bread

How does that saying go?

"when life hands you lemons...make margaritas??? er...uh... I mean lemonade?"

Well what do you do when life hands you overly ripe bananas??

Make banana bread,  of course!

I just have to ask a somewhat unrelated question.... am I the only one who thinks of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" song when I spell Bananas?!!?

"This shhhh is bananas... B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgjkth6BRRY

Figured I would add the link to her video, in case you wanted to listen to it while you baked bread...

but don't blame me the next time you spell bananas as a "cheer!" ;)

I have always liked banana bread since I was a kid.  But when I grew up, for some reason it just never turned out right when I made it. 

 I mean, SERIOUSLY how hard could it be, right?

Well, I was over my friend, Tonja's house when our oldest were knee high and she had made banana bread. 

It was SO GOOD!!  She looked at me like I was nuts, I mean it's banana bread right?? 

Well, Tonja, is an incredible baker, so I am sure my "wow factor" to her was like...

"gee...ok...it's pretty good...it's just banana bread."

So, needless to say I got the recipe from her.

Banana bread at my house hasn't been the same since.

I guess I wasn't so crazy, because I have had many friends say they don't have a good banana bread recipe either and I have shared it with them, and they think the same thing. 

This isn't your average banana bread, folks.

When my kids were little, we would make this together. 

I mean what kid doesn't like mashing bananas with a potato masher?!

We would follow the recipe, and mix it together and I would say

"There's one ingredient that isn't on the recipe."

I told them it was "my special ingredient" and I would whisper that they needed to keep a secret. As I looked over both shoulders to make sure that no one was watching, I sprinkled in cinnamon to the batter.

Ok... I'm not so cool to you guys, but my kids thought I was telling them something very top secret!

Well, my secret is out...and it's safe with you right?

This amazing recipe only gets better when you add the cinnamon.

Thank you, Tonja, from me, and from all of the others who had banana bread recipes that were just "okay." 

This one is a treasure!

Tonja's Grandma's Banana Bread

It is seriously the Last Banana Bread Recipe You Will EVER Need!

The very BEST Banana Bread Recipe

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

6 Tablespoons milk

(shhhhh....) 1 /2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and bake in a prepared loaf pan at 350 degrees for one hour.

You can add nuts if you desire