Banana Bread (with walnuts)

1 1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
2 bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of allspice
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional!)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 4 x 8 loaf pan.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla. Add flour mix and stir until just combined. If you’re including walnut pieces, fold them in now.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for one hour.

What worked for me last time was to bake it for 45 minutes on 350 and then drop the temperature to 300 for the last 15 minutes. It smelled burned, but I was unable to find any burned bits.

Ginger Lemon Biscotti

3 cups cheap all-purpose flour (or 2 1/2 cups of King Arthur flour)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup – 1/2 cup minced ginger root
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl, set aside.

Beat sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add eggs, zest and vanilla, beat until smooth. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix just until just blended. Fold in ginger.

Divide dough into two pieces. Form into long flat loaves about 1/2 inch tall and 12-15 inches long. Place the loaves 3-4 inches apart on a prepared or non-stick baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or until you can handle the loaves without burning yourself) on a cooling rack or cutting board.

With a serrated or extremely sharp kitchen knife, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, turning over once. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen.

I’ve used both lemon zest and orange zest to great, tasty success.

Yummy!!

I’m pretty sure he got it off a box somewhere…

dry ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
4 tsp baking power
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar

wet:
1 cup milk, 1/2 stick melted butter, 2 eggs lightly beaten.

Preheat oven to 425f.

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. (I like to add another 1-2 tsp sugar over the recipe to make it a little sweet, if you like cornbread like that.)
Pour in milk, melted butter and lightly beaten eggs.
Mix quickly but not till totally smooth, should be little lumps.

Pour in any pan or muffin tin that leaves a little room for them to expand.
Bake for 20-25 min or until slightly brown and crispy on top.

Cornbread with black bean soup shown here.

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs lightly beaten
16 oz. can unsweetened pumpkin
3-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I use about 1.5 but it depends on your taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour (or Crisco/flour) 2x 9 by 5 loaf pans. Stir together sugar and oil. Stir in eggs and pumpkin. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, mix well. Blend dry mix into wet mixture, alternating water and dry mixture (about 1/3 of each, each time). Divide batter between the two pans. Bake for (the original recipe said 40 minutes, but you’ll need to figure out how long extra for your oven) 75 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let stand 10-15 minutes, remove from pan and cool. When you remove from the pan, you’ll find out how good a job you did buttering/flouring; I always seem to miss a few spots.