Cocoa-Nana Bread

Joe has been asking me to make me something with chocolate in it for his breakfasts, and until now, I've managed to avoid that. When I saw this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, it looked like a great way of appeasing Joe while using up some of the bananas in my freezer. Some people balked at the chocolate-banana combination, but I thought of bananas dipped in chocolate...yum! This is a definitely doable fairly dense, quick bread recipe, and the chocolate flavor is the predominant flavor for the banana-averse.

Cocoa-Nana Bread
source: Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours via Obsessed with Baking

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup store-bought chocolate chips

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute, until softened. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. At this point, the batter may look a little curdled -- it's okay. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 to 75 minutes) or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temp right side up.

Banana Coconut Muffins

Every week, I buy a bunch of bananas for Joe at the grocery store. I know they're the opposite of "local", but bananas are an easy snack or supplement to a meal for him to take to the hospital. Inevitably, there are some weeks that he doesn't eat all of them before they turn brown, so I peel them and shove them in a freezer bag in a freezer waiting to be used for recipes like this one.

Is there anything about the banana coconut combination that doesn't say, "tropical vacation in my mouth"? This recipe falls into the muffins-as-cake category, and they are so good, especially with that browned coconut on top. This and a good mojito (not in the morning though) is the closest I'm getting to a tropical vacation for a while so eat up!

Banana Coconut Muffins
source: Epicurious via Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Preparation

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.

Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

Buttermilk Waffles with Glazed Banana Topping

As I said in my blueberry pancakes entry, next stop: waffles! Joe's day off was Sunday, so I whipped these up for breakfast before we headed off to church. We also had some bananas that were ripe, so I did a little glazed banana topping. This was the first time I had ever made waffles from scratch, and I thought they came out quite well. I personally prefer waffles to pancakes as I like the little crevices that hold the syrup. I tried to walk the line between being completely overindulgent and using a ton of butter and making a good waffle that wouldn't cause a heart attack.

The George Foreman that we registered for and received is amazing. It practically does everything except my laundry. It's so much better than my old single gal apartment version. If you're in the market for an appliance, it's the George Foreman G5, and then you can get rid of your griddle, panini maker, waffle iron, etc. It's the best.



Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup to 1 cup (1/2 to 2 sticks) butter, melted (I used 1 stick of butter.)
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used light buttermilk.)

Preheat a waffle iron. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Thoroughly blend eggs, butter, and milk in another bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Combine with a few swift strokes of the whisk.

While last batch is cooking, heat 2 tbsp butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then add 1-2 bananas, sliced, in 1 layer and cook until golden, about 1 minute per side. Remove from heat and add syrup to skillet.

Spoon bananas over waffles, then drizzle with warm syrup before serving.

We sprinkled the tops with cinnamon.

recipe for waffles from Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary edition

recipe for glazed banana topping from here