By Recommendation - Martha Stewart's Brilliant Banana Bread

 

 

This was the recipe I meant to blog for 'Cooking Like A Star' before I had my head turned by the idea of Martha Stewart vanilla cupcakes, but how nice it is to take part in this blog hop twice, so here it is, a highly recommended recipe for banana bread which I must say, is really, really lovely.

 

I asked my dear friends over at the Barefoot Contessa forum for a recommendation for a Martha Stewart recipe, knowing that I was wanting to take part in this month's hop. Well, they're mostly American after all, and they're going to have forgotten more stuff about Martha Stewart than I actually know, so when a great majority of the Contessas suggested this recipe, I knew that it was a winner. Once I had some distinctly icky looking bananas in the fruit bowl (my perfect eating banana is canary yellow, medium sized, good curve, not one speck of black on the skin - anything else is icky in my book) I set to work.

 

This is a very easy, satisfying recipe to make, and the result is a lovely moist, sweet, nutty loaf that is made for a cup of tea and a sit down. And maybe you could add a good book to that arrangement. It was also enjoyed by Lola and Finn (and Phill), so it's highly likely that this will become one for my ever increasing repertoire of things to rustle up from what's lying around in the cupboard and the fruit bowl.

 

 

 

Cook Like A Star is a blog hop which I like to take part in. It is run by Zoe at Bake for Happy Kids, plus Baby Sumo at Eat Your Heart Out and Riceball at Riceball Eats. I find some blog hops very scary and far too regimental for someone as ill disciplined and louche as myself, but this is an occasional commitment, and a wonderful opportunity to try recipes you ordinarily might not do so. I love taking part.

 

I hope that you will visit some of the other wonderful recipes on the hop and maybe even visit Martha Stewart's website for much more cooking and baking inspiration. And maybe you might try this recipe...

 

Banana (and Walnut) Loaf, taken from MarthaStewart.com

 

Ingredients:

 

 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 2 teaspoons baking powder

 3/4 teaspoon salt

 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 1 1/4 cups sugar

 3 large eggs

 3 cups mashed medium very ripe bananas (about 6)

 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

 

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch (2-quart) loaf pan; set aside.

 

 

 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

 

 

 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

 

 

 

With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of banana; mix until just combined. Stir in walnuts, if desired, by hand.

 

 

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 60 to 70 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

 

 

If your loaf looks brown on top before the inside is done cooking, tent it loosely with aluminium foil (so the top is protected yet steam can escape) for the remainder of the cooking time.