Good morning friends! I woke up this morning to a fog-filled world. It rained [hard] last night so everything is soaked – and it smells so. dang. good. I love the smell of rain. And this morning it not only smelled like rain, but there was just a hint of fall in the air. Yay – my favorite season! And speaking of fall…I just have to share a little project I made with Doodlebug’s new “Happy Harvest” collection!
I used lots of bits and pieces (including the patterned paper, stickers, 4x6 cards, and even the new AWESOME sprinkles) to create a wrap for a loaf of this super yummy banana bread.
I thought this patterned paper (with the streets and houses) was just the perfect design for a “welcome to the neighborhood” gift – so that’s the main wrap around the bread.
I cut the cute little house and banner piece from a 4x6 card – the original card had text above the house…I can’t remember what it said, but I didn’t want my bread wrap to necessarily be “fall” themed, so I used rub-on letters on top of the arrow sticker and placed it right over the existing word.
Of course, I used plenty of foam dots – because I love them – to add fun dimension to my project.
And a hand-written note finished it off!
And of course I have to share this yummier than yummy recipe for banana bread – originally shared with me by my cute friend Holly (it’s originally from here)…I’ve made a few changes over the years as I’ve made this recipe dozens of times – it’s the one baked item Josh will actually ASK me to make and something everyone in our family enjoys. I hope you enjoy it as well!
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup mashed bananas (usually about 3 bananas)
- 1 cup sour cream (I’ve used non-fat and it works great – plain yogurt can also be used)
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips (of course you can leave these out, but I don’t know why you’d ever want to! – you could also add nuts if you prefer)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two bread loaf pans
- Combine banana and sour cream. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and banana mixture.
- Sift together the the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; stir into the banana mixture.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan or pans.
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and use a skewer to press them down just until they are covered with dough. Don’t mix them before you pour the dough into the pans or push them too far in or they will all settle on the bottom…this is not as yummy as having them all mixed throughout!
- Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Enjoy!
After you make this recipe once, you might find yourself buying extra bananas just so you have an excuse to use up the ripe ones! (not that I would know anything about that…)
Oh…one more thing – did you know you can freeze ripe bananas and use them in recipes later? I just learned this (and I may be late to the banana party…), but you can peel them and put them into freezer bags and pop them in the freezer. Just pull them out and allow them to thaw next time you want to make banana bread. You’ll never have to throw away an over-ripe banana again!
***This project, and lots of other fun ideas, are being featured today on the Doodlebug Blog (HERE) – go check it out!!***
Would you like to win some of this autumn goodness for yourself? Click here to find out how!
No comments:
Post a Comment