Cupcakes or Muffins?

When my sisters and I were growing up, we would always try to have muffins or pastries for breakfast. It was sooo much better than cereal! But whenever we did this, my mom would frown and say “Ugh! Why don’t you just have a slice of cake for breakfast? It’s probably the same amount of calories and fat as those muffins!” Little did mom know how carefully I was listening. The cupcake recipe I have for you today is one of my favorite breakfast foods (thanks, mom)! :)

Cupcakes have become stylish and adorable over the past several years. I truly enjoy going to little cupcake shops when I’m out and about. The assortment of brightly decorated, sweet smelling cupcakes feels almost like Disneyland! I carefully select the prettiest cupcake (or the one with the most chocolate) and admire it for just a moment. Then I unpeel the wrapper, open my mouth, and stop in confusion. How am I supposed to eat this thing? It’s too tall to just take a bite. I can’t start with the frosting because that’s the best part! And if I eat the cake first, I will be left with a big, goopy pile of frosting in my hands!

In response to this most dreadful conundrum, I decided to modify one of my favorite cupcake recipes (Magnolia’s Chocolate Cupcakes) so that the cupcakes would be half the size. Not bite-size, but half-size. With these cupcakes, you can open your mouth and take a bite of the cake AND the frosting at the same time, without making a huge mess. Now that’s my kind of cupcake!

HALF-SIZED CUPCAKES

Ingredients:
½ C. flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ stick of unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
¼ C. sugar
¼ C. brown sugar
1 egg
2oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
¼ C. buttermilk
¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 12-cup standard size muffin pan.
2. Combine the flour and soda into a small bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugars. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Then add the melted chocolate until completely combined.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk and vanilla. Alternate adding the dry mixture and the buttermilk mixture into the batter in three parts.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the 12-cupcake molds, filling each one about half full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when touched. Let cool completely.
6. Make a chocolate buttercream frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whip attachment, mix one stick of room-temperature butter with 3 T. cocoa powder and half a teaspoon vanilla. Gradually mix in 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk, whipping well for a light texture. Add more powdered sugar or milk to create your desired consistency.

Dinner for a hundred? No problem.

This week I created a dinner with a “mystery” theme for about 100 youth from church. The dinner was part of “Camp Clue” with a cast of eleven silly mystery characters who would be the basis for the theme meal. When creating this meal, I tried to do three things: 1) Incorporate the mystery characters into the meal; 2) Stay under budget at three dollars per person; and 3) Sneak veggies into the meal while using incredibly flavorful ingredients so that the teenagers would enjoy it!

It took 4 volunteers a little over two hours to prepare the meal, and 7 volunteers to efficiently plate the food in a timely manner. I was pretty happy with the food we actually cooked, and the feedback from both teenagers and adults was wonderful.

For this blog, I am going to write briefly about the items that we actually created and cooked ourselves. (For example, we used gross Costco rolls… If I had been more ambitious and had more time, I would have served homemade rolls, but not for a hundred people!)

Pasta: We cooked penne pasta and tossed it with plenty of parmesan and a homemade sauce – super simple combination of tomato sauce, salt, pepper, honey, and crushed red pepper flakes. We roasted fresh zucchini with chopped garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then we tossed the zucchini into the pasta. What a sneaky way for kids to eat their veggies! The garlic and oil from roasting also gave extra flavor to the pasta, and the smell was delicious!


Salad: We used a combination of romaine and spinach. As long as there was some romaine, most of the kids would eat all of the lettuce and would not even notice that they were eating spinach. Plus, we used plenty of parmesan cheese and splurged on Annie’s Green Goddess dressing (amazing). The salad was topped with cubed cherry tomatoes and had a couple of snack size carrots on the side.

Potatoes: At camp, kids usually get fed potatoes from a box (more expensive and less healthful than real mashed potatoes). Thankfully, there were enough volunteers willing to peel, chop, cook, and mash about 30 pounds of potatoes. When we mashed the potatoes, we used plenty of real butter, whipping cream, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme! We could have made more potatoes – many teenagers asked for seconds!

All in all, I think the dinner was a huge success (thanks to the volunteers who actually cooked and served the meal with me). I would happily do this occasionally for the church, but I will not be starting a catering company any time soon – haha!

Even Better than Cupcakes: Whoopie Pies

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while! I went on a little road trip through Whidbey Island (where I ate some exceptional food) and La Conner (where the food was surprisingly mediocre). I have also been put in charge of making a Mystery-Themed meal for about a hundred teenagers with a budget of 300 dollars. I’ll let you know how that goes later on this week!!

Meanwhile, I have a wonderful recipe to share with you today – Whoopie Pies. This is not my recipe. But it is so unbelievably good that I have to pass it along! Earlier this year, the New York Times published an article about Whoopie Pies, a decadent dessert usually associated with the northeast that is now making its way into upscale supermarkets and bakeries across the US. I suppose Whoopie Pies are a natural next step after the recent fascination with cupcakes! Whoopie Pies are sort of like an ice cream sandwich, but instead of ice cream smushed between two cookies, you have a light, egg-based buttercream piped between two gooey chocolate cakes.

It is nearly impossible to eat a whoopie pie and stay clean… this is the kind of dessert that you are supposed to get all over your fingers and mouth, just like a three-year-old! Absolutely no changes are necessary to make this original recipe perfect (except you might want to make the cakes smaller so you can eat more than one!).

WHOOPIE PIES

Ingredients for the Cakes:
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp.
1 C. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 C. flour
½ C. cocoa powder
1 C. buttermilk

Ingredients for Filling:
3 egg whites
¾ C. sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
¾ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt

Special Tools:
Instant-read thermometer
Double boiler (or a medium saucepan and a metal bowl that fits on top of the saucepan)
Heavy mixer with paddle attachment AND whisk attachment

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until light and creamy. In a small bowl, whisk together the baking soda, salt, flour, and cocoa. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in three parts, alternating with buttermilk and combining well after each addition.

2. Scoop out about 12 ¼-cup mounds of batter and place about 6 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, about 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.

3. The filling is fickle, and will work well IF you follow the directions exactly! Fill bottom of a double boiler (or medium saucepan) with an inch or two of water and bring to a boil over high heat. In the top half of a double boiler (or a metal bowl), combine egg whites and sugar. Place over simmering water and whisk just until sugar is dissolved and temperature reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

4. Using a whisk attachment on a stand mixer, whisk egg whites and sugar on high until they double in volume and become thick and shiny. Continue to whisk until cool. Reduce speed to medium and begin to add butter about 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the butter is incorporated. Add vanilla and salt. If mixture looks curdled (it never has for me), continue to whisk until it is smooth. Increase speed to high and whisk for 1 more minute. Use immediately or place in an airtight container and chill for up to 3 days, whisking again before using.

5. To assemble whoopie pies: Put filling into a large Ziploc bag and snip off the end creating a hole about ½ inch in diameter. Pipe out the filling onto the flat side of half of your cakes, starting at the edges and working your way to the middle. Top the filled half with another cake to sandwich the filling. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 3 months.

P.S. Giving credit where credit is due, here is the article from the New York Times about Whoopie Pies: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/dining/18whoop.html and the companion New York Times recipe for Whoopie Pies: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/dining/181wrex.html

It's Really So Easy!

Homemade pizza is one of my favorite meals to prepare. You can be so creative with the toppings you choose to use! Sometimes I use too many different types of cheese, and when I pull the pizza out of the oven, I’ll tell my sister, “Just kidding, we aren’t having pizza tonight… we’re having a cheese blob!” Maybe I subconsciously do this on purpose, because I like cheese so much!

You can change up the toppings to suit your tastebuds and the food you have on hand. If you want a more healthful pizza that doesn’t taste healthy, swap the tomato sauce for a cleverly pureed vegetable. For example, blanch some spinach and put it in the food processor with some olive oil, salt, & pepper, and you’ve got a sneakily healthful pizza sauce! Broccoli works well, too.

Anyway, this dough is surprisingly easy, and the results are always better than a store-bought pizza! I’ll admit, it does take a LONG time to make (probably around 3 hours altogether), but totally worth the wait! Often while I am waiting for the dough to rise, I will use that time to bake a batch of cookies or loaf bread to freeze for later.

SMOKED MOZZARELLA PIZZA
For the Dough:
1 tsp. active dry yeast
¼ tsp. sugar
½ C. warm water (100-120 degrees)
1 ½ C. flour
½ tsp. salt
Olive oil

1. In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water. It is very important that your water is between 100-120 degrees… if the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and your dough won’t rise. Let the yeast sugar water sit for about 5 minutes, or until it starts to foam and stink. Add the flour and salt. Mix until the dough comes together (you can do this by hand or in an electric mixer).

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for about five minutes. Put a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a bowl and coat the bowl with the olive oil. Then put the dough into the oiled bowl and cover it with a damp dishcloth. Put the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size (about 2 hours).


For the Sauce & Pizza:
½ C. tomato sauce
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
¼ C. chopped green onions
2 C. smoked mozzarella cheese, grated
1-2 C. fresh arugula

1. In a small bowl, combine the tomato sauce, garlic and honey. Then add the thyme, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Set the sauce aside. During this time, chop the green onions and grate the cheese.
2. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Roll the dough into a circle (or square or whatever) about 12 inches in diameter. Put the dough onto a pizza pan (or a big cookie sheet). Pour the sauce onto the pizza dough and spread it to cover the dough in a thin layer. Next sprinkle the chopped green onions on the dough, and then cover the pizza with the smoked mozzarella cheese.
3. Bake the dough in a preheated oven set to 475 degrees. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese has begun to brown and the crust looks toasty. Take the pizza out of the oven and sprinkle fresh arugula on top. Then put the pizza back into the oven for about one minute more. When the arugula has begun to wilt, the pizza is done. Yum!

Time for some chocolate!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES
These cake-like cookies are flavorful and very filling. They a great addition to any sack lunch! Inside each cookie is a chocolate disc. Add multiple chocolate discs to give them a fudge-y surprise center!

Ingredients:
½ C. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. coffee
4 oz. dark chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. fleur de sel
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 ¾ C. flour


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl: flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the milk and coffee, mix gently. Then add the chocolate and mix until completely combined. Add the vanilla and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.

Using a small melon scoop, put a melon-ball of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Place a chocolate disc on top and press it into the dough to flatten the cookie. Then scoop another melon-ball of dough on top of the chocolate disc. Use your hand to press the dough flat. Repeat this process with the remaining dough. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Sweet Summer Peaches

Well, I saw the movie Julie & Julia today. I thought it was visually delicious. But it made me hungry! As I raced home, my plan was to make quick carbonara pasta to satisfy the insane hunger brought on by that movie. My dinner plans changed when I entered the kitchen. The smell of sweet, ripe peaches filled the room, and I knew I would be having dessert for dinner (once again).

I decided to cook the peaches into a peach sauce with a little nutmeg and ginger, and use the sauce to top some shortbread biscuits. A perfect summer snack! The recipe is actually really easy, but wonderfully flavorful. If you don’t have peaches, you could try using another juicy fruit (any berry would work) and whatever spices compliment your fruit of choice! Also, here is a trick for peeling peaches that I learned recently: Boil a pot of water. Immerse your peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds. Then immediately take them out of the boiling water and put them in a bowl of cold water (add a little ice to the water to keep it cold). Peel the peaches in the cold water and the skin will almost fall right off!

SUMMER PEACH SHORTCAKE
Ingredients For the Shortcake:
1 ¾ C. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ C. milk
½ C. whipping cream

Ingredients For the Peach Sauce:
2 ripe peaches
¼ C. water
1/3 C. sugar
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
¼ tsp. fresh nutmeg
¼ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. potato starch flour


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a baking mat. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Then add the milk and whipping cream all at once. Mix together quickly with a fork until combined.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 1-2 minutes. Pat into a rectangle about 3x5 inches. Cut the dough once going down the middle of the rectangle length. Then cut the dough two times across the width, making a total of 6 squares. Place the squares on the prepared cookie sheet. Get a little melted butter and brush the tops generously with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 13 minutes, or until browned on top.
3. Meanwhile, peel and dice the peaches. Put the peaches, water, and sugars in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Add the nutmeg and ginger, simmer for 5 minutes. Then add the potato starch flour and simmer for a minute more.
4. Slice the shortcake in half. Put the peach sauce inside the shortcake and on top. If you make this recipe ahead (or eat leftovers), be sure to warm up the peach sauce before serving!
   

Too Much Zucchini!

Typically on these lazy days of August, gardeners have zucchini coming out of their ears and are eager to give it away! Home cooks are battling the heat outside and are searching for meals that don't take too much oven time. My recipe for Zucchini Orzo Pasta has gone through many revisions this summer, and my sister has tested every one. The pasta is tasty when it is cold, so you can take in your lunch or eat it on a picnic. I prefer it fresh, however, when the goat cheese is oozing creamy goodness and the smell of garlic surrounds the kitchen. I like to use a combination of green and yellow zucchini for some color variety.

ZUCCHINI ORZO

Ingredients:
4 zucchini, chopped into about ½ inch pieces
2 cloves garlic
2-3 Tbsp. evoo
Salt
Pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
½ package orzo pasta (about 1 1/3 cups)
Fresh thyme (or other herb)
1 C. fresh parmesan cheese, shredded
3 oz goat cheese (about half a package)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Chop zucchini and mince garlic. Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Make sure zucchini is coated with oil. Spread zucchini on prepared baking sheet and put in oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until zucchini is soft and beginning to look transparent.

2. While zucchini cooks, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add orzo and salt well; the orzo likes to stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir frequently, and cook at a gentle boil for about 7 minutes, or until al dente. Drain orzo and put in a large bowl. Coat orzo with a bit of evoo to keep from sticking.

3. Add fresh herbs (spinach works well, too). Then add 1 C. shredded parmesan cheese. Carefully dump the cooked zucchini into the bowl and mix with the orzo. Add salt to taste (about ½ tsp). Lastly, add the goat cheese by breaking it up into little chunks and sprinkling it on the pasta. Stir gently to melt the goat cheese.

Indulge

I have baked a lot of scones with beautiful berries all summer long. Most people like them with sweet blueberries or tart cranberries. I’d rather have scones with chocolate. If you are going to have a scone for breakfast, you are not trying to be healthy… so why not indulge with Chocolate Chunk Scones!?! The tang of the sour cream and mascarpone cheese is balanced by the rich, dark chocolate chunks. The combination of flavors makes these scones delicious, yet they still maintain a fluffy texture.

CHOCOLATE CHUNK SCONES

Ingredients
1 C. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1/3 C. sour cream
¼ C. mascarpone cheese
1/3 C. dark chocolate, chopped
Whipping cream
Sparkling sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, powder, soda, and salt. Pulse to combine. Then add the cubed butter (make sure it is COLD). Pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the chocolate chips, and toss to combine. Then add the sour cream and mascarpone cheese. Using a fork or your fingers, mix the dough just until it comes together. It is better to under-mix than over-mix.

3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a square, about ¾-inch thick. Cut a + in the square, dividing it into four smaller squares. Then cut each smaller square once diagonally to create 8 small triangles.

4. Transfer the scones to the prepared cookie sheet. Brush the top of each scone with whipping cream. Then sprinkle sparkling sugar on the tops of the scones. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

What is the best Chocolate Cake?

Several years ago, I spent a summer creating the best Chocolate Cake recipe. I must have baked dozens of cakes… friends and family were gracious enough to test out every one. At the end of the summer, I entered my cake in a baking competition at the Puyallup Fair. Although I didn’t win, my dad still made a point of going to look at my cake in the fair’s display case. :)

Since then, I have studied, practiced, and learned more about baking… specifically baking with chocolate (my favorite ingredient). The “best” recipe has transformed many times, and will probably continue to evolve as I discover more about baking! As of right now, this is my recipe for Chocolate Cake. I think it is divine! The cake itself is light, fluffy, and soft with an airy buttercream filling and a decadent chocolate cream cheese frosting. Remember, if you use quality ingredients, you will yield a quality cake!

Notes on Ingredients: I love valrhona chocolate… try for at least 60 or 70%. The coffee in the chocolate cake brings out the flavor of the chocolate. Same thing with the fleur de sel… salt helps you taste the chocolate, even in the frosting! Purchasing real fleur de sel is TOTALLY worth the cost. Whipping the egg whites and then folding them in the batter just before baking will help give your cake a lighter, fluffier texture. Remember to use real vanilla extract. I like Tahitian vanilla extract for frostings because you can really taste its fruity undertones.

CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients:
½ C. butter, room temperature
1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
4 eggs, separated
6 oz. good quality dark chocolate, melted and cooled
½ C. buttermilk
2 ¼ C. cake flour
¼ C. cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. fleur de sel (French sea salt)
½ C. coffee
½ C. water

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients: cake flour, cocoa powder, soda, powder, and salt. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans. Line each pan with parchment paper if possible.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and sugars. Add egg yolks, one at a time. (Set aside egg whites for later.) Next add the cooled chocolate, and then the buttermilk, slowly. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix until well combined.

Next combine the coffee and water. Add the liquids and the dry ingredients, alternately, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Transfer the cake batter to a large bowl and set aside. Wash and dry the bowl for your electric mixer. Switch to the wire whisk on your mixer. Put the egg whites in the bowl of the electric mixer and whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Get the cake batter and slowly fold in the egg whites, about a cup or so at a time, until combined.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly. Tap the pans to spread the mixture and fill any air pockets. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool cakes completely, then frost with Buttercream Filling and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (recipes to follow).


BUTTERCREAM FILLING

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. Tahitian vanilla extract
1/3 C. whipping cream
2 C. (more or less) powdered sugar
Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed, about one minute. Add the cocoa powder and mix until combined. Then add vanilla and whipping cream. Beat mixture, scraping down sides of bowl to incorporate. On medium-high speed, whip the mixture for one minute. Then add the powdered sugar. Beat for another minute (or more) until light and fluffy.


CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients:
1 – 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temperature
¼ C. unsalted butter (half a stick), room temperature
5 oz. good quality chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tsp. Tahitian vanilla extract
¼ tsp. fleur de sel (French sea salt)
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
3-4 C. powdered sugar
Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed at least one minute. Slowly add the chocolate, mixing well. Add the vanilla, salt, and cocoa powder and mix to combine. Add the powdered sugar about one cup at a time, beating for at least half a minute after each cup. Add enough powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency. This frosting is heavy, dense, and extremely rich.

Welcome!

My first posting! I wanted to start out with a recipe that is always a huge hit. This Banana Bread is moist, flavorful, and easy to bake. I personally do not like chunks of banana in my bread, so I beat the bananas together with the wet ingredients. I think that the muscavado sugar and the peach applesauce give the bread a little extra something! Eat the bread warm, with a nice big pat of butter on top :)

BANANA BREAD
Ingredients
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
½ C. butter, room temp or a bit warmer
½ C. brown sugar
¼ C. muscavado brown sugar
2 beaten eggs
2-3 mashed ripe bananas
½ C. peach applesauce

Directions
1. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, then butter the parchment paper, too. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add the bananas and the applesauce. Mix to combine.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Using a rubber spatula, mix until combined, but do not over-mix. Then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Dot the top of the batter with a little extra butter and sprinkle with some cinnamon.

5. Bake in the 350 degree oven for about 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack.


Modifications I have tried:
· You can use ¾ C. brown sugar if you don’t have muscavado sugar.
· Add fiber by substituting up to a half of the flour with oat flour or whole wheat flour.
· The more bananas, the better! (okay, within reason)
· Applesauce: any flavor that you have on hand will work fine. Or you could puree a very ripe peach or nectarine and add the puree instead!
· Try sprinkling some oats on top before you bake the bread. Or mix oats with brown sugar and cinnamon for a yummy topping.
· This bread freezes really well. You can bake a bunch of loaves around the holidays to give as gifts.