One of the biggest reasons people don’t cook at home is the clean-up afterwards, which can often be painful when you’ve got bedtime routines, homework to help with and laundry to put away.  This recipe solves that in its own small way.  I’ve condensed the recipe to make one loaf of banana bread and all of the ingredients are combined in one bowl – not the moist ingredients in one and the dry in the other.   It’s an easy recipe, which yields a very moist loaf and is easily adaptable to your own tastes. 

One Bowl Banana-Nut Bread

4 ripe bananas

3 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease loaf pan.  Mash banana in large mixing bowl.  Blend melted butter with banana.  Add next 8 ingredients until blended.  Add pecans and chocolate chips just until incorporated.  Poor batter into prepared loaf pan. 

Bake on middle rack in preheated oven for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean.  Let cool on wire rack before slicing.  A serrated knife works well.

Yield: 1 loaf

Kitchen Note:  Omit nuts and/or chocolate chips if desired.  The pecans can easily be replaced by walnuts.

I sent my kids off to their first day of school last week.  It’s always exciting to see them dressed in their “first day of school outfits,” with new backpacks and lunch boxes and ready to start a new school year.  Besides the usual photos before sending them off, I also wanted to commemorate the day with a special after-school treat.

Ready to go into the oven.

Incorporating the sugars into the chocolate-butter mixture.

Brownies are always welcome, especially a homemade recipe that is easy to prepare and always yields good results.  Using Baker’s unsweetened chocolate and their tried and true “One Bowl Brownies,” I set to work. 

Baker’s One Bowl Brownies Recipe

Ingredients

4 squares Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate

3/4 cup butter

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (I used 3/4 cup chopped walnuts)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends extending over sides of pan.  Grease foil.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on high for 2 minutes.* Stir to combine until chocolate is melted.  Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Add flour and nuts; mix well and spread into prepared pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with “fudgy crumbs.”  Cool in pan on wire rack.

Yield: 24 servings

*Stirring at 30-second intervals will help reduce the possibility of over-cooking the butter-chocolate mixture in the microwave.

As a Southern Living Magazine subscriber I found their recipe in the August 2009 issue for “The Best Brownies.”  It turns out that their test kitchen recipe is a variation on the much-loved “One Bowl Brownies” by Baker’s Chocolate.   The difference in the recipe is that the Southern Living recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  They were also baked in an 8-inch baking pan.  I made one batch from the Baker’s recipe and two batches of the variation from Southern Living.  I found the latter to be more of a chocolate confection, almost candy-like and less “cakey.”  Both were excellent so why not try a bowl of each and let your family decide.

It’s 35 degrees out and raining in Apex, NC (my new stomping grounds).  To say it’s not stopped raining in a couple of days is a pretty fair description, especially for one who leans toward exaggeration.  My husband took the boys to the movies this afternoon and I thought it might be nice to do some baking.  When it’s 35 degrees and hailing/raining there aren’t a lot of options (laundry can wait).

Combining butter, oil, sugars and vanilla.

 This recipe will give you that wonderful apple pie smell without having to make your own pie crust (definately a plus).  And, bonus, quick breads are great to whip on on a weekend and then take a slice with you to work or as an after-school snack with a glass of milk.  There are so many options out there but I love apples and this one has become a new favorite.

The ruling is in:  my husband loved it (he ate a third of one loaf)  and the boys said it smelled good, but they weren’t interested in eating it.  It took only minutes to put together and about 15 minutes to gather up the ingredients and measure them out.  If you have a rainy day this could be just the ticket.

Apple-Walnut Bread

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

4 cups peeled firm apples (such as Granny Smith), medium chop

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease one large and one small loaf pan.  Set aside.

Whisk together first five ingredients in medium-sized mixing bowl.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix oil and butter on medium-low speed.  Add eggs one at a time until just incorporated.  Add vanilla.  Slowly add dry ingredients.   On “stir” setting, add walnuts and apples.

Evenly distribute batter between large and small loaf pans.  Bake small loaf pan for 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted into center comes out clean.  Bake large loaf pan for 1 hour 5 minutes or until cake tester inserted into center comes out clean.