Classic Banana Bread

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Classic Banana Bread

Yields: 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup white sugar

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (could also use butter or margarine)

• 2 eggs

• 3-4 medium-sized ripe bananas, mashed

• 1/3 cup water

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Chocolate chips (I added approx. 1/3 cup)

• Chopped walnuts or pecans (I added approx. 1/3 cup)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350º F

• Combine sugar, oil, eggs, mashed bananas, water, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl or stand mixer. Mix thoroughly until uniform.

• Gradually add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and mix well — try to get rid of any clumps!

• Stir in chocolate chips and chopped nuts to your preference. You could also get creative with other add-ins like dried fruit or other nuts. It also tastes great plain!

• Pour into greased loaf pan(s) — this recipe made 2 small loaves (pictured) or would make 1 large loaf.

• Bake for at 350º F for 35-45 minutes (for small loaves) or 50-60 minutes (for a large loaf), until a tester (I use spaghetti noodles) comes out clean. Make sure to test in several of the tallest spots of the loaf to make sure it’s really done. You really don’t want any uncooked parts where it’s still like batter!
  

Tip: If you can, remember to peel bananas before freezing. This makes the thawing process a lot easier. I usually just set them out on a plate for a few hours to thaw.

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If you make and enjoy this recipe, please share a photo on Instagram and tag @flavourphoto — I’d love to see!

Salted Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I’ve made these cookies for years, and they are always a hit. The original recipe came from a church cookbook my mom had from her childhood — the type where everyone in the congregation submitted a favorite family recipe, and it was printed into a little book with a plastic spiral binding. This recipe can easily become somewhat of a “kitchen sink” cookie if you’d like, where you can throw in whatever you have on hand — walnuts, pecans, raisins, dried cranberries, etc. I recommend always keeping the coconut in the recipe — it won’t taste like coconut, but gives the cookie the best kind of chewiness.

Salted Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened to room temperature

• 1 egg (or 1 flax egg for vegan cookies)

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup shredded coconut

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cups oatmeal

• 1 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate)

• Flaky sea salt to sprinkle on top after baking (I love Maldon sea salt)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350º F

• Cream butter, eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract in a stand mixer or hand mixer.

• Gradually add in dry ingredients except the chocolate chips. Mix well.

• Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon (stand mixer won’t work well for this). I always just eyeball the amount and am generous when it comes to chocolate – but it’s probably about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.

• Scoop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

• Bake for 6-9 minutes until very lightly browned on top — err on the side of under-baking, unless you like really crispy cookies. The cookies will still cook a little after being pulled out of the oven, so it’s good to pull them out slightly before you think they’re ready.

• Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

• Sprinkle cookies with flaky sea salt.

If you make and enjoy this recipe, please share a photo on Instagram and tag @flavourphoto — I’d love to see!

No-Knead Bread Recipe

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Food & prop styling for this post by my friend Jennifer of Feather + Oak Tennessee. Be sure to follow Feather + Oak on Instagram to see more of Jennifer’s beautiful styling work!

The thought of making bread at home is often intimidating. But this recipe I’m sharing with you today is super simple to make and the result is a beautiful, perfectly crusty, flavorful loaf of bread that looks like it came straight out of a bakery. I’ve made this recipe many times over the last few years and it’s never failed me!

I first discovered this recipe when my friend Katie posted photos of this amazing homemade bread years ago, initially on her tumblr blog. She sent me this blog post by The Londoner, which explains the recipe in detail and has helpful process photos. I’ve compiled the instructions from that blog post with my personal experience of making the bread many times. Just follow the directions below and it’ll be a no-brainer! I recommend making the dough in the evening, letting it rise in a warm place overnight, and baking in the morning.

No-Knead Bread

3 cups flour
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp yeast
1.5 cups water

Mix ingredients together in large mixing bowl until just blended - no need to over-stir it. It won’t be pretty or really look like dough. If it’s a bit dry, just add a little more water until all the flour is blended together. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place. I usually turn my oven on low for a few minutes, turn it off, and then place the bowl in the oven. Let dough sit overnight/all day.

After rising, turn oven to 450 F and preheat a dutch oven pot in it.

Place the dough on floured surface. Don't knead or punch it down. Just flip the dough over a couple times to coat it in flour so it’s not sticky anymore. Place the dough in the dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, and 10-15 minutes with the lid off, until the crust is brown and crispy.

Slather in a nice healthy amount of butter, drizzle with some honey, and enjoy!

If you don’t own a dutch oven, you could also use any large oven-safe pot and lid, a pizza stone, or a large cast iron skillet. This week I baked the bread in a cast iron skillet and loosely covered the bread in aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes, and it worked great!

Also: dutch ovens are wonderful, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to get one that works well. The colorful Le Creuset and Staub dutch ovens are glamorous and gorgeous and I definitely want one someday, but this $40 Lodge 5-quart dutch oven on Amazon does the trick just as well.

For my Canadian friends, the same Lodge dutch oven is quite a bit pricier on Amazon.ca, but you can check out Bed Bath & Beyond or Walmart for some good options. It looks like there are some decent options for $60-70, which is a lot cheaper than the fancier ones out there.