Quests & Challenges

@Sylvandyr

Yes, I used cabbage kimchi. I’ll edit the recipe to be clearer on that.

@BrightIce

Well, I like baking and my grandparents don’t really cook much. Muffins and cookies might not be the healthiest food ever, but giving them homemade food reassures me that their diet isn’t just Chobani and Popeyes.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/xolzz6C.jpg[/img] [b]Username:[/b] anika [b]Category:[/b] Sunshine Is Sweet [b]Entry Title:[/b] Waste Reducing Banana Bread It may sound odd, but frozen bananas make the best banana bread. Being in the freezer somehow gives them more moisture and deepens the natural sweetness of the bananas. Using frozen bananas also helps cut down on waste; whenever you have a banana just shy of going bad, we toss them in the freezer and use them in banana bread later. Aaand frozen bananas are mushy inside, so you don’t have to mash the banana with a fork. (I learned recently that this is how most people make banana bread and, having only known this recipe my whole life, was horrified. That’s so much work!) The banana bread is moist and sweet with a strong but not overwhelming banana flavor. I’ve shown it with a pat of butter to make it more photogenic, but I think the bread is best eaten a plain, warm piece in one hand and a cold glass of milk in the other. My mom likes putting some peanut butter on her banana bread, if that’s more up your alley. I’ve made this bread several times as thank-you or holiday gifts, and the recipients always loved it. Around the holidays, I like making batches with some chocolate and peanut butter chips added in. It (somehow!) makes the bread even better. Regular banana bread doesn’t last more than a day or two around here. Add in some chips and it basically gets decimated straight out of the oven, which is why we can only have it around holidays. Loafs haven’t frozen well when I’ve tried, but muffins freeze beautifully. We like to put 2 muffins in a sandwich-sized plastic bag to freeze, then take them out as we want and microwave them for 30-45 seconds. It makes for a quick, tasty breakfast. [u]Ingredients[/u] [list] [*]2 cups flour [*]2 t. baking soda [*]1 t. salt [*]1/2 cup shortening [*]1 cup sugar [*]2 eggs [*]8 large frozen bananas* [*]1/2 t. vanilla extract [*]1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional) [*]1 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or mixture (optional)** [/list] *Frozen bananas in the freezer for over a week will be a dark brown and might look gross, but unless they have a slimy exterior, they’re still good. Bananas will keep in the freezer for nearly a year. **I recommend only adding chips if you’re making muffins. For some reason, the chips sink while baking. The shorter cook time of muffins makes this unnoticeable for muffins, but in loafs, the chips will sink down to the bottom half of the loaf while baking. [u]Instructions[/u] Preheat oven to 325. Mix together flour, soda, and salt and set aside. Beat shortening (optimally with electric mixer) until creamy. Add in sugar, then add in eggs one at a time. Add in banana and vanilla extract. You will want to peel the bananas the opposite way bananas are normally peeled. A dark, hard little nub appears on the end of the banana when it is frozen. Peeling it this way prevents the nubs from getting in the bread. Once the bananas and vanilla have been fully integrated, gradually stir in flour mixture. If adding nuts or chips, stir in. Pour mixture into greased muffin tins or loaf pans. Bake until a toothpick or knife inserted into bread comes out clean. Cook times: Muffins, 23-28 minutes Small loaf, 30-50 minutes Large loaf, 1 hr- 1.5 hour (My oven is a bit wonky, so take these numbers with a grain of salt.) Edited to include information about freezing the bread.