Banana Bread

My daughter isn't bad, or intentionally not listening or making me crazy. She's like a puppy; she needs a job or else she's going to terrorize the house. I love that she jumps excitedly off the couch because it's "her turn" to use the vacuum; that she's eager to help with the laundry, reveling in the satisfaction of the spin. I know the days are limited that housework is yet another adventure in her day, and I do want to encourage that desire to be a helpful and useful person.

Do you know an even more fun job than cleaning the house though? (Everything!) Baking! And for some reason, it's one of the few messy activities that don't make my fussy side silently scream. The messier the better when it comes to baking. Flour-covered clothes are battle scars worn with pride. Batter-splattered walls are just part of the experience. Baking is methodical and precise with a margin for creativity and critical thinking, it insists you get your hands dirty, and gives you something wonderful to show for it in the end. It's kind of my perfect thing.

So when I see a bunch of bananas in my fruit bowl turning brown, and my daughter seems like she needs a job to do, it must be baking day! Simply Recipes says this banana bread has been their most popular recipe for over a decade. It's a perfect project for a kid helper too. It's one bowl, no electric mixer. We made it on the floor.

She smashed the bananas with a potato masher while I prepared the other ingredients. She stirred in the butter and salt, then delicately and expertly sprinkled the baking soda across the top of the batter. The entire 1/2 cup of brown sugar unfortunately went on the floor NEXT to the bowl. Meh, learning experiences, right? Plus, cleaning up the sugar turned out to be a very happy surprise, as she licked her sugar coated hand. We just put it all back in the cup and repeated that step, in the bowl this time.

She poured in the beaten egg and mixed it with the vanilla. We tried out the measuring cups again with the flour and had (a little) better success. Can't say there isn't some flour off the floor in that bowl  too though! (If you're ever at my house and squeamish about eating food off the floor, you should ask if Lena helped.)

We smelled and named all the spices before adding them and then I made sure everything was well mixed. We tasted the batter (yum) and poured it in the pan. And then she backed waaaaay up while Mommy put it in the oven.

She did such a great job on her first real helping-from-start-to-finish cooking project. Baking is great for learning all sorts of things: where food comes from, what kinds of things - like the oven - are just for grown-ups, hand-eye coordination, combining flavors, following instructions, cleaning up, and of course, being silly and having fun!

A 13 year-old I know looked at me like I was speaking Russian when I quizzed her on 1/2 minus 1/4, so also, yeah, measuring cups are awesome for those basic math skills that may or may not be getting taught in our schools.
         

For our project, I used 3 and a half (smaller) very ripe bananas, because that is what was sitting on my counter. I'm not sure whether the original recipe is calling for salted or unsalted butter but I used unsalted so just a pinch of salt seemed a little sparse. I poured some in my hand, probably closer to 1/8 tsp. I went with the lower end of the sugar measurement spectrum, but used light brown sugar for extra character. I don't think it needs to be sweeter. I also added a few shakes of cinnamon and cardamom, and some freshly grated nutmeg, plus a handful of chopped pecans. It is fall, after all. I tested it at 50 min in the oven and it was still a bit under, so I left it in for the full hour. I probably should have split the difference, but with some cream cheese on top and a cup of coffee, you won't hear me complaining. It's delicious.

3-4 small-medium very ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp high quality vanilla extract, such as Simply Organic Madagascar Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 c chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 325F and butter a loaf pan.

Peel bananas and mash into a large bowl. Stir in melted butter.

Stir in baking soda and salt. Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir in flour and spices until well blended. Mix in pecans.

Spoon batter into pan. Bake 55 min or until top is slightly browned and tester inserted into center comes out clean.

Waiting is hard but it's a great time to clean up (and lick the bowl)!

Remove from oven and cool. Turn out onto board. Slice and serve.

Lena's taking her one nap for the week and my coffee is ready. Shoot! I'm hungry.