Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Banana Bread

I have never bought fresh cranberries before. I saw some at the grocery store the other day and impulse grabbed them.  So they sat for a few days before I came up with something to do with them. This was a perfect start!

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Banana Bread
What you'll need:
2 over ripe bananas
1 egg
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 vanilla bean
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I pulsed mine pretty small in my food processor)
1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease your loaf pan, set aside.

Cream butter & sugars.  Add in egg, yogurt, bananas, & vanilla extract and seeds scraped from the vanilla bean and blend until well combined. Mix in flour, baking soda & salt.  Fold in walnuts and cranberries.  Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50-65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  I usually start checking mine at about 50 minutes.

I made two loafs and shared one with some friends.  I really loved the tartness of the cranberries in contrast of the sweet bread.  Has anyone ever made the sugared cranberries before?  I might try that soon.  They almost look to pretty to eat though. Enjoy!

Beer Bread and Egg Salad Sandwiches

This was good.  Each recipe was super yummy and when combined made for one dang good sandwich!  And that's all I have to say about that.

Honey Beer Bread
What you'll need:

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 12oz can beer (any beer)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar (I just used a fork).  Heat 2 tablespoons honey in the microwave for 15 seconds and pour warm honey and beer into flour.  Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined, don't over work.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and add dough to pan.  It's a little sticky, but spread out so its even in the bottom.  Add butter and last tablespoon honey to a small bowl and microwave for about 25 seconds or until butter is melted.  Evenly pour honey butter over bread dough.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a nice golden crust forms and toothpick inserts easily and comes out clean.  Let cool and slice.

Egg Salad

What you'll need:

9 hard boiled eggs, cooled 

1/2 cup precooked and crumbled bacon

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup mayo

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

2 tablespoons pickle juice

1 teaspoon dried dill

Peel eggs.  Add to a large bowl and mash with a potato masher until whites are broke up into small pieces.  Add all remaining ingredients to eggs and mix together until a well combined and a sort of paste forms.  Slap a couple spoons full onto beer bread or any bread.

I prepared all this ahead of time, so it was a quick grab and go dinner.  We actually played volleyball with the neighbors last night, who just set up a volleyball net in their backyard, so we combined dinners with them.  And the best part is there was just enough left over for lunch.  Hope everyone had a fun filled weekend.  It actually feels like summer now!  Enjoy!

Honey Beer Buns

I have been wanting to make a loaf of beer bread for a while now.  Traditionally beer bread doesn't call for yeast, but for some reason, I felt like rising some dough.  So I went a different road with my beer bread this time.  I'm glad I did, but it wasn't quite the beer bread taste I was hoping for.  They were really sweet from the honey, very soft and moist, but not traditional.  So if you aren't a big fan of that beer taste, give this recipe a go, you will probably love it!


What you'll need:
3/4 cup strong beer like an IPA or amber (any beer will work really)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons dry active yeast
3 cups unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup wheat germ (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg


In a large bowl, whisk together beer, water, honey, oil, and yeast until yeast is completely dissolved.  Add flour, wheat germ and salt and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. On a floured surface, need dough until no longer sticky and forms a smooth ball.  You will probably need to flour surface a few times.  Shape into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp paper towel or kitchen towel and let rise for an hour and a half.  It will rise a bit, but not a huge amount.  


Punch dough.  Break up into 6 or 8 balls.  Shape how you like and let rise on a lighly greased cookie sheet one more hour.  Preheat oven to 350.  Beat the egg and give the tops of the rolls an egg wash just before placing into the oven.  Bake on the upper middle rack for 10-15 minutes or until the tops begin to brown.  Done. 

Tasty little buggers.  Use them as hamburger buns, pulled pork, sandwiches or butter them and eat them as is.  They aren't too much work.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Bread

What could be better than super moist chocolate banana bread with your coffee on a sunday morning.  Well, I guess I can think of a few things, but this one is up there.  It seems like everyone has their go to banana bread recipe, but maybe just once taking a break from your already perfected recipe and give this one a try!

Chocolate Banana Bread

What you'll need:

3 large over ripe bananas (or 4 small ones, comes out to be usually between 1 1/2 to 2 cups, doesn't have to be perfect)
1 stick room temperature unsalted butter (sometimes I use only half a stick to remove some of the fat)
1 large egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 small container plain greek yogurt  (6oz or about 3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
3 heaping teaspoons cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips + 1 teaspoon flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease your loaf pan.  Cream butter & sugars until well blended and fluffy.  Add in egg, yogurt, bananas, & vanilla and blend until well combined. Mix in flour, baking soda, cocoa, & salt.  Put your chocolate chips into a small bowl with the teaspoon of flour and toss until the chips are coated (doing so helps them from all sinking to the bottom while baking).  Throw chips plus whatever flour is loose into the batter and fold in.  Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50-65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  I usually start checking mine at about 60 minutes because I like to take the bread from the oven when its just done to unsure it's EXTRA moist!  Also because my oven is moody and inconsistent.  After your bread is done, be sure to leave it in the pan until its cool, then run a knife around the edges and flip.  It seems that if you take it from the pan when its too warm it has a tendency to sag a little.

I make this all the time, and cannot seem to get tired of it.  It's even become my staple hostess gift to give friends or family. Forget the wine, give banana bread.  Enjoy!