brown sugar banana bread

Bananas are one of the best fruits to have around, especially in my family's household. We all like them at varying levels of ripeness, and once they're too ripe for all of us, we love banana bread. 

Our go-to recipe comes from the infamous box, but since you know, I live on my own now, I thought it would be fun to try a new recipe. Since these cupcakes were so tasty, I whipped up the batter and poured it into a loaf tin. The result was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Brown Sugar Banana Bread

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. In a bowl (I had my stand mixer on medium), whisk egg and add brown sugar, mixing until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add sour cream and melted butter and mix. Stir in dry ingredients, then add mashed bananas and mix until batter comes together. Fold in walnuts, if you're adding them. Pour batter into a greased loaf tin and bake 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool a bit before slicing.

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honey whole wheat bread

I don't think you have any idea how much I absolutely adore bread. Considering how much I hated sandwiches as a kid, this may shock some people. I guess at this point I'm making up for lost time, or something like that.

I will eat white sandwich bread if I have to, but given the choice I'll go for a heartier multi-grain or whole wheat option. Or better yet, sourdough (mmmm). Someday, I'll attempt that one.

When a recipe for classic white sandwich bread popped up in my Reader, I knew I'd have to try my hand at it. During my year in London I practically lived off of the honey wheat tin loaves, so I decided to try and replicate the dense, slightly-but-not-too-sweet loaf.

The dough came together allllmost as fast as the whole wheat pizza dough, with some extra time for rising. I also had to let it rise longer than the directions said to, because the whole wheat flour is a bit heavier than the white flour. Worth it!

Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread (Adapted from TheKitchn's recipe linked above)


2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup milk (any type will do - I used skim and it worked well)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons honey
4 1/2-5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

If using a stand mixer, start with the paddle attachment. Pour water into your mixer bowl and sprinkle yeast on top. Let it sit for about five minutes to let the yeast activate. Melt butter, and mix together with milk, sugar, salt and honey in a separate bowl or mixing cup. Add it to the mixer bowl. Stir 1 cup of flour into the bowl and mix until you have a lumpy, very loose, mixture. Switch to the dough hook. Add 3 1/2 cups of flour (saving the rest in case the dough is too sticky while kneading) to the bowl and mix on low until the dough is smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. If the dough really sticks to the bowl while kneading, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it's not sticky anymore. When the time is up, form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Let it rise for an hour in a warm place.

Once the hour is up, turn the dough onto the counter, separate into two pieces, form each into a ball and let rest for about 10 minutes. Grease two loaf tins and form each ball into a loaf (I followed these directions). Let the dough rise for another hour or so, or until it at least clears the top of the tin. Halfway through this stage, preheat your oven to 425*. When the dough has risen enough, turn the oven down to 375* and bake the loaves for 30-35 minutes (mine were in exactly 30). Turn the loaves onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely before slicing. Trust me on this one. If you slice too early you'll bring the bread with you as you move the knife down (think slicing soft cheese).