Banana Pumpkin Bread

This is a lovely Fall take on the banana bread recipe I posted earlier this year. I used a homemade pumpkin purée, the recipe for which I've included in case you have a spare pumpkin or two. You can very easily freeze any extra purée in small batches and thaw out and use as needed. If you prefer the canned variety, that works just as well.

The original banana bread recipe called for 1/2 cup of oil. In this recipe, the pumpkin purée replaces the oil. As a result, there wasn't a popping pumpkin flavor, but rather a minor change in consistency. Maybe, if you want more pumpkin flavor, try scaling back the bananas and add more pumpkin purée 1/4 cup at a time. This recipe is worth experimenting with in multiple batches because the odds of each loaf turning out delicious are pretty high. 

Taste in Bloom Original Photo

For the Pumpkin Purée:
For the pumpkin purée: Difficulty: Easy; Makes: 4 (1/2 cup) servings depending on the size of pumpkins; Total time: 50 mins
Barely adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 2 small to medium sized pumpkins

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the top off of each pumpkin and cut them in half. Scoop out the seeds and pulp and slice the pumpkins into quarters. Place the pumpkin quarters on a baking sheet. I put them skin-side down, but they can go on the pan any way you'd like. 

Roast pumpkin pieces in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the flesh is fork tender.

Once the pumpkins are cool enough to handle, gently peel back the skin with a knife and slice the roasted pumpkin into chunks.

Purée the pumpkin, a few chunks at a time, with a blender or food processor, adding water as needed to make the purée smooth. If storing the pumpkin purée, measure out 1/2 - 1 cup at a time into freezer bags and store in the freezer.

Taste in Bloom Original Photo

For the Banana Pumpkin Bread:
For the bread: Difficulty: Easy; Serves: 1 loaf; Total time: 2 hrs 20 mins
Adapted from *Food Network: Flour's Famous Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup pumpkin purée (fresh or canned)
• 3 1/2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 Tbsp crème fraiche or sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped (opt. - I left them out)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 

Whisk together sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Stir in pumpkin purée and add mashed bananas, crème fraiche or sour cream and vanilla extract.

Pour into lined loaf pan and bake about 45-50 minutes, up to one hour. Test doneness with a toothpick or wooden skewer. Poke the middle of the loaf and make sure no batter sticks to the toothpick or skewer.

Best Banana Bread

My husband loves baked treats and frequently asks me to bake some. Once in a while, I give in and bake a batch of cookies or banana bread. I pack some of it up and send them off to work with him. His coworkers often ask me for recipes. Now, I can send them here.

Like most bakers, I have tried many different recipes for banana bread before finding one that absolutely blew my mind. I asked my husband to taste the bit of dough left in the bowl. He doesn't usually like to, but when he did, he was floored. We knew this was going to be good. The best way to describe this banana bread is to say that the crust, which comes out a nice shade of brown is on the crispy side. But the center is so soft and almost doughy without being underdone. Take great care not to eat too much (this is difficult) because it is very sweet. I might even suggest adjusting the sugar with each new batch. Though my husband would disagree as he thinks it's perfect the way it is. To each his own.

Taste in Bloom Original Photo

Difficulty: Easy; Serves: 1 loaf; Total time: 2 hrs 20 mins

Barely adapted from *Food Network: Flour's Famous Banana Bread
Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 1/2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 Tbsp crème fraiche or sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped (opt. - I left them out)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 

Whisk together sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil and add mashed bananas, crème fraiche or sour cream and vanilla extract.

Pour into lined loaf pan and bake about 45-50 minutes, up to one hour.

Applesauce

When my 6-month old first started solids, the first fruit I tried feeding him was applesauce. After a few days, he was displaying some symptoms of sensitivity to this first fruit and it was suggested to me that it might be too acidic for his tender age. While I was pregnant, I had found a recipe for applesauce that calls for a few strips of lemon zest. While alone, lemons tend to be acidic, they are also thought to be alkalizing or neutralizing when we consume them. So in testing this theory, I am making my own applesauce for my son to try in hopes he won't be as sensitive to the acidity in apples. I will post those results in a few days. Even still, for anybody, this applesauce is deliciously sweet and the hint of cinnamon is perfect. Adding any more would be too much. Keep it nice and chunky right out of the pot or purée in small batches in the blender to make it nice and smooth. Refrigerate and use within a couple of days or freeze for up to several months.

Taste in Bloom Original Photo

Difficulty: Easy; Serves: 8; Prep time: 10 mins + 30 mins cook time (+5 mins if using blender)

Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients

• 4 lbs apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used Empire; Rome and Cortland work well too)
• 1 1/2 strips of lemon zest, peeled from the lemon with a vegetable peeler or paring knife
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes or until apples are tender or easily pierced with a fork. When tender, mash apples a bit with the back of a fork. Remove lemon zest and cinnamon stick if you used it. Allow to cool a bit.

If you like your applesauce really smooth, purée in a blender in small batches for a few seconds each.

Edit: My son still showed sensitivity even to homemade applesauce, though it was a little less severe. I used this same recipe but changed the apples for D'anjou pears and simmered for about 45 minutes until they were very tender. He loves it!

Fried Apples

In 2011, my husband and I decided to try the Paleo Diet. We both enjoyed it and had great success. At first, it seemed like a daunting task to plan even one meal that is entirely grain-, dairy- and even sugar-free. But we stuck to it and did a lot of research online and used cookbooks specializing in the diet and managed to follow it, strictly, for six weeks. We both felt great as a result. Our friends still ask us for information on how they can get started.

Though we are no longer following the diet strictly, we still use many of the same recipes we found. I will be posting them here as I continue my food blog journey. This recipe is one of our all time favorites. It's incredibly simple and tasty. You can adjust the flavor of this dish from tart to sweet by the apples you choose to use. We started with Granny Smith, then started mixing in some Cortland apples. Now we are using Empire apples and it tastes like a dessert. Fried Apples are especially good as a side dish for pork. Each year, I make them as a side dish for Thanksgiving.

Taste in Bloom Original Photo

Difficulty: Easy; Serves: 4; Prep time: 10 minutes + approximately 18 minutes cooking time

Adapted from Paleo Diet Lifestyle
Ingredients:

• 4 apples (Granny Smith if you like tart; Empire, Cortland, Braeburn or Jonathan if you prefer sweet)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Preparation:

Peel, core and slice apples evenly into 1/4" slices. 

Melt butter over medium heat in a large pan or skillet with a lid. Once the butter is hot, add the apple slices to the bottom of the pan, careful not to overlap the slices.

Sprinkle apples with cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover and reduce heat to low. Allow to cook for 18-20 minutes or until the apples are tender enough that a fork slides through them easily.

Soft Sugar Cookies

For Christmas, I wanted to give cookie tins full of homemade cookies as gifts. Specifically, the softest sugar cookies I could make. These cookies were delicious and they fit the bill in buttery softness. More flour was used to make the dough more workable than was recommended in the recipe. The cookies were still very moist.

Taste in Bloom Original Photo

Difficulty: Easy; Makes: 4 Dozen; Prep time: 10 minutes + about 10 minutes baking time

Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients (4 dozen):

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup butter, slightly softened
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract (pref. almond)
• 6 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine sour cream, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla or almond extract. Beat for 2-3 minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix well. The dough will still be wet and sticky. Refrigerate the dough for 25 minutes or until firm.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and using cookie cutters, cut out cookies. Add a small amount of flour as needed to make the dough more workable. Keep in mind that the less flour you use, the softer the cookies will be.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are light golden brown. They should appear underdone. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan. If you prefer a harder, crunchier texture, bake them a minute or two longer.