Banana Bread French Toast

Remember this?

And how I told you to stick around because I'd do something fun with it?

Well...voila!

Banana. Bread. French. Toast.

I have to confess...half the reason I made the bread was to turn it into French Toast after seeing Jessica's recipe.  I was a woman obsessed!  The whole wheat blueberry banana goodness was left virtually untouched (except for a teeny tiny bit that I tasted by itself) for two days after I baked it because I was saving it for its higher purpose.

And oh.my.Lord.

The next time you're having a craving for an over-the-top breakfast, make this.  Plus, if you use the blueberry oat banana bread, you'll be packing yourself with tons of fiber and fruit at the same time!  I don't want to think about the overall calorie count in that plate...especially since I ate it all...but hey, that's what exercise is for!  Just keep thinking about all that whole-wheat-fruit-and-protein goodness while you're at Zumba ;)

Banana Bread French Toast
Source: barely adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:
6 slices banana bread (such as this)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk or heavy cream (I used soy milk)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
butter for the pan

Directions:
Slice the banana bread to your desired thickness (we went super thick, but you can be as conservative as you want).  In a wide bowl, combine the eggs, milk or cream, and cinnamon, whisking until smooth.  Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and brush with butter.  Soak each piece of bread for about 30 seconds per side, then transfer to the heated griddle.  Cook for about two or three minutes on each side until golden and a bit crispy on the outside, then transfer to an oven-safe plate in the oven, warmed to 150-200˚ to keep the French toast warm as you finish the rest of the slices.  Serve with toppings of choice - I recommend sliced bananas and pure maple syrup, but seriously?  Go crazy.  And most importantly, ENJOY!

Blueberry Oat Banana Bread

The wedding is coming up SO SOON!!

We're talking less than two months now.  And I couldn't be more excited to finally call Jon my husband!

Of course, this means that I have less than two months to get everything done, which is a bit intimidating.  Now don't get me wrong - we're almost there!  But those last few things that remain unfinished are killers.  Like...planning the ceremony with my pastor.  And doing premarital counseling.  And making sure I have someone to do my hair.  And seating charts...oh Lord, seating charts...

SO FUN.


I also have to get dress alterations done because (feel free to hate me for this next part) I lost too much weight for the wedding gown I ordered!  I focused on eating right and toning up for shows and auditions, and in the process I dropped a dress size - woohoo!  So when I went to what I hoped would be my final gown fitting, I discovered it needed to be taken in quite a bit.  What complicates this even more?  The gown is in Virginia...and I'm in Buffalo.  So I have to fly back home in April to make sure everything's perfect.  An added expense and an added stress, but worth it!

And everything will get done!  It will.  Eventually.

Oy.


Two months till the wedding also means that I am down to my last two months to bake with bananas whenever I want, since the future husband is allergic to them.  I'm not going to give them up - uh, I kinda live off of them - but I will have to be very careful about when and where I eat and bake with them.

One day, I just wanted banana bread, a craving that was spurred by the three very ripe bananas I had sitting on the counter.  I was blog browsing, found this recipe on The Picky Eater, realized that I had every necessary ingredient on hand, got SUPER excited, and made it!  After I made the kitchen smell incredible and tortured myself by waiting till the next day to taste it, I was very happy that I gave into my craving!

This banana bread is about as guiltless as banana bread can get.  It's loaded with nutty whole wheat flour, hearty rolled oats, and tons of fruit in the form of banana puree and blueberries.  It also happens to be delicious.  I will recommend that you err on the side of too much mashed banana, though - I think I'd increase the amount I used for the future just for added flavor.  But if you're in the mood for banana bread that won't kill your calorie count for the day, bake this one up - you won't be disappointed!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Banana Bread
Source: The Picky Eater

Ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk (I used buttermilk powder and water)
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe banana - about 2-3 medium bananas (I say aim for 3)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚F with a rack positioned in the middle.  Coat a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray and lightly flour.  Or use Baker's Joy and do it all at once! 
Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, mashed banana, brown sugar, and oil in a large bowl until uniform and smooth.    In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Gently fold in the blueberries.
Transfer the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing out the top.  Bake for approximately one hour, until browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan to the rack to cool the rest of the way.  Enjoy!


**And stay tuned - I had fun with this bread that I'll share soon :)

Good Ol' Independence Day. And scones!

So...Happy Independence Day!  Belated.  Whoops.

It's become a bit of a family tradition to spend the weekend of the Fourth out at our vacation home in West Virginia, and let me tell you...this place is beautiful.  It's the house I wish I could take everywhere in the country with me.  Heck, I'd plant this place in the middle of New York City!

The logs would be a mite incongruous with the rest of the city's architecture, but it would be worth it.










The kitchen's gorgeous too, and perfect for photos...I miss that kitchen already...

This time around, the company included my parents, myself, and my brother Rob and his new wife Colleen.  It took me about two weeks to narrow down dessert options, but based on the weather, people's tastes, and with the help of the best cookbook ever, I came up with a solution eventually.

Rob and Colleen love strawberry shortcake, and Rob has a killer recipe for it (which I may beg off of him and post in the future), but I decided to try it with a twist.
A patriotic twist, naturally.

The base I chose for the shortcakes was a strawberry white chocolate scone.  I made one tiny change to a recipe from Alice's Tea Cup, my favorite restaurant / bakery in New York, so I expected that they would be delicious.

Good gracious, was that ever a good choice.

Even without the toppings, the scones were incredible!  Flaky but not at all dry, buttery to boot, and chock full of bits of tart strawberry and sweet white chocolate, these made the kitchen smell amazing and made me do my happy dance.
But we had to gild the lily, so we split them in half and filled them with mascerated strawberries and blueberries and whipped cream.

[Disgraceful secret: The grocery store was out of heavy cream so we cheated and used the stuff from a can.  For goodness' sake, whip your own, preferably with some sugar and vanilla.  But the canned stuff was a viable enough solution.  Particularly the extra-creamy...guilty pleasure in a can.]

The best part?  Totally versatile.  Swap out the white chocolate for milk or semisweet chocolate chips, ditch the blueberries for a more classic shortcake, use raspberries instead of strawberries...anything goes!  And anything would be divine.

White Chocolate Strawberry Scones
Source: barely adapted from Alice's Tea Cup by Haley and Lauren Fox
Yield: 10-12 scones
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups hulled and quartered strawberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips (brand of your preference - I used Toll House)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I used low fat)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream (for brushing)
1/4 cup sugar (for sprinkling)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425˚F.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Using two knives, a pastry blender, or extremely clean fingertips, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.  Add the strawberries and white chocolate chips and mix till they are evenly distributed throughout the dry mixture.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour the buttermilk and vanilla into the well.  Combine until all the dry mixture is wet - do not knead!
Turn the mixture out onto a well-floured surface and gather the dough together, sprinkling some flour over the top.  Gently pat the dough to make a rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Using a dough cutter or a sharp knife, cut out wedges measuring about 3 1/2 - 4 inches and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet.  If necessary, gather any remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones - just don't knead too much.  Brush the tops of the scones liberally with heavy cream and then sprinkle with sugar.
Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

To serve shortcake-style, allow scones to cool for approximately 10 minutes.  While they cool, mix together approximately 8oz sliced strawberries, 3/4 pint of blueberries, and 1/3 cup of granulated sugar together in a bowl and allow to mascerate.  In a chilled bowl using a mixer with chilled beaters, whip 1 pint of heavy cream with 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract to stiff peaks.  Once scones are sufficiently cool, slice in half lengthwise and place two halves on a plate.  Scoop a healthy amount of berries onto the bottom half, top with whipped cream, and top with the top half of the scone.  Enjoy!