I just sat down after putting a loaf of banana bread in to cook, which can only mean one thing, that we bought and never touched a large bunch of bananas - again. So, to recap 1) We bought too many bananas. 2) My personal guilt at anything wasted requires that I do something with the tragically forlorn brown fruit decomposing on our counter. Hence, banana bread. Of course this loaf could be called the loaf that nearly wasn’t since I got all of the way down to the bottom of my recipe, gracefully, skillfully and confidently measuring each ingredient into my chipped Pyrex bowl when I went to refrigerator to retrieve the final key to my culinary salvage - an egg. An egg which I did not have. Of course. I knew in the back of my mind that there were plenty of eggs in my life so I didn’t give it another thought until opening the refrigerator, reaching for the egg carton and catching a suspicious glimpse of hot pink… yes there are many many eggs in my life - it just so happens that they’re all hard boiled and display a large range of colors, not one of which comes naturally to an egg. Fortunately our downstairs neighbor, Joanne, came to the rescue and the banana bread could proceed as planned. But I really didn’t start this post to rattle on about banana bread! I wanted to tell you about the BREAD bread that I made last week! I found a recipe on Apartment Therapy and though I wasn’t sure my bread rose properly or had been kneaded enough (I seem to have some sort of innate fear of over kneading bread - I must have heard somewhere, sometime that it was baaaad) and I didn’t have two large loaf pans so I made one large loaf and three mini loaves and guessed a bit on the cooking times… but it turned out pretty darn tasty! For plain bread that is! BD kept asking me what type of bread I was making and I kept repeating, just bread. And finally when he took a bite he said - oh - it’s just bread! Yup… What You Need Water - 3 cups total Yeast - 1 teaspoon total Flour - 6-7 cups total Salt - 1 Tablespoon Equipment Large Mixing Bowl Spoon Baking Pans (optional) Baking Stone (optional) Instructions 1. Make a Poolish (Optional) - In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of yeast, and 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix it for a few minutes, until it forms an elastic and smooth batter. Cover and let this sit for 2-10 hours. It will look like the picture above when it’s ready. Skip this step if you don’t have time, but it’s an easy way to add flavor and good texture to your bread. It’s also a little insurance to make sure the dough rises! If you skip it, just add the ingredients into the main dough. 2. Measure the Water - Measure 2 1/2 cups (or 20 ounces) of water into a large bowl. 3. Measure the Yeast - Add a half teaspoon of yeast to the water. 4. Let the yeast sit in the water until it has dissolved. Don’t be concerned if you don’t see any bubbles at this point. 5. Add the Poolish - If you made a poolish, add it into the bowl now. 6. Stir the water, yeast, and poolish together until the poolish is dissolved into the water. You might see some bubbles and foam, but don’t be concerned if you don’t. 7. Add the Flour Add 1 cup of flour. 8. Stir until a thick batter is formed. 9. Stir in 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Salt can inhibit the growth of the yeast, so it’s good to add a cup of flour first to give the yeast a little protection and then add the salt. 10. Add 4 more cups of flour and stir until the dough is too stiff to stir anymore. It’s ok if there’s still some loose flour left in the bowl that hasn’t been incorporated into the batter. 11. At this point the dough will look shaggy and be very sticky. 12. Knead the Dough Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and scrape your dough on top. Begin kneading, adding up to another cup of flour if the dough is very sticky. (We’ll have a video of how to knead bread dough for you later today!) 13. The dough is finished kneading and ready to rise when it springs back when you poke it, if it holds its shape in your hands, or if you can form a “window pane” without it breaking 14. Put it in a large oiled bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours. 15. Shape the Loaves - Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and turn the risen dough out on top. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape the dough into round loaves or sandwich loaves as desired. Let these loaves rise until they’ve nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. (We’ll also have videos of this process up later today.) 16. Bake the Loaves - Preheat the oven to 450°. Quickly cut a few slashes 1/2-inch deep into the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife and place them in the oven. Round loaves should be baked on a baking stone while sandwich loaves in baking tins can be baked right on the oven rack. 17. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the loaves have developed some color on the crust, sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, and the inside registers 190° on an instant-read thermometer. Let the loaves cool before slicing into them. It was a chewier bread but I like that so I didn’t find it to be a problem. And it was so cheap! The bread lasted us a week and a half (at a high consumption rate) and probably only cost 50 cents for the entire batch. Perhaps cheaper! I need another loaf pan and then I’ll just make a batch and freeze it, which is what I do with our store bought bread anyway. Next I want to try this whole wheat bread recipe and then this whole wheat loaf with oats and pecans and this no-knead recipe that seems to be making it’s way around the blogosphere! And now I’ve pulled my banana bread out of the oven and it’s off to bed… lately my blogging has kept me from my proper bedtime with my main squeeze and while I love curling up to his warm self and having the bed pre-heated for me I much prefer some awake cuddling and a little end of the day pillow talk (or rather whispers with Wyatt sleeping 3 ft away). So off I go!

I just sat down after putting a loaf of banana bread in to cook, which can only mean one thing, that we bought and never touched a large bunch of bananas - again.

So, to recap 1) We bought too many bananas. 2) My personal guilt at anything wasted requires that I do something with the tragically forlorn brown fruit decomposing on our counter. Hence, banana bread. Of course this loaf could be called the loaf that nearly wasn’t since I got all of the way down to the bottom of my recipe, gracefully, skillfully and confidently measuring each ingredient into my chipped Pyrex bowl when I went to refrigerator to retrieve the final key to my culinary salvage - an egg. An egg which I did not have. Of course.

I knew in the back of my mind that there were plenty of eggs in my life so I didn’t give it another thought until opening the refrigerator, reaching for the egg carton and catching a suspicious glimpse of hot pink… yes there are many many eggs in my life - it just so happens that they’re all hard boiled and display a large range of colors, not one of which comes naturally to an egg. Fortunately our downstairs neighbor, Joanne, came to the rescue and the banana bread could proceed as planned.

But I really didn’t start this post to rattle on about banana bread! I wanted to tell you about the BREAD bread that I made last week! I found a recipe on Apartment Therapy and though I wasn’t sure my bread rose properly or had been kneaded enough (I seem to have some sort of innate fear of over kneading bread - I must have heard somewhere, sometime that it was baaaad) and I didn’t have two large loaf pans so I made one large loaf and three mini loaves and guessed a bit on the cooking times… but it turned out pretty darn tasty! For plain bread that is! BD kept asking me what type of bread I was making and I kept repeating, just bread. And finally when he took a bite he said - oh - it’s just bread! Yup…

What You Need

Water - 3 cups total
Yeast - 1 teaspoon total
Flour - 6-7 cups total
Salt - 1 Tablespoon

Equipment

Large Mixing Bowl
Spoon
Baking Pans (optional)
Baking Stone (optional)

Instructions

1. Make a Poolish (Optional) - In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of yeast, and 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix it for a few minutes, until it forms an elastic and smooth batter. Cover and let this sit for 2-10 hours. It will look like the picture above when it’s ready.

Skip this step if you don’t have time, but it’s an easy way to add flavor and good texture to your bread. It’s also a little insurance to make sure the dough rises! If you skip it, just add the ingredients into the main dough.

2. Measure the Water - Measure 2 1/2 cups (or 20 ounces) of water into a large bowl.

3. Measure the Yeast - Add a half teaspoon of yeast to the water.

4. Let the yeast sit in the water until it has dissolved. Don’t be concerned if you don’t see any bubbles at this point.

5. Add the Poolish - If you made a poolish, add it into the bowl now.

6. Stir the water, yeast, and poolish together until the poolish is dissolved into the water. You might see some bubbles and foam, but don’t be concerned if you don’t.

7. Add the Flour Add 1 cup of flour.

8. Stir until a thick batter is formed.

9. Stir in 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Salt can inhibit the growth of the yeast, so it’s good to add a cup of flour first to give the yeast a little protection and then add the salt.

10. Add 4 more cups of flour and stir until the dough is too stiff to stir anymore. It’s ok if there’s still some loose flour left in the bowl that hasn’t been incorporated into the batter.

11. At this point the dough will look shaggy and be very sticky.

12. Knead the Dough Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and scrape your dough on top. Begin kneading, adding up to another cup of flour if the dough is very sticky. (We’ll have a video of how to knead bread dough for you later today!)

13. The dough is finished kneading and ready to rise when it springs back when you poke it, if it holds its shape in your hands, or if you can form a “window pane” without it breaking

14. Put it in a large oiled bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.

15. Shape the Loaves - Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and turn the risen dough out on top. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape the dough into round loaves or sandwich loaves as desired. Let these loaves rise until they’ve nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. (We’ll also have videos of this process up later today.)

16. Bake the Loaves - Preheat the oven to 450°. Quickly cut a few slashes 1/2-inch deep into the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife and place them in the oven. Round loaves should be baked on a baking stone while sandwich loaves in baking tins can be baked right on the oven rack.

17. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the loaves have developed some color on the crust, sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, and the inside registers 190° on an instant-read thermometer. Let the loaves cool before slicing into them.

It was a chewier bread but I like that so I didn’t find it to be a problem. And it was so cheap! The bread lasted us a week and a half (at a high consumption rate) and probably only cost 50 cents for the entire batch. Perhaps cheaper! I need another loaf pan and then I’ll just make a batch and freeze it, which is what I do with our store bought bread anyway.

Next I want to try this whole wheat bread recipe and then this whole wheat loaf with oats and pecans and this no-knead recipe that seems to be making it’s way around the blogosphere!

And now I’ve pulled my banana bread out of the oven and it’s off to bed… lately my blogging has kept me from my proper bedtime with my main squeeze and while I love curling up to his warm self and having the bed pre-heated for me I much prefer some awake cuddling and a little end of the day pillow talk (or rather whispers with Wyatt sleeping 3 ft away). So off I go!