As I was going through some of the pictures that we had taken in the DR and thought about this "bananas" song, I thought to myself - let me write about bananas!
Although bananas are not my most favorite fruit (I love mango, papaya, peaches & pineapple), bananas are definitely the fruit I eat the most. Banana has become my best friend in the fruit group for the last 4 years since I started to eat breakfast to boost my energy up in the morning. Honestly, I don't like to eat in the morning and sometimes I literally don't have time to eat, but I realize if I don't eat in the morning, my stomach will growl by 10:30am, sometimes it's extremely embarrassing especially when I am in the middle of a meeting. I often caught myself saying: "opps, I am hungry!" So to save myself from embarrassment, I started to eat a banana every morning because who knows this bright yellow fruit is so filling! Some may say bananas contain a lot of carb, but if you look at the overall nutritional values, they are one of the most healthiest fruit there is and only between 110 to 130 calories depending on the size.
Sometimes I do get tired eating bananas by itself, in that case, I will do the followings -
1. Pair it up with some peanut butter
2. Make a sandwich with peanut butter
3. Bananas in cereal with soy milk or almond milk
Since I love to bake, I also incorporate bananas into my baked goods. I must say, I make a really mean banana bread even my students and colleagues will say so. I have mastered my banana bread recipe and have all the ingredients memorized, I even started to try to make my own recipe. During Christmas times, I used to bake up the storm and make over 200 cookies to pass out, and since I moved off campus and started to pay for utilities, I need to find a better, more energy efficient and cost effective recipe for my Christmas treats. In an hour, I can bake up to 14 small loaves and 4 huge loaves. Banana bread has officially taken over the cookies.
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| Snickerdoodles, Lemon Raspberry Thumbprint & Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball (2010) |
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| Half of the Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (2011) |
On a regular basis, I bake Dark Chocolate Chip banana bread at least twice a month for my office and they will be gone in no time. Last week during Easter break, I baked two loaves for my co-workers and my partner. Between Rob and I, we can only eat so much and we had left over banana bread. I didn't want to waste the bread and decided to make french toast out of them after my Saturday morning Zumba Class. I cannot imagine how much calories are in those toasts, but man...they are so good! With two slices of bacon, they are breakfast of champion!
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| Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread French Toast with Thick Cut Bacon! |
My Awesome Banana Bread Recipe -
1 Cup of Sugar
1 Stick of Butter (room temp)
3 Ripe Bananas
2 Eggs
1 Tablespoon of Honey or 3 Tablespoon of Milk (may use half & half)
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
2 Cups of Flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
1 Cup of Dark Chocolate Chips (Optional)
Preheat oven at 350 degree and grease two large loaf pans.
Mix Butter and Sugar with an electric beater until smooth. Add bananas and 2 eggs and mix until everything incorporated. Add vanilla and milk OR honey, flour and baking soda and mix it into a batter. Fold in Dark Chocolate Chips (You may also use walnuts). Pour into 2 pans evenly. Bake it for 45 minutes. Set aside and cool down.
(To bake in multiple small loaf pans, baking time reduces to 30 minutes)
(To bake in multiple small loaf pans, baking time reduces to 30 minutes)
Enjoy this golden deliciousness!
GO BANANAS!!!!
**I will be making individual banana foster cakes soon...stay tuned! Here is a picture that I saw online, this recipe looks heavenly to me!
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