Banana Bread, one bowl required.

I love banana smoothies/ milkshakes in the am. They are a quick energy boost
to get me through the morning chores meanwhile I make myself some quick breakfast.
It seems bananas never last that long around here, that being said I bought a bunch
the other day so we would have plenty... turns out now that we have more then plenty
no one wants to eat them! So I made some banana bread, one of my favorite treats.
I was eager to try this recipe from smitten kitchen that I had bookmarked a while back.

This baby loaf disappeared in a matter of seconds.
It was some of the best banana bread I've had and seriously so ridiculously easy!
Best part is; there were only a few dishes in my sink left to wash unlike the pile
that is usually left over when I bake something!
Least thing I want to be doing now a days is washing dishes, my lower back
is having a hard time carrying all this weight I've put on.

Banana Bread
slightly adapted from smitten kitchen


Ingredients

- 3 ripe bananas, smashed
- 1/3 c. melted salted butter
- 3/4 c. brown sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 1/2 t. nutmeg

- 1 t. baking soda
- pinch of salt

- 1 1/2 c. flour
- 1/4-1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix butter into mashed bananas with wooden spoon.
2. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla & spices.
3. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over everything, stir in.
4. Add flour and again, stir in.
5. If using chocolate chips you can stir in at the end or
sprinkle on top of bread.

Pour into a buttered 4x8 loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Cool and slice to serve.

Walnuts or pecans would be awesome in this instead of choco chips.
Do you have spotted bananas? Make this now!

Enjoy with a glass of milk, cup of coffee or tea.

xoxo

P.S. If you have any special banana bread recipes to share,

I would love to try them out.

BEST Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread Ever.

I don't even know where to begin with this bread!
I'll start of by saying that if you make it, it will be gone immediately.
Seriously.

Maybe you should think about making two batches if you are having
family or friends over. Or three.

I am in love with this recipe, it's a keeper...
and you will fall head over heels for it too, give it a try!

P.S. please don't be intimidated by the steps in this recipe,
or by the yeast in this recipe it really is very simple to make
just do plan ahead for it is a bit time consuming...
the waiting time anyway but it is waaaay worth it ;)

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread
recipe adapted from: Joy the Baker!

* makes a one 9x5x3-inch loaf

Dough:
- 2 3/4 c. + 2 T. all purpose flour
- 1/4 c. granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
- 1/2 t. salt
- 2 oz. unsalted butter
- 1/3 c. whole milk (i used buttermilk)
- 1/4 water
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 1 t. vanilla

Filling:
- 3/4 c. granulated sugar
- 2 t. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t. fresh ground nutmeg (i omitted)
- 2 oz. unsalted butter, melted until browned

1. In a large bowl; whisk together 2 c. flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Set aside.

2. Whisk together eggs and set aside.

3. In small sauce pan, melt together milk + butter until butter is just melted.
Remove from heat and add water + vanilla. Let stand for a minute or two.

4. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and mix with a spatula.
Add eggs, stir mixture until eggs are incorporated.  Add the remaining
3/4 c. of flour, stir with a spatula for about two minutes.

5. Place dough in large greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp
kitchen towel, either or will do. Place in a warm spot (on top of stove, if your
oven is turned out is great). Allow to rest until doubled in size,
at least an hour.

 (after this step the dough can be refrigerated overnight for use in the morning,
  just let rest 30 minutes before using.) 

6. While dough is rising, whisk sugar & cinnamon and nutmeg if you are using,
set aside. Melt 2 oz. butter until browned and butter smells nutty and amazing!
Almost like toffee. (Be careful while browning butter, it can burn in an instant...
Speaking with experience!) Set the butter aside.
Grease and flour the load pan, set aside.

7. Deflate dough and knead 2 T. of flour into dough, cover with kitchen towel
and let rest 5 minutes.

8. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out. Dough should be about
12 inches tall and 20 inches long. (I am embarrassed to say but I am horrible at
rolling out dough). Brush melted butter across the dough. Sprinkle evenly with
all the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

9. Slice the dough into 6 equal strips (vertically), stack the strips on top of one another
& slice the stack into 6 equal pieces.
(It's ok if strips aren't exactly equal, they will be just as delicious!)
Layer the dough squares into loaf pan, like a flip book.
Place a kitchen towel over and once again! allow the dough to rise; doubled in size.
30-45 minutes.

10. Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown.

11. Remove from oven, allow to rest for at least 20 minutes.
Run a knife around edges and invert onto clean board.
Place a cake stand or plate on top of loaf and invert it.
Serve warn with coffee or tea. Enjoy <3

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

I can't seem to keep up with my blog, there is always something that gets in the way
of posting new recipes but now that I threw out my old computer and have
a new one that is 10 times faster, I will try my best to update more often.
I think i will make it my new year's resolution to update my blog at east once
every week.

Now let's get to the good stuff. I had been craving cinnamon rolls for a while and
I finally made some a couple of days ago, they were absolutely delicious!
I tried a new recipe this time, a recipe that i found on one of my favorite blogs
White on Rice Couple. I changed a couple of things, I didn't have any
Vietnamese cinnamon but I am definitely going to try to find some now, also
I only used a little over 1/2 the sugar that it calls for in the filling and I added
some raisins. I recommend you guys try making cinnamon rolls, don't get intimidated
by the number of steps, it's really quite easy (:

Cinnamon Rolls Recipe adapted from White on Rice Couple
*makes 12 rolls

Dough
1 c Milk
4 t Active Dry Yeast, 1 1/2 packets
1/4 c Sugar
1 t Sea Salt
1/2 c unsalted Butter, melted
3 1/4 c all-purpose Flour

Cinnamon Filling
1/2 c unsalted Butter, melted
1 c Brown Sugar
1/4 c granular Sugar
2 1/2 T ground Cinnamon (or 3 T freshly grated Vietnamese cinnamon if you can get it)
1/4 - 1/2 c Raisins

Icing
2 oz Cream Cheese, at room temp.
1 c Confetioner’s Sugar
2 T Milk

1. Make the Dough. Gently warm the milk in the microwave for about 34-45 seconds until luke warm.
Pour milk into a bowl with the yeast, sugar, and sea salt. Stir to combine and dissolve yeast. Stir in the melted butter.

2. Mix in the flour until a soft dough forms. ( If too sticky you can add a little more flour but I found
my dough to be perfect, it might have even been a bit too much flour.)

3. Cover bowl and set in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until doubled in volume.

4. When dough is almost done rising, melt cinnamon filling butter. Combine sugars and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

lightly butter a 9×11 baking dish

5. Put dough on a lightly floured work surface.  Roll dough out to approx. 1/4″ thick and 18″x14″.

6. Spread Cinnamon Filling’s melted butter evenly across the top surface.  Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix over dough.  Beginning with the longer side facing you, use both hand to roll the dough into a log. Slice the log into 12 even sections.

7. Place the rolls cut side up in the buttered baking dish.  Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. While rolls rise preheat oven to 350°F.

8. Bake the rolls for approx. 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes.

9. While cinnamon rolls cool, make icing. Combine the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, and milk in a bowl and mix until smooth. Pour icing over cinnamon rolls and serve.

Enjoy!

 

Later on today I will be posting 3 more recipes!

Double chocolate crackles, a Mrs.Fields chocolate chip

cookie and a delicious spinach quiche.