When I don't know what to do with myself, I bake.

When I am having a bad day, or I am bored, I bake. When I am frustrated or feel stuck, I bake. When I am happy or sad or mad, I bake. I bake because it relaxes me. It makes me feel content. It brightens my mood.


Hello, my name is Stephanie and I can't live without baked goods.


I haven't been baking much since I gave up sugar a while ago. It's been hard, and I'll be honest, I have felt like a shadow of my former self. I may have even had a mini identity crisis. This baking break has put me in a major creative slump. Sugar might not be good for me, but baking sure is. And so today I made banana bread, a new recipe. Then I took approximately 312 pictures of my beautiful loaf.

And now I feel like myself again. Phew.

Here's the recipe, sent to me by my big brother, Elliott:

Cook's Illustrated Ultimate Banana Bread

Makes one 9-inch loaf.

Cook's Illustrated recommends that very ripe, heavily speckled or even
blacked bananas should be used in this recipe. This recipe can also
be prepared with five frozen bananas that have been thawed. If using
thawed bananas, bypass the Step-2 microwaving and place the bananas
into a fine-mesh strainer. Don't use previously frozen bananas in
step 4 (slicing on top of loaf) as they will be too soft to slice.
Just sprinkle the top of the banana bread loaf with sugar.
Cook's Illustrated prefers an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan for this recipe.
If you are using a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, start to check for doneness five minutes
earlier than the recommended time below.

The banana bread has the best texture when eaten fresh, but you can
store it in for up to 3 days tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.
Cool first before wrapping for storage.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 large very ripe bananas (about 2 1/4 pounds), peeled (see note above)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts , toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350-F.
Spray an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and table salt. Set aside.

2. In a microwave-safe bowl, place 5 peeled bananas. Cover the bowl with
plastic wrap and cut several steam vents in it. Microwave the bananas
about 5-minutes on the high-power setting (until they are soft and
have released liquid). Pour the microwaved bananas and liquid into a fine-mesh
strainer that is sitting in a bowl. Allow to drain 15-minutes, stirring
occasionally. When done there should be 1/2 to 3/4 cup of liquid.

3. Place the banana liquid in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for
5-minutes, until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup. Place the cooked bananas
in a mixing bowl. Pour the reduced liquid over cooked bananas and mash them
with a potato masher until they are fairly smooth. Now whisk in the butter,
eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.

4. Pour the bowl of the mashed banana mixture into the bowl with the
flour mixture. Stir until the two are combined but there should still
be some streaks of flour remaining in the batter. Fold in walnuts (optional).
Scrape banana batter into the prepared loaf pan. Slice the remaining 6th
banana diagonally into 1/4-inch slices. Overlap lines of banana slices along each side
of the loaf, but leave a 1-1/2 inch space along the center of the loaf to allow
for even rising. Evenly sprinkle granulated sugar over the top of the loaf.

5. Bake until a cake tester or toothpick, that is inserted in the center
of the loaf, comes outs clean. About 55 to 75 minutes. Cool in the
loaf pan, on a wire rack, for 15 minutes. Remove loaf from pan,
return loaf to wire rack and cool additional time, as desired.

It's a little time consuming, with the cooking of the bananas and juice, but it was delicious. Also, be warned, it requires six bananas, and the more ripe, the better. If you've been stashing your bananas in the freezer, and have amassed quite a collection, this is the recipe for you. Enjoy!

p.s. Do you bake when you are bored, too?