Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Rotten bananas...toss or salvage? I choose salvage...

I had 9 almost completely rotten bananas. We did have to toss one very rotten banana due to some organism taking up space on the exterior peel. I was tempted to design an at home science experiment, but my daughter was too grossed out. C'est la vie.

In thinking about what to bake with said 9 nearly rotten bananas, I thought something tropical might be good given that the majority of my friends and I had to cancel our spring break plans. Perhaps a fleeting moment of being transported via tastebuds to some place tropical might make us feel better. I think it worked. I have one friend who's dairy free, so thought i'd finally research recipes that are DF.  Alas, Wholesome Dish came to the rescue! https://www.thewholesomedish.com/tropical-banana-bread/ 

Their recipe for Tropical Banana Bread was the perfect fit. We made 3 loaves of Tropical banana bread - one with regular flour, the other 2 with King Arthur's GF flour. If hadn't told you that they were different from one another, I'm not sure you would have been able to tell! The only 'slight' distinction was that the GF loaf was a tad bit lighter in comparison (i.e. not as dense). But again, no one else seemed to notice!


Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour or GF flour
1 cup flaked coconut
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 medium overripe bananas about 1 cup mashed
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup coconut oil melted and slightly cooled


Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the bananas to a large bowl. Use the back of a fork or a potato masher to mash the bananas. Add the pineapple (with juice), sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined. Add the coconut oil to the bananas. Whisk until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over mix. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 1 hour. When a toothpick is inserted into the center of the bread, it should come out moist but with no raw batter on it.
Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Anyone else stress baking? GF triple chocolate chunk cookies!!

Gosh, it's been a while since i've posted anything to my baking blog! I hadn't been baking really in 2017/2018 because I went GF and truth be told, I didn't care for many GF options. Thanks to King Arthur's GF flour, however, that's mostly changed!

Due to unfortunate times, we find ourselves stuck in the house with only so much to do. At least we have a creative outlet to cook and bake! For this, I'm grateful. While many breads and coffee cakes are almost unnoticeably changed when I use GF flour, I haven't found this to be true of cookies. I decided recently to have a go at a cookie recipe using King Arthur's GF flour. The result? Honestly? Not AS good as my typical cookie recipe using non GF flour, but they were chewy and incredibly tasty and I would make them again! However, full disclosure, I didn't have the patience to chill the dough as stated. I just made it and baked it. When I make these again, i'll be sure to refrigerate the dough ahead of time and see if the texture is improved.

Here's the recipe courtesy of Bon Appetite: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/gluten-free-triple-chocolate-chunk-cookie


INGREDIENTS

· 2 cups gluten-free flour
· ½ teaspoon baking soda
· ¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted cultured butter, melted, cooled but not congealed
· ¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar
· ½ cup organic sugar
· 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· 2 large eggs
· 1 large egg yolk
· 1¼ cups milk chocolate chunks or discs
· 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks or discs
· ½ cup white chocolate chunks or discs
· Flaky sea salt


RECIPE PREPARATION


· Whisk flour and baking soda in a medium bowl until combined. Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat butter, brown sugar, organic sugar, vanilla, and kosher salt in a large bowl 30 seconds. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition before adding the next. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until mixture is thick and resembles buttercream frosting, 6–8 minutes.


· Reduce speed to low (if using a stand mixer, switch to paddle attachment) and beat in dry ingredients, occasionally scraping bottom and sides of bowl, until incorporated. Add chocolate and beat until incorporated. Cover and chill at least 8 hours and up to 12.


· Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Let dough come to room temperature. Using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop, portion out dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing at least 2" apart (these are large cookies; you probably won’t fit more than 8 per sheet). Flatten cookies slightly with your palm and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are just barely golden on the edges but still soft and pale in the center (they will seem undercooked, but they will harden as they sit), 10–15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.


· Do Ahead: Dough can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before portioning. Cookies can be baked 2 days ahead; store airtight at room temperature.