The Best Banana Bread

My family has been making this particular banana bread recipe "forever"...or since before I was born, definitely. ;) I used to not like bananas much, but I liked this banana bread pretty well. Since getting married, moving into my own house, buying bananas for two and rarely making it through that whole bunch before they go from "Perfect greenish-yellow" to "Ewwww," I have been making lots of banana bread.
My mother just said to me "You know, you CAN throw them out."
But I have been known to be frugal, on occasion. So why not use a ton of other ingredients just to save these bananas!? :)
You will thank me.

The BEST Banana Bread
slightly adapted from McCall's Cookbook, 1963


2 ½ c flour
3 t baking powder
½ t salt
1 c sugar
¼ c soft butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
1 c mashed ripe bananas, about 3 small bananas (I just use 3 bananas, I don't measure them.)
2 T grated orange peel (Optional!)
½ c milk (skim, whole, doesn't matter.)
(Optional: 1 c chopped walnuts)
(Optional: Top with sugar, or even better, Vanilla Sugar!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan.


1. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat sugar, butter and egg until smooth.
3. Add bananas, orange peel and milk. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix just until
smooth.
5. Pour into pan, sprinkle granulated sugar on top and bake one hour. It is a large loaf, so
test the middle to make sure it cooked through. (I have been having a particularly difficult time getting the loaf to cook through to perfection without making an unsightly dark, thick outer crust (the sides that touch the pan. My answer to THIS is to always make muffins! 6 giant or 12 small, and don't cook the full time. Estimate. I usually start with about 20 minutes for the big muffins and then test the middles and see how they are doing.)
6. Let cool in pan 10 minutes and remove.
7. Enjoy! It is the best!

Magic in the Middles!

I fell in love with the idea of making these cookies as soon as I read the King Arthur Flour Baking Banter Blog post on them! I don't know how I stumbled on it, but I'm so glad I did! Not much description necessary...they are absolute perfection!

The only issue I had was that there was extra chocolate dough. What I did was "eyeballed" a half batch of peanut butter filling and just continued making cookies until I was just about out of both of them.

I didn't have the small scoop for the PB filling, (the smallest Pampered Chef scoop is approx. 1 Tablespoon) so I just divided the whole lot of filling into an even number (I think I did 24), rolled them into balls and then refrigerated them while I made the chocolate dough. By the time all of the cookies were "assembled", the peanut butter filling had softened enough to press under the glass. We finished them pretty quickly, and they were delicious with milk! Husband liked heating his up in the microwave for a few seconds to replicate the "fresh from the oven" taste! :)

Magic in the Middles

King Arthur Flour

Chocolate Dough

• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for dredging)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Peanut butter filling

• 3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth, your choice
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. 2. To make the dough: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. 3. In another medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the egg, beating to combine, then 4. stir in the dry ingredients, blending well. 5. To make the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and confectioners sugar until smooth. 6. With floured hands or a teaspoon scoop, roll the filling into 26 one-inch balls. 7. To shape the cookies: Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough (a lump about the size of a walnut), make an indentation in the center with your finger and place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation. 8. Bring the cookie dough up and over the filling, pressing the edges together cover the center; 9. roll the cookie in the palms of your hand to smooth it out. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. 10. Roll each rounded cookie in granulated sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. 11. Grease the bottom of a drinking glass, and use it to flatten each cookie to about 1/2-inch thick. 12. Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they're set and you can smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.