Monday, October 29, 2012

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

At the end of the week, we sometimes find ourselves with a banana or two left on the bunch that are too mushy to eat.  I used to throw these away, until I found out that you could throw a whole banana in the freezer and then later use it for baking.  Then, when you are ready to bake, just thaw the banana on the counter for a couple hours, or microwave it for a minute. No waste!

Don't toss me!  Freeze me and make me into yummy breads and muffins!!!

Now that I am eating with so many restrictions, I rarely bake anymore.  It's not that fun to make something that you can't enjoy or even taste test to make sure it's edible.  But, I still will occasionally bake for Dave, and make some extra for each of us to share with our co-workers.  

When I am making food that I cannot eat, I tend to stick to recipes that have been in my family for years.  Recipes that I grew up making with my mom and grandma.  I know they will turn out great every time without even tasting it! Although I now use as many all-natural and/or organic ingredients as possible in every recipe I make, this can me made with non-organic ingredients as well.   I love making this because I get to bring out my pink Kitchen Aid stand mixer!!!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread



1 2/3 c. organic sugar
2/3 c. organic, non-hydrogenated shortening
2 large organic eggs, pastured if available 
1 tsp. organic vanilla
4 overripe bananas, mashed
2 1/2 c. organic unbleached white flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. organic cinnamon
2/3 c. organic buttermilk
1 10 oz bag organic chocolate chips


Cream together sugar, shortening, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix in bananas.  Add flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and stir until just combined.  Then mix in buttermilk and chocolate chips.  

Spoon batter into 2 greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350* for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool and remove from the pan.  Store in a covered container for a day or two on the counter, or longer in the fridge or freezer.

Can also be baked as muffins for 20-25 minutes.  I used my mini loaf pan from Pampered Chef and it took about 50 minutes to bake.  One recipe was enough batter to make 5 mini loaves.    







  



10 comments:

  1. What a great tip! I never even thought about freezing bananas that were mushy! I've thrown away so many!! :(
    This bread sounds great! I think my little one would love it!!

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  2. I just did the same thing with my bananas this week! Popped 'em in the freezer and saved them for making goodies later....Great idea :) Thanks for sharing on Munchin on Mondays Link. Have a great week...hope you didn't blow away in the storm :(

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! No storm for us, I'm in Northern California. Our bad storms aren't usually until January and February!

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  3. Thank you for sharing with See Ya In the Gumbo this week. I like the cinnamon in this bread. And the chocolate chips (of course!).

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  4. I immediately started salivating once I saw that chocolate chip banana bread! Thank you for sharing!!!!

    Found you via the Me + the Moon's Friday blog hop!

    Vanessa

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  5. That looks delish! Thanks for linking up to the Keep Calm and Link Up! Hope to see you back next week!

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  6. Hi Mellissa,
    Your Chocolate Chip Banana Bread looks delicious, we will love it. Have a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  7. My kids purposely let the bananas get brown just so they can have banana bread! Thank you for sharing at All my Bloggy Friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what you share this week! :)

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  8. You can also use your frozen bananas in smoothies. You can peel them frozen and put them right in the blender. I add them to my green smoothies often.

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