Saturday, July 30, 2011

15 min Banana Bread, chewy biscuits, gingerbread cake



Had a big baking day yesterday, I was bringing cake to a meeting in the hope of luring volunteers to help out with Junior Landcare. I thought I might as well add a few more things to the oven while it was on.  Not a huge turn up so I had cake to bring home - the poor banana bread didn't look too fancy after the kids attacked it and chewy biscuits on the way home from school.  I walked out of the school with an open plate and was mauled by children as I left the grounds - was pretty cute but had to call a halt before it all disappeared.  Made about 50 chewy biscuits (much like anzacs only chewier) and a huge gingerbread cake that tastes more like golden syrup.


After all that baking I didn't feel much like cooking so it was cheese toasties for dinner, no one minded.



The banana bread was by far my favourite and the kids really loved it which was surprising as they don't normally like banana cake.  Bought organic bananas for $10 kilo today and the little one ate 4 in a row, we're really missing having them but hard to justify the expense.  I have finally used the last of my frozen banana supply from the days before cyclones and bananas were cheap.  Might not be making this recipe again soon.


Easy Banana Bread Recipe (without using a mixer) from Easy Banana Recipes
Servings: 1 loaf
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour
Comments: You can also add a little orange, lemon or lime juice for a nice tangy flavor, or ground cinnamon and nutmeg for a spicy twist to this easy banana bread recipe.
Ingredients
4 medium over-ripe (1 1/3 cup) bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas with butter.
3. Add in eggs and vanilla, and mix.
4. Add in sugar, baking soda, salt, and mix.
5. Add flour last and mix until just combined.
6. Pour mixture into a greased and floured bread loaf pan.
7. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool before removing from pan. 

6 comments:

  1. You were a brave one to enter the playground with an open platter of home baked delights! Thanks for sharing recipe. I recall hearing that the banana crops also suffered a cold snap after the cyclone - hopefully we can expect prices to come down from August onwards - fingers crossed!

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  2. Banana cake is always a hit here, especially fresh from the oven... hmmmm, may need to make one soon! ;) Thankfully I can always find bananas organic, and they're the cheapest fruit available to me, my husband eats tons! :)

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  3. Hi Kirsty! I love your frost photos in the previous post!

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  4. Cheap bananas, those were the days. The kids pounce onto them like chocolate when I bring them home. Very jealous simply smitten.
    Thanks for the frost love Tammy.

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  5. Gingerbread cake! OH YUM!!!! And banana cake..ohhhhhh I'd come to your meetings for sure!

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  6. I absolutely love banana cake! Great to see also that I'm not the only mum who after a busy day will occasionally do a cheese grill sandwich.

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In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
Margaret Atwood

“She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
"Winter is dead.”
― A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young