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Posts Tagged ‘banana bread’

Crock-Pot Banana Bread

Posted by terrepruitt on June 22, 2020

So the past couple of weeks if my husband was not working he has been trying to fix our oven. Three Saturdays ago right after I put the pork chops in the oven the element arced and broke. On Sunday morning – first thing, hubby was shopping for an element. There is a lot to the story between then and us having an appointment for a repair man to come in on Tuesday, including a segment when the oven was making a scary buzzing noise so we turned the power off to the whole thing (it is a set in stove and oven unit). So for almost a week we were without an oven AND a stove. But again, not the point – exactly – of this post. The point is that we have a lot of bananas that turned into “banana bread” bananas really fast so I needed to make banana bread. I thought about trying to use the toaster oven to make cookies or little breads, but that sounded too daunting. So I asked Google if I could make banana bread in a crock-pot . . . and, of course I can! But as per my usual I didn’t read the recipe, I skimmed it. I skimmed two actually and both talked about putting the loaf pan IN the crock-pot. I assumed they were talking about a metal loaf pan; I don’t have a metal loaf pan. I also assumed they were talking about a BIG crock-pot, if you could fit a loaf pan in it! I don’t have a big crock-pot. Mine is small and round. One of the recipes did say that with a small crock-pot you could just line the crock-pot with parchment paper so that was my plan.

I was thinking I could just use my banana bread recipe, line the crock-pot, and “bake” away. I vacillated between being very leery and very confident. So while I was mixing the ingredients I looked up some recipes again trying to determine the cooking time and while I was scrolling through the kabillion advertisements on all of the postings, I had noticed the recipes call for baking POWDER (in addition to baking SODA). I don’t put baking powder in my banana bread. I happened to be texting with a friend while I was mixing and I asked her if the recipe she uses calls for baking powder and she said no. So we decided it was probably needed when “baking” banana bread in a crock-pot. So I just added a 1/2 teaspoon.

While I was looking up my banana bread recipe I also remembered I had one that I LOVED and it was in my notes on my phone. So I don’t know why I have a different one posted on my blog. AND I haven’t even been following that one. It seemed too plain the last time I made it. I might actually end up writing ANOTHER post when I go to make this again because I might use my “note recipe” as opposed to what I did.

Anyway . . . the banana bread came out GREAT. Better than when I bake it in the oven. I left it in the pot too long, but that was because I was leery, but now I know better. I had taken the insert out of the heating portion of the appliance, but I left the bread IN the pot. I will take it out next time and it will be perfect . . . well, maybe not because I will probably use a different recipe, but who knows. Here is what I did this time:

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Crock-pot Banana Bread (First Attempt)

3 ripe bananas
Heavy sprinkle of cinnamon
Sprinkle of nutmeg
1 Tablespoon (white) sugar

1/2 cup butter (one cube – softened)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Butter for greasing the parchment paper
Parchment paper

(It is going to cook on high for 3 hours)

Put the peeled bananas in a bowl. Use a fork to smash the bananas to baby food-like consistency – with a few chunks. Sprinkle a good amount of cinnamon on the bananas and a sprinkle of nutmeg (next time I will measure, sorry), add the white sugar. Mix it up.

Cream the butter and brown sugar together. Add the eggs. Mix it up. Then add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture a little at a time.

Line the crock-pot with parchment paper. (I used two pieces, one going one way and the other going the other way, like a plus sign.) Press the paper into the pot as much as you can. Remember you are going to have ROUND banana bread and the edges might have “wrinkles” in them from the paper. Cut off the excess paper that sticks out of the top so that your lid will fit on properly. Butter the paper where the bread mixture will be. Then pour/scoop the mixture into the crock-pot. Turn it on high and set your timer for 2 1/2 hours. Check on the bread if you want or just let it go for another 30 minutes.

Carefully take the lid off . . . . you might not want all the condensation to drip onto the top of your bread.

Then you simply pull the bread out by the paper. If you want let it cool before you slice into it.

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I had NOT planned on writing a recipe because I thought I was going to just use the one I have posted in my “Banana Bread” post, but I changed it enough that I thought I would post the recipe. I was just going to post pictures of the bread, that is why I don’t have pictures of ingredients . . . but you all know what they look like. You just needed someone to say . . . “Hey, I made banana bread in my (old) crock-pot.”

I specify “old” crock-pot because it is NOT one of those fancy ones where you know the temperature and can set a time. Mine has Off/Lo/High. I cooked it for three hours on high. I checked it at 2 and I thought, “Okay, I am gonna have to have faith this is going to cook.” Because it was nowhere near cooked after 2 hours.

It was so good, I don’t think I will use my oven to bake banana bread again!

So . . . do you think you will try making banana bread in your crock-pot?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: baking powder, banana bread, broken oven, crock pot, crock-pot banana bread, crockpot | 6 Comments »

Banana Bread

Posted by terrepruitt on July 11, 2018

The other day we had bananas WAY past their ripe stage, and recently whenever that happened I said I would make banana bread, but I have not. This time I was determined to. I went looking for my banana bread recipe and I found I did not have it, the one I talked about in my Blender Banana Bread post. I thought I had it bookmarked but could not find it there either. So I had to make it from memory with a little help from the internet. I am not sure I have it right. It is tasty, but I might need to do a little experimentation.

Here is what I did.

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Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup butter (one cube)
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Peel the bananas, putting the peeled bananas in a bowl. Smash the bananas with a fork. Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs together. Add the vanilla. Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together. Mix the flour mixture into the creamed mixture a little at a time.

Grease a loaf pan. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes. Check the loaf to see if it is ready. Ovens vary so you might need to bake it longer.

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I like walnuts in my banana bread, but my husband does not so much, so I didn’t put them in this time, but next time I will. And one of these days, I’ll put chocolate chips in there.

How do you make banana bread?

Posted in "Recipes" | Tagged: banana bread, butter, ripe bananas, vanilla | 2 Comments »

Good Nut

Posted by terrepruitt on August 22, 2013

Walnuts are awesome. As you may have read in some of my other posts, my hubby doesn’t really like walnuts. I find that fact rather funny because he likes pretty much everything, but he is not fond of walnuts. One day I had a bag of pecans on the table and I was having some for dessert. He grabbed a couple and ate them. As he was eating them he looked at me and said something like, “What? These are so good. Why did I not know these are so delicious? I am amazed!” I actually laughed at his reaction to them because pecans really are very yummy. They are rich and slightly sweet and he didn’t know the joy. Walnuts are different and he doesn’t care for them. I think walnuts are awesome. The thing I like about nuts is they can be used in sweet or savory dishes, or even eaten by themselves. Walnuts are a bit harder than pecans. Pecans almost feel stale or old because they are kind of soft. Walnuts are hard and they are not as rich, but they are very good and good for you.

Walnuts have Omega 3 fatty acids in them. You might have heard that Omega 3 fat is the fat that we need to consume. Research has indicated that we don’t eat enough of it AND that it is a helpful and healthful fat.

My research has uncovered 1 ounce / roughly 28 grams has

190 calories
4 grams of protein
18 grams of total fat (1.5 grams of saturated fat and 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat and 13 grams of polyunsaturated fat)

4 grams of carbohydrates
2 grams of fiber
28 mg of calcium
.82 mg of iron
125 mg of potassium
11 grams of Linoleic acid
2.5 grams of Linolenic acid

The Linoleic acid is the Omega 3 essential fatty acids. And it is the Omega 3 that we want. Omega 3 is considered an anti-inflammatory. As I have mentioned in numerous other posts, anti-inflammatory foods are a welcome part of a healthy diet. With more and more research pointing to the association between chronic inflammation in the body and disease, it is a good idea to consume foods with an anti-inflammatory effect.

According to the World’s Healthiest Foods site: Research has shown walnuts to help with cardiovascular health.

They have been shown to decrease LDL cholesterol, decrease total cholesterol, and increase omega-3 fatty acids in red blood cells. Also decrease the risk of excessive clotting and excessive inflammation.

For me, as I mentioned they can be eaten in savory dishes, like with green beans (click here for a green been recipe) or in sweets. I like to put walnuts in my banana bread, but I don’t because John doesn’t like them and I primarily make the bread for him. But I do put them in the Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies (click here for that recipe). He actually is ok with them in the green beans and the cookies. I also think they are a great snack or dessert.

Do you like walnuts? How do you like to eat them?

Posted in Food | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, banana bread, Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies, cholesterol, dessert, excessive inflammation, green beans, Omega 3, pecans, sweet or savory, walnuts, World's Healthiest Foods | 6 Comments »

Blender Banana Bread

Posted by terrepruitt on October 4, 2012

I don’t like to waste my bananas. My husband won’t eat them if they have one little tiny spot of brown. And I don’t usually eat that many bananas. So you might have learned from some of my posts that I usually use the over ripe bananas in banana bread or Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies. Both of these items are not low calorie nor low fat, they are just a way for me to use up my bananas and put a treat in my hubby’s lunch. I have a great recipe I found on the internet for banana bread. I think it was called the World’s Best Banana Bread and I actually think it is. I have issues cooking it though, it never seems cooked all the way through, but that could because it is hand mixed and the bananas kind of chunk up in the batter. Well, since I got a fancy new blender I have been trying to find things to use it for. In the recipe book there is a recipe for banana bread so I thought I would give it a try. Even though the ingredients get mixed in the blender the recipe calls for the bananas to be mashed. Before I stared I grabbed my camera fully intending on taking pictures along the way. The next thing I knew I was putting the pan in the oven. DRAT! I forgot to take pictures as I was making it. But I took some of the finished product. Can you see how smooth it is? Blender bread is really like “commercially made” bread.

I liked the taste ok. It was actually good. I think the vanilla yogurt added the extra sweet, yumminess. Since it has no butter it has to be less calories and grams of fat then my other recipe. And it really was good, but it was so . . . “commercial”. It was like a loaf of bread from the store. There was no texture, no chunks, no . . . personality.

In addition to using my blender the other reason I wanted to try this recipe is because it called for two bananas and that is what I had.

I can’t find the recipe on the Blendtec website and, of course, I did some modifying anyway, so here is what I did:

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Blender Banana Bread

Using the WildSide Jar

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1/2 C low-fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 C wheat flour
3/4 C white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add first six ingredients to the container and secure lid. Select “Batters.” After that has blended, add the remaining four ingredients to the container and secure the lid. Press “Pulse” 3-5 times until dry ingredients are incorporated. (Do not over blend.) Pour batter into greased 9″X5″ loan pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.

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I guess the WildSide Jar and the FourSide Jar for this blender are very different because there are additional/different instructions if you are using the FourSide Jar.

Well, I know that I have been posting a lot about my blender, but . . . I am trying to get a fraction of the money’s worth out of it! I will not turn this blog into a blender blog, I will post about Nia, exercises, other health stuff, and even Zumba, but I am getting some post out of my first uses of the blender.

Do you like your banana bread smooth? Or do you like it more rustic and chunky?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: banana bread, Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies, blender bread, exercise, FourSide Jar, homemade bread, low calorie, low fat, Nia, Nia exercise, power blender, WildSide Jar, Zumba | 2 Comments »

Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

Posted by terrepruitt on August 13, 2011

This recipe allows you to use up the over ripe bananas without having to resort to banana bread. Although these taste pretty much like banana bread, but lighter, more airy. While the large amount of butter seems to make these anything but a low-fat cookie, I find that they are very satisfying so I don’t gobble down an entire half-dozen. If you break it down it is about 1/8 of a tablespoon per cookie. It is a cookie and like all cookies, they are meant to be a treat. I think that the bananas, the oats, and the walnuts add a bit of nutrients to them. I think anytime good-for-you ingredients can be added to a sweet treat it is a great thing. Homemade is better than packaged goods.

Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 3/4 cups oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
A sprinkle of nutmeg
3 bananas

Chopped walnuts

Preheat oven 375 degrees

Using an electric hand-held beater, mix up the butter and sugar. I mix it up until it is fluffy.

Then, add the egg and vanilla. Mix well. This I mix until it is light and fluffy. (I think that is what helps make the cookies lighter than banana bread.)

Add the rest of the ingredients (except the nuts) one at a time. Blending well – using the electric hand-held beater – after adding each one and before adding the next.

Stir the walnuts in using a spoon or whatever. I just wouldn’t use the beater.

The “dough” is rather runny for me at this point. I use a round measuring spoon to scoop up the mixture and put it on a cookie sheet.

I don’t grease the sheet, but I think that really depends on what you are baking on. You can decide. I do space them out rather far because they tend to grow a little bit.

I bake them at 375 degrees for 12. I bake them for 6 minutes, then I turn the pan. And bake them for another 6 minutes, for a total of 12 minutes. Again, you decide how “DONE” you want your cookies, plus you know your oven. So maybe start out with 10 minutes and add minutes accordingly. And if you have greased the cookie sheet the time might need altering.

I think I get about 4 dozen out of this recipe.

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I am going to keep this version of the recipe, but also do some alterations sometimes when I make them. I have some ideas I want to try. I want to try LESS butter. I also might try the chocolate chips again, but maybe less of them (I only used ¾ of a cup the first time!) and maybe WITH nuts, oh (!) and with my nutmeg addition. That might make a big difference. But I somewhat agree with my husband about adding chocolate chips to a cookie, it just makes it a chocolate chip cookie.

I want to let you know the path that led me to making this recipe. First I went looking for recipes and ideas on what to do with over ripe banana and I found 100 Things to Do with a Banana (yeah, really). Since they have pictures I just scrolled through clicking on pictures I liked and it led to A little bit of this, a little bit of that .

So, what do you think? Are you a chocolate lover? Then you might want to add a cup or so of chocolate chips. What else can you think of to make this better? Let me know. I am always interested in hearing about alterations.

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: 100 Things to Do with a Banana, a little bit of that, A little bit of this, banana bread, banana cookie recipe, banana cookies, banana oatmeal walnut cookie, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate lover, electric hand held beater, homemade, low fat, oat cookies, oatmeal cookies, over ripe bananas, ripe bananas, sweet treat, walnut cookies, wheat flour | 9 Comments »

Banana Cookies – Homemade and Delicious

Posted by terrepruitt on August 11, 2011

My husband and I buy bananas and we don’t eat them fast enough before they get too ripe. His idea of “too ripe” is one tiny little brown spot. The entire banana can still be GREEN, but if he sees a spot it is too ripe. I used to like them REALLY ripe, all covered in spots and almost — ALMOST, not quite, mushy. But now I like them a little less ripe. I don’t like them when they “snap”, but I don’t like them when I touch it and my finger mushes into it. So . . . I had been making a lot of banana bread. I honestly think that my husband buys a huge bunch of bananas knowing full well that he will only eat one or two and then I will make bread out of them. I somewhat have an issue with the banana bread. It doesn’t seem to cook on the top. The first time I sent it to work with him he came home and said that his co-worker loved it. I was so embarrassed and I told him that he was NOT supposed to share it because it was uncooked. He and his co-worker like it like that. He also likes it without nuts, which I think is just not right. I had been making it so much, I got tired of doing so. I went online (but, of course) to find other ways to use ripe bananas. I found a banana cookie recipe. Yeah, bananas in the cookies.

This woman found a banana cookie recipe on the internet and changed it up a bit. I decided to try her recipe, but wanted to change it a bit. The recipe called for chocolate chips. My plan was to make some without chocolate chips, then put some chips in and make some with chocolate chips. It turned out I didn’t have any chocolate chips, and unlike Carson, I didn’t even have any big chocolate drops. So I made the entire batch without chips. I liked them but they were missing something. Even though I put in the cinnamon she has listed and even though I put in twice as much vanilla they were still a little “blah”. To me. Blah to me was actually good because even though they were good they weren’t so good that I found myself eating them non-stop. So it was nice that I could actually eat them as a treat should be eaten.

The next time I made them I decided to try it with the chocolate chips. But I thought that regular sized chips would be to over powering so I bought mini chocolate chips. I also used three bananas instead of two. I also used different oats, which were much larger than the first ones I had. I DID NOT like that large oat in my cookie. Made it seem like I was chewing cud instead of a cookie, so I made a mental note to change that. So this batch was ok. But as my husband said, “If you put chocolate chips in a cookie it makes it a chocolate chip cookie.” I liked them and so did he, but we decided we liked them better without chocolate chips.

So my third attempt—-HAZZAH! I finally got it! I pulsed the “too big” oats, I added more cinnamon, I stuck with three bananas, I added walnuts, and I sprinkled in some nutmeg! So yay!!!!! I got it. Finally turned what to me seemed blah into . . . now I have to STOP myself from eating them. Ok, not really. That is why I like this cookie so much. It is almost as if it is so satisfying I don’t have a desire to eat a whole plate.

They are a really nice cookie. I think that homemade is so much better than packaged because you know what goes in them and it is usually a lot less chemicals and even some fruit. These are kind like little circles of banana bread, really, but a little less dense. And these I can manage to cook all the way through.

Here is the recipe . . . . Banana Oatmeal Walnut Cookies.

Posted in Food | Tagged: banana bread, banana cookie recipe, banana cookies, banana oatmeal walnut cookie, chocolate chip cookie, mushy bananas, oat cookies, oatmeal cookies, over ripe bananas, ripe bananas, vanilla cookie, walnut cookies | 4 Comments »

Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘banana bread’

Crock-Pot Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Good Nut

Blender Banana Bread