Banana Apple Bread

I love Banana Bread and decided it might be good with the addition of a beautiful Honeycrisp Apple and some toasted Walnuts.  It was a cold winter afternoon when I came up with this recipe, and it was delicious warm out of the oven with butter!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups Organic Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I used Saigon Cinnamon)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tablespoons water (if needed for moisture)
2 large bananas (mashed)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large apple (peeled, cored, chopped) and microwaved for 1 minute to par cook
1 cup of toasted Walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons flax seed

Directions:

Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and white sugar and flax seeds

Blend in eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla

Stir in banana, apples and nuts

Pour batter into greased loaf pan

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until toothpick test
comes out clean.

Funeral Potato's Dunkin Style

I was having brunch for Thanksgiving and remembered a potato dish my Brothers Wife made us which I found out was called Funeral Potatoes.  The recipe was pretty basic, and my husband had to add his touches to make it even more amazing.

2 packages frozen hash brown potatoes (Southern Style)
1 16 oz container sour cream (we used low fat)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup butter melted
1 tsp salt
1 tbl seasoning salt (Greek seasoning)
2 tbl chicken bouillon (the kind in a jar)
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 cups shredded cheese (we used cheddar jack)
1 cup Parmesan
2 cups corn flakes mixed with more melted butter.

Put the potatoes in a colander and let them dry/drain overnight in the fridge

Combine sour cream, soup and butter in a bowl mix well.  Add both cheeses and seasonings, then finally the potatoes, mix well.  Place into a 9X13 pan, heavily greased.

Crush your corn flakes and mix with more melted butter and add garlic salt, mix well

Start oven at 400

Cook at 400 for 20 minutes, then get your cereal mixture and carefully spoon on top

Reduce heat to 350 and cook an additional 45 to 60 minutes longer until the top is crispy and browned

Blueberry Banana Bread

I had two really ripe bananas and a bunch of blueberries to get rid of and I thought why not make some bread!  I found a few recipes, added some things and subtracted some ingredients and came up with what I think is a really nice solid recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries (I doubled the blueberries)
zest of 1 lemon
sugar in the raw (for sprinkling on top before baking)


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until well combined.

Add 1 egg and allow to blend into the butter mixture before adding the second egg along with vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Beat mashed bananas thoroughly into the mixture.

Add flour mixture in small increments while beating until just combined into a thick batter.

Fold blueberries into the batter; pour into prepared loaf pan.

Sprinkle with Sugar In The Raw

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 65 minutes.   It took mine a full hour to cook.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire
rack.

*this was enough batter for 1 regular loaf pan*
**next time I will add toasted pecans**