Building Cathedrals
Happy Monday morning, everyone! Here are two of our favorite recipes around here – a simple, moist banana bread, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I always seem to have over-ripe bananas in the house, which means that I almost always have a banana bread on reserve in the freezer – handy for those times when last-minute company comes over or someone has a new baby. And we almost always have these cookies in our pantry – I make half the batch fresh and then freeze the rest of the batter for another time.
Happy baking, everyone!
Banana Bread
1 1/2 cups of flour (I use 1/2 cup of whole wheat, and add 1 T of vital wheat gluten)
1 c sugar (I usually use only 1/2-2/3 c. of sugar)
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3 ripe mashed bananas
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and fold in until well-mixed. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan and add batter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. (I usually put 3/4 of the batter in the loaf pan, and use the rest of the batter to make 6-8 muffins – that way, the top of the banana bread loaf doesn’t get so brown because it doesn’t need to bake as long.)
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 c. oats
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In another bowl, beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in a mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, and then on medium-high for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium-low until well-incorporated.
4. Add flour mixture slowly until well-blended.
5. Mix in oats, then chocolate chips.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto nonstick baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 7-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven – Do not overbake!
Enjoy 🙂
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