whole wheat banana peanut butter bread

Fact: I love bananas.  Put that sucker on a piece of toast, in a protein shake, in candy...I'm happy.  Make bread out of it?  Make carbohydrates even more appealing?  Send it this way, please.

I may very well secretly hope that my bananas go bad so that I can turn them into banana bread.  Or at least, I wish this upon everyone else's.  Mine never make it that long in my house.  So when I found four overly-ripe bananas in my sister's house this week, I had a mission.  

I've been coveting certain recipes for a long time, and this was one.  Flour has some amazing recipes, and even though I hardly followed this, I definitely used it as a guide.  Of course I added a million more spices.  And of course I only used whole wheat flour.  But I also threw in some peanut butter.

What?  Peanut butter?

Come on, don't tell me you don't throw some of this on your banana slices and eat it standing up in your kitchen.

I think I've said too much.

Whole Wheat Banana Peanut Butter Bread

adapted slightly from Chef Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery

1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup canola oil
4 large very ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons vanilla yogurt (I used Dannon Light & Fit)

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for crumble:
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1. Set oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two loaf pans and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, spices, and salt. 
3. In a large bowl, beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Gently pour in oil and mix until well combined. 
4. In a small bowl, mix together peanut butter, mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla and stir well to incorporate. Add to sugar and egg mixture.
5. Fold in dry ingredients, stirring in swift strokes ensuring not to overmix. Pour batter evenly among two pans.
6. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, and oats. Slowly pour in butter and stir until mixture has the consistency of wet sand. Sprinkle evenly over two loaves.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, until toothpick comes out clean from middle.

simple french bread

Have I ever mentioned before how my friends and I love to bake?  Well, allow me to reiterate.  During my senior year at college, I had the pleasure of coming home to freshly baked bread approximately once every two weeks.  It was our love of baking fate that brought Katie, Amanda, and I together.  Although we were masters of beer pong and stayed up until 4 AM on school nights watching Sex and the City more times than we can ever begin to count, our inner housewives creeped out every once in a while.  Or at least Amanda's.

So naturally, when Amanda came to visit, I ordered her to bake bread while she stayed with me.  Now that we're super responsible and mature adults, we got up at 7 AM to bake this bread.  (The real reason why we were up that early is totally negates my previous statement beside the point, but that's neither here nor there.)  Regardless, it was finally my time to learn Amanda's secrets.  I was astounded at how simple this bread comes together.  Believe me, if it turned out like this on my first try, I think you can do it, too.  And you should.  It makes incredible toast, awesome with a sharp cheddar and soft pinot (we had a Garnacha), or even just good for snacking.  This bread is simple, yet intriguing. Delicate, yet dense.  Salty, yet...well, not too salty.  Crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  Perfect.  Yes, that's the word.

Simple French Bread

adapted from Amanda Jelinek

1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 cups flour (approximately)

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 3/4 cup of the warm water by adding water slowly and letting sit for 5 minutes. Once bubbles have formed, slowly and gently stir to ensure that yeast is completely dissolved.
2. In a large bowl, combine other 3/4 cup of water, sugar, salt, and olive oil.  Add dissolved yeast mixture slowly and stir just to combine.
3. Begin adding flour, one cup at a time, mixing each cup with 3-4 long strokes.  Once dough is sticky yet somewhat crumbly, cover with a towel and let dough rest.
4. After ten minutes, knead dough with damp hands by gently folding dough into itself 2-3 times.  
5. Repeat four more times for a total of five kneads.  By the fifth and final knead, dough should be about double the size of what it was at the beginning.  If it isn't, let it rest for 10 more minutes.
6. Form dough into boule, demi-loaf, or baguettes according to your preference, but careful not to over-handle.  Score bread with a sharp knife in four diagonal cuts (baguette), criss-cross (boule), or one longitudinal cut (demi loaf).  
7. Lightly sprinkle sea salt over tops of bread.  
8. Place on olive-oil lined baking sheets and bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is golden brown and sounds hollow when struck with the blunt edge of a knife.
9. Remove from oven and, if desired, rub with cold butter, allowing butter to melt over warm bread.