Zuchinni Banana Bread

Servings: 1 loaf
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour

Comments
You can also add 1 teaspoon of ginger or nutmeg for a spicy twist to the zucchini banana recipe, and 1 cup of raisins for a more interesting blend.

Ingredients
3 over-ripe medium (1 cup) bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh zucchini, grated
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas, oil, egg, vanilla, and mix.
3. Add in sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and mix.
4. Add flour, and mix until just combined.
5. Stir in zucchini.
6. Pour mixture into a greased and floured baking pan.
7. Bake for 1 hour (check for doneness at 50 minutes) or until a wooden pick comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool before removing from pan

SWEET BANANA BREAD

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 & ¼ cups brown sugar, divided
2 eggs
⅓ cup Greek yogurt (I use banana flavor, but plain or vanilla would work)
2 cups mashed banana (about 3-4 small/medium bananas)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon, divided
Pinch nutmeg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 box instant vanilla or banana pudding mix (just the dry mix.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally spray a 9" loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the butter and ¾ cup of the brown sugar until blended. Whisk in the eggs, yogurt, banana and vanilla until combined. Lastly, add 1 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, baking soda, salt and pudding mix, careful not to overmix. Your batter may be thick and clumpy, but that's okay. Overmixing will lead to tough bread!
Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining brown sugar and cinnamon with a spoon until combined. Liberally sprinkle the mixture on top of the banana bread, patting it down if necessary.
Bake the bread for 30 minutes, then tent the bread with foil (which helps prevent the crust from burning and top + sides from cooking too quickly) very loosely. Continue baking for an additional 30 minutes.
Allow the bread to cool completely before cutting into slices.

Bread

Sweet Cornbread

Serves: 8

Ingredients

6 tbsp. melted butter, divided use
1 ¼ cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)
1 ¼ cups cornmeal (not cornmeal mix)
⅓ cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
¾ cup buttermilk or soured milk
1 can creamed corn

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Using one tablespoon melted butter, butter a large 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
Place flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Place eggs, remaining 5 tbsp. melted butter, buttermilk and creamed corn in a separate bowl and stir to combine.
Combine dry mixture and wet ingredients with a whisk to combine.
Pour the batter into prepared cast-iron skillet.
Bake about 30 minutes until top of cornbread is firm.
Allow cornbread to cool 10 minutes before cutting.
Cut in pie shapes or squares, as desired.

Notes

For Buttermilk: To sour regular milk, pour milk into a measuring cup. Add about a tablespoon of vinegar. Allow milk to sit out on the counter about 5 minutes before using.

Healthey Pumkin Bread

Ingredients

1 cup raw almond flour (not blanched)*
½ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ tablespoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
4 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup organic, unrefined coconut oil, at room temperature
1 cup organic pumpkin puree
20 drops liquid stevia (plain or vanilla flavored)
½ cup raw walnut halve.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 5” x 9” loaf pan with coconut oil.
In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom. Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat eggs and coconut oil together, using an electric mixer, for 3-4 minutes. Add the pumpkin and stevia and continue beating for another minute.
Gradually beat in the almond flour mixture until combined.
Pour into prepared loaf pan and top with walnut halves.
*If you cannot find raw almond flour, you can easily make your own. Place raw almonds in a blender or food processor and pulse until you get a flour-like consistency. Don’t run the blender continuously or you’ll end up with almond butter!

ClassicFrench Bread

Serves: 2 loaves

INGREDIENTS

4 cups all purpose flour
2 (.25 oz) packages active dry yeast (be sure it's fresh!)
1 tsp table salt
1 TB white sugar
1¾ cups water at 110F
1 TB cornmeal
1 egg white, beaten with 1 TB water

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Hand-whisk until well combined. Gradually stir in the warm water (test the temperature with thermometer to ensure it's right around 110F) and stir until a dough forms. The consistency should be roughly like play-dough, not too sticky but easily forms into a smooth/elastic dough ball. Add 1 TB water at a time as needed to gain that consistency.
On a lightly floured surface, knead dough 10 minutes. Shape into a ball, place into a well-oiled bowl, and turn dough to lightly coat in oil. Cover bowl tightly with cling wrap and place bowl in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, 30-60 minutes.
Gently punch dough down and divide in half. Place on lightly floured surface, cover, and let sit 10 minutes. Roll each half into approx. 14x9 inch rectangle. Roll rectangle up lengthwise, moisten edges with water, and pinch tightly to seal. Taper and seal ends.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle evenly with cornmeal. Place loaves seam side down on sheet. Cut diagonal slits into loves on top, about ¼ inch deep. Brush loaves with egg/water mixture. Gently lay cling wrap over loaves and place in a draft-free warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F with rack on lower middle position. Place a large pan of water on lowest rack.
Bake 15 minutes. Brush again with egg/water mixture. Bake another 10 minutes or until bread looks done. Serve warm.

drd