Banana Bread

I LOOOVE Banana Bread! Some people bake banana bread when they have old bananas they'd rather not throw away. I save bananas so I have nice old ripe ones to bake with. I've tried a few different recipes and tweak them until I get nice results. Here's how I'm doing it nowadays.

Banana Bread Recipe

INGREDIENTS

2 - 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter / 80 g smält smör
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup) / 2 dl socker
1 - 2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla / vaniljsocker
1 teaspoon baking soda / bikarbonat
Pinch of salt / 1 krm salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour / 3,6 dl mjöl

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots / 1 dl hackad torkad aprikos

1/2 cup chopped pecan / 1 dl hackad pekannöt

METHOD

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Add dried fruit or nuts (optional). Pour mixture into a buttered loaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes. If you stick a fork or something into your bread to see if it's done, it should come out slightly sticky. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve. Spread a nice thick layer of butter on each slice and serve with a glass of milk.

From Simply Recipes

Kladdkaka 2012

It's high time to update my recipe!

Kladdkaka
Ingredienser
100 g smör/margarin
2 1/2 dl strösocker
2 ägg
1 1/2 dl vetemjöl
3 msk kakao
2 tsk vaniljsocker
75 g grovhackad mörk choklad (alt 1 dl torkad aprikos, craisins, valnöt osv)
margarin & grahamsmjöl till formen
Gör så här
Sätt ugnen på 175°. Smält smöret. Vispa socker och ägg pösigt, blanda med smöret. Rör ner övriga bakingredienser. Vänd i eventuell choklad/frukt/nötter. Häll smeten i en smord och bröad form ca 24 cm i diameter. Grädda mitt i ugnen 18 min. Kakan blir låg med ljus yta och kladdig under. Låt kakan svalna lite. Gott med glass och lite frukt eller bär. Eller varför inte Milda vaniljvisp?

Sorry I didn't get a picture of a whole brownie pan but I couldn't  help myself... 

(well, I guess help myself is exactly what I did)

3-Minute No-Bake Cookies

If you have a crazy sweet tooth, you have got to try these 3-minute no-bake cookies straight out of the missionary cookbook. Boil butter, sugar, milk, cocoa, vanilla and salt in a large pot for 1-2 minutes or until sugar has desolved. Add oats and mix well. Spoon onto baking sheet to set. Enjoy warm in a bowl of milk or cold as a snack or dessert.

125 g butter (1 1/2 C)
5 dl sugar (2C)
125 ml milk (1 1/2 C)
3 msk cocoa (3 tbsp)
1 msk vanilla (1 tbsp)
1/2 tsk salt (1/2 tsp)
9 dl oats (3 1/2 C)

After Work

With the elephant sound asleep in his bed, Mommy and Daddy can enjoy an Ice Cream à la Paul.
The ingredients are
- ice cream, in this case caramel
- sliced banana
- cherry jam
- Paul's homemade caramel sauce
Enjoy!

Carrot cake

We Hammars definitely have a strong tradition of serving carrot cake at important family events. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the latest one. Here's the recipe, though, from Joy of Cooking. I hope I got it straight...

THE CAKE
Beat 2 eggs and 2,5 dl sugar. Add 1,75 dl oil. Mix dry ingredients 2,5 dl flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder (or 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda), ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and blend with the wet ingredients. Add 3,5 dl grated carrot and 1 dl chopped nuts. Bake in a greased and floured pan at 165 C for about 50 min.

THE ICING
Blend 85 g cream cheese with 1,5 tablespoons cream or milk. Beat in 0,6 dl powdered sugar. Flavoring: 1,5 teaspoons grated lemon or orange rind OR 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon liquid vanilla) and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.

ENJOY!