Whole-Grain Banana Bread

Moist and flavorful is what I will say about recipe #10 on kingarthurflour.com‘s Best Basic Recipe list. I say that after much grumbling about the burned overflow in the bottom of my oven and the burned smell that exists in my house. I am following these recipes as exact as I can to see if I agree with the word BEST given in the title.

So, as I poured the batter of this banana bread into the loaf pan and it goes scarily close to the top rim, I say to myself, this isn’t going to work. In my mind there is a battle brewing, that is way too much batter for that pan, no, trust the recipe and the pan size it says, follow the recipe as exact as possible, you better use a larger pan or separate into two smaller pans. You add quarantine to this situation and it’s not good!

Well, I went with trust the recipe and the pan size it says. All is cleaned up now, it’s not the prettiest loaf you will ever see, and you have the full story. Use a larger pan or two smaller ones, and you will have a moist and flavorful Whole-Grain Banana Bread. Ü

Batter
2 cups mashed banana, about 4-5 medium bananas
1/2 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Topping
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center position. Lightly grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan; if your pan is glass or stoneware, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. In a large bowl, stir together the mashed banana, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Weigh your flours; or measure them by gently spooning into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts into the banana mixture. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix again to thoroughly combine the ingredients. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter.

Bake the bread for about 60 to 75 minutes, until the bread feels set on the top, and a paring knife (or other thin knife) inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs (but no wet batter). If you have a digital thermometer, the bread’s temperature at the center should register about 205°F. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 15 to 20 minutes of baking. Note: If baking in a glass or stoneware pan, increase the baking time by 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven. Cool it in the pan for 15 minutes, then loosen the edges, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely. Store leftover bread, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for several days. Freeze for longer storage.

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Vermont Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread

My new favorite bread recipe! This is #7 of the Best Basic Recipe Collection on kingarthurflour.com. The flavor of this bread is wonderful, a little sweet from brown sugar and honey with a hint of cinnamon. I will be making it again and again!

2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbl honey
4 Tbl butter
1 Tbl kosher salt or 2½ tsp table salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbl yeast
1½ cups white whole wheat flour
4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine water, oats, brown sugar, honey, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm, which typically takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the yeast and flours, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 to 7 minutes by machine) until the dough is smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.

Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in two greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ bread pans. Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow the loaves to rise until they’ve crowned about 1″ over the rim of the pan, about 60 to 90 minutes.

Bake the loaves in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting them lightly with aluminum foil after 25 minutes, to prevent over-browning. Remove them from the oven when they’re golden brown, and the interior registers 190°F on a digital thermometer. Turn the loaves out onto a rack to cool.

Homemade Graham Crackers

Grab a glass of milk and let’s get dipping!

1½ cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat graham flour)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°. In large bowl, stir together flour, whole wheat flour, dark brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add honey and water and mix until dough comes together (can use a mixer or food processor). Form dough into a disc, roll out on lightly floured surface (between two pieces of wax or parchment paper works well) to about 1/4″ thickness. Cut into crackers (with pizza cutter) or shapes (with cookie cutters). Place on silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 14-15 minutes. For fun, melt about 3/4 cup chocolate chips over a double boiler with a little shortening, dip crackers, and lay on parchment or wax paper to set up. While chocolate is still soft, sprinkle with toffee bits or sprinkles.

One Year Ago: Homemade Power Bars

Two Years Ago: Peasant Bread

Three Years Ago: Coconut Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Honey Wheat Bread

One loaf of honey sweetened wheat bread hot out of the oven to bring that heavenly aroma to your kitchen!

1½ cups hot water (about 110°)
1 pkt (2¼ tsp) dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbl oil
3 Tbl honey
1 cup white flour
1½ tsp salt
2¾-3 cups whole wheat flour

In bowl of stand mixer, pour hot water, sprinkle yeast over water, and then sprinkle the 1 tsp sugar over yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add oil, honey, white flour, and salt. Mix well. Add wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing to incorporate. Add enough to make dough that just comes together but is still a bit sticky. Mix until well kneaded. Turn dough out into greased or sprayed bowl, turn dough over to coat. Cover and let rise in warm place 45-60 minutes. Shape into loaf and put in sprayed loaf pan. Let rise in warm place about 30-45 minutes. Bake in preheated 375° oven for 30-35 minutes.

One Year Ago: Mini Apple Pies

Two Years Ago: Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars

Three Years Ago: White Chocolate Covered Oreos

Raisin Nut Wheat Bread

Plain wheat bread just doesn’t do much for me, not too exciting. At our house, this is our snacking bread, grab a piece plain or butter it and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. I might be fooling myself but I would like to think it is healthy, hey, it has wheat flour, raisins and nuts!

2 cups warm water (110°)
1 pkt (2¼ tsp) dry yeast
3 Tbl sugar
2 Tbl oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1¼ tsp cinnamon
1½ cups raisins
1½ cups chopped walnuts

In bowl of mixer, sprinkle yeast over the warm water and sprinkle sugar over the yeast. Let sit until foamy. Add oil, wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and cinnamon, mix until almost combined. Add raisins and walnuts. Knead. Turn out into greased bowl, cover, and let rise about one hour. Shape dough into two loaves, cover and let rise about one half hour or until doubled in size. Bake in preheated 375° oven for 30 minutes or until internal temperature is 200°.

One Year Ago Today: Date Nut Snack Bars

Two Years Ago Today: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

If you are interested in Demarle bakeware and kitchen tools such as the Roul’Pat & Beechwood Rolling Pin or Silpat & Perforated Baking Sheet please visit mydemarleathome.com/kristenparker or simply click on the Demarle at Home logo below.

Whole Wheat Refrigerator Rolls

This is for my friend Suzanne in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.  She is busy serving others during the day and doesn’t have much time to bake for dinner.  You can mix up this dough the night before, put it in the refrigerator, and finish the next day.  Suzanne said cheap white bread is plentiful on the street, 20 cents for a great baguette, but she prefers whole wheat.  This is adapted from a Taste of Home recipe.  Thank you Suzanne for your great example of selfless service, I hope this helps you.

                       

2 pkg or 4½ tsp dry yeast
2 cups warm water (about 110°)
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup oil

In a mixing bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water, and sprinkle sugar over yeast.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Blend in all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, egg, and oil to make a soft dough.  Knead until smooth and elastic (by hand or mixer).  Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise until doubled or cover and refrigerate overnight.  Punch dough down and form into dinner-size rolls.  Place on greased baking sheets for plain rolls or knots, or in greased muffin tins for cloverleaf rolls, I prefer my Demarle muffin tray, no greasing necessary.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour for dough prepared the same day or 1 to 2 hours for refrigerated dough.  Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.  Serve warm.  If desired, dough may be kept up to 4 days in the refrigerator.  Punch down daily, take out amount for desired number of rolls.

If you are interested in Demarle bakeware such as the Muffin Tray and Perforated Sheet please visit mydemarleathome.com/kristenparker or simply click on the Demarle at Home logo below.