Something Sweet

Just like Winnie the Pooh, I occasionally will have the urge for something a little sweet, a respite from the obsessive kimchi eating and my usual salty indulgences (I accidentally bought a TWENTY DOLLAR cheese this weekend!!! And NO, it didn't look like this, although for Twenty Big Ones it sure as shootin' should have.  It was more along the lines of something like this, yikes!  At least it is reassuringly stinky, so I sort of feel like I got my money's worth. And it did come in a cute little box - Caveat Emptor, People!)  I digress.

So after buying deliberately geriatric bananas the other day and letting them age a few days more, I ambitiously called a friend to come on over for a Banana Bread tea party Sunday and please bring her children.  When I say ambitious, it's only because I've never made the Banana Bread recipe I was thinking of, didn't have all the ingredients and ended up changing my whole plan because I was a bit behind schedule due to the garage door opener fiasco (see last post) but luckily, with a little dark chocolate everything turned out just swell.  Because we didn't have 55 minutes to wait for the BBread to bake, my clever friend suggested we make dear little muffins - a stroke of genius!  Because if a little nugget of steaming chocolate-chip-banana-bread doesn't do it for you, then I don't know what will.  

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

(banana bread recipe adapted from 'Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts')

1 C all-purpose whole wheat flour (Yes!  Don't gag, they were good!  Whole Wheat!! They always say sift it, but I just fluff it with a fork a little and it seems to be just fine)

1/2 C all-purpose white flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt (I forgot this, and they still tasted great - so if you've got to limit the salt, no biggie)

About 3 ripe bananas (I only had two and had to substitute a jar of baby food bananas for the 3rd banana)

1/4 C buttermilk or (I used) same amount plain yogurt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 C light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg (I always use free range, organic eggs and it makes a HUGE difference)

Semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used about 3/4 bag Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a muffin tin with butter and sprinkle wheat germ in the bottom to prevent sticking and using paper muffin cups that will just be thrown away. Take two bowls out and use one to combine flours, salt, and baking powder, mix well with a fork. 

In the second bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Somewhat inconsistent and lumpy is ok, you don't want something that resembles a puree.  Stir in the buttermilk or yogurt and set aside.  Maida Heatter said to cream the butter with the sugar in a separate bowl (the mixer) and then add to the bananas, but I was chatting with my friend and forgot and just threw the butter in chunks in with the bananas and then whisked away with my fork as best I could.  There was no noticeable negative consequence as far as I could tell).  Then I added the sugar and the vanilla and egg.  Once that was mixed well, I slowly mixed the flour mixture in with the banana mixture and added chocolate chips, a bit at a time. 

Spoon the chocolate chip banana bread batter into the prepared muffin tin until the batter almost reaches the top of the tin, but not quite.  Bake in 350 F oven for 30 minutes?  35?  I can't quite remember.  I was chatting with my friend, making tea, running outside to periodically  respond to kiddie questions and requests to "Look at THIS!!!" etc.  This is parent-of-young-child baking, so don't go expecting any hard science here.  If you wonder when they're really done, just check for a lovely golden brown color on the top, a divine aroma tenderly making its way out of the oven and if you poke a skewer in, it should come out clean with no batter clinging to it.

Enjoy!!!  Best with tea and/or warmed milk in tea cups for the children - good friends (Oma came to join us too!) and fresh air on a screened-in porch if it's not too cold/hot. Oh, and a nice little bouquet of flowers (thank you, Brooke!)