I am a sucker for banana bread

Definitely this title defines me. Even tough banana bread is not my favorite cake of all time I think it’s the most versatile recipe in the baking area. It’s super simples: you basically need overripe bananas and it seems my family can never get through the whole bunch so we always have “sad bananas” around, just waiting to be baked with whatever I’m in the mood of: chocolate chips, walnuts, hazelnut, almond flour, yogurt, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc.

After seeing Raiza Costa’s Stories on Instagram this week it got me craving for banana bread. Unfortunately her recipe takes butter and I was feeling lazy for that - to wait it reach room temperature and just pull my stand mixer seemed a lot of work for an easy cake. But there’s one thing she adds to a few of her cake recipes that makes all the difference: yogurt. It makes the cake SUPER moist. It’s pure chemistry: the baking soda reacts with the yogurt acidity and as a result produce the gas that enlarges a batter's bubbles. I had to look for it because chemistry definitely is not a strength of mine. All I know is that works!

After a little research I decided to try a recipe of my own and now I have the perfect Chocolate Chip and Walnuts Banana Bread recipe to share. Of course you can either omit the chocolate chip and walnuts part or just swap for something that you like better. My suggestions includes chopped dates, peanuts, hazelnuts and even blueberries or raisins (if you are into it).

CHOCOLATE CHIP AND WALNUTS BANANA BREAD

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs

• 1/2 cup canola oil

• 1/3 cup maple syrup

• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt

• 1/4 cup oat milk (or any other kind of milk)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 4 mashed ripe bananas (do not over mash it)

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

• ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Start by pre-heating the oven to 325F and grease loaf pan (butter, ghee, canola oil - whatever you want) and set aside. Start by mixing the dry ingredients in a medium bowl: flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In a larger bowl beat the eggs, then add the oil, followed by the maple syrup, yogurt, milk and vanilla. Add the mashed bananas. Beat all the ingredients until all mixed, about 2 minutes. Slowly start to incorporate the dry mixture through a mesh strainer. Always with delicate movements. Lastly incorporate the toppings such as the chocolate and walnuts. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, or until the cake tester (or toothpick) comes out clean.

Classic Banana Muffin

Ok, so I just checked and my last blog post was almost a year ago and the subject was… bananas. You can say that I’m kind of crazy for bananas and the truth is that I really am. It’s definitely my favorite fruit and also so versatile both for eating - just peel it!- and making recipes - cake, muffins, pancakes, bread, with peanut butter, hazelnut, maple syrup, chocolate chips, walnuts, in smoothies, pudding, just mashed… OMG I can go on and on here.

By now you already now that I always have bananas on my counter and that some of them sometimes turn black because I don’t eat a banana a day. Sometimes I’m not in the mood or I simply forget to eat a fruit a day.  Because of that I have to come up with ideas to not throw the food out. Speaking of that this is my mais goal for this new year. I know I started this blog because I wanted to post #zerowaste recipes and to show people that with a little bit of effort you can make the most of the food you have available. For 2019 I want to go deep into this line of thought, not only because I’m concerned with the environment (which I am), but also I’m realizing that this good for my bank account as well. Actually there’s only PROS when you talk about zero food waste, right?

I really like banana muffins and one day out of nowhere my husband asked me to do some. I started to do some research to find an easy recipe but also a delicious one. I knew I wanted something simple, that I could do in about 20 minutes on a weekend morning and I came across this recipe from Taste of Home. Of course I have added my personal touch, specially when I realized that the batter wasn’t what I expected in the beginning. I wanted higher muffins as well so instead of just mixing the egg I separated the white from the yolk, actually the whites from the yolks, because on my recipe there’s 2 eggs instead of one. Also I added some chopped walnuts because I love the crunchy aspect of a banana muffin.

Here’s my recipe. Let me know if you do something different for your banana muffins or if you have a recipe of your own. I know that for now I’m sticking with this one calling it a family classic already.

CLASSIC BANANA MUFFIN

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 medium ripe bananas

• 2 large eggs at room temperature

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat the oven at 375º. Sift and combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. In a large bowl smash the bananas and mix it with the egg yolks and oil. In a separated bowl whisk the egg whites until firm peaks - you can use a stand mixer, a speed hand blender with the whisk accessory or whisk it by hand. Mix the dried ingredients with the banana mix. If it’s too heavy you can start adding the whites already. Slowly fold the egg whites into the batter. When your batter is ready start slowly mixing the chopped walnuts. Transfer the batter to a muffin tray, lined with muffin parchment paper. Baked for 22 minutes (it can also be done between 18 to 25 minutes - it all depends on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan and place in a wire rack to cool completely.

TIP: You can also add some cinnamon on your batter or even mix cinnamon with sugar and sprinkle on top to create a nice crust on your muffin.

TIP 2: if you notice the walnuts start to burn too much on the top of the muffin, move it to the lower rack on the oven.