I can't believe I'm posting a recipe that involves baking. It's been way too hot to bake in the last few weeks, but a few weeks ago I did heat up the house to make this banana bread again. I originally made it on Easter for both of our family gatherings, and at both it disappeared in a flash. JR was disappointed it went so quickly and has been requesting it ever since. He describes it as "the best banana bread ever" and "bangin' good".

Whenever I buy bananas we never eat them all so I always have some on hand in the freezer. I freeze them as is with the peels on. When I need them in a recipe, I take them out and place them in a bowl of cold water until they begin to soften (generally less than 10 minutes). Peel, mash, and now they are ready to use!

Enjoy!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup flour
• 3⁄4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 cup oil
• 1⁄3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease loaf pan and set aside.

Combine flour and baking soda in a small bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add dry mixture and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.

Source: Adapted from Saveur and What's Cooking Chicago via Carries Sweet Life

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

Using a mixer, blend butter, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add salt, flour and baking soda and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix.

Add bananas, almond and vanilla extracts, and mix until combined.

Add chocolate chips and stir by hand until combined.

Evenly distribute batter among the 12 muffin cups. Place in oven and bake 25-30 minutes.

Source: Slightly adapted from Cooking with Ivy Drive

Elly from Elly Says Opa! is hosting a blog event called Eat to the Beat for her 5-year blog anniversary.  I was intrigued when I heard about this event and decided to jump in and join.

I've had Train on repeat for a while now, I'm obsessed, so it what pretty much a no-brainer when I heard "Breakfast in Bed" come on the day following her announcement.  I always eat breakfast, but JR does not.  However, every once in a while we'll have a weekend breakfast and this weekend makes the second one in a row (it has nothing to do with the fact that I pretty much forced this on him)!

I was browsing through this Brunch cookbook when I came across Waffles with Caramelized Bananas.  Not only did they look delicious, use ingredients I always have on hand and they make for a special treat, just like a Breakfast in Bed should be!

Head on over to the round-up and wish Elly a Happy 5 years!  

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp superfine sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 3 large ripe bananas, peeled and sliced

Preheat waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the egg yolks, milk and butter.  Whisk until smooth.

Using a mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold egg whites into batter.

Fill your waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions.  Cook until browned to your liking (mine has a light that goes off when it's done, but then I let it go a little longer to brown more).

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan over medium heat, heat butter, maple syrup and pecans until butter is melted and mixture begins to turn golden brown.  Remove pan from heat and add bananas.  Stir to coat bananas well.

Spoon banana pecan syrup over waffles and enjoy!

This made 4 6-inch round waffles (16 quarters), serves 4-6.

I have a lot of cookbooks, and it seems that each one has just a few recipes that I like.  Weekend Cook was a gift to me and a lot of the recipes use cream of x soup, etc. so there aren't many recipes in it I use, however this one banana bread uses whole foods and is great!  Not only does it use minimal ingredients, it's quick to mix up and is a nice change from the average banana bread.

The first time I made this I thought there was no way the end result would be a bread.  I had everything mixed in the bowl and it seemed soupy, but I thought I followed the directions so I hoped for the best.  I was amazed at the result, a real bread!  After a few times making this I realized the recipe calls for ground rolled oats, but I've never ground them and I like the texture so I've kept them whole.

There have been times when I've only had 2 bananas, so I added a chopped apple or peach and it's worked beautifully.  I've also made this with and without pecans.  I prefer with pecans, but without works too (like today).

You'll want to keep a close eye on this toward the end of the baking time because the edges get dark very quickly.  I think this is due to the honey, however, dark edges don't stop me from enjoying it.

Here is what you'll need:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 3 bananas, chopped
• 1 cup pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.  Pour mix into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely before slicing.  Serves 10.

Source: I was not able to find a link to this cookbook online.  It is a collection of recipes contributed by individuals and was a fundraiser in support of local home economics programs.  This recipe is credited to Kay Atkeison, Brookland H.S., Brookland, AR.