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Apple Banana Bread

2012 November 10
tags: , , ,
by admin

My mom got wind that our state’s library was clearing out its shelves and giving away stacks and stacks of books. She made it to the liquidation and I’m sure she picked up a ton of books for herself but she was kind of enough to pick up a ton of books for me without me even knowing.

So last week she dropped off my little brother for me to babysit and an armful of books, too.  I guess books are a good payment for watching a sibling, right?

She focused on my two major preoccupations when she chose for me: horses and cooking.  After I read the titles of the books I flipped to the back and saw the old school check-out cards.  My new-to-me books were barely ever taken home  from the library for a read.  Checkouts for each book were far and few between – one checkout in 1987 another in 1993.  I read the names listed on the cards and the cursive was so beautiful.  What a skill that has fallen to the wayside!

When lil’ bro fell asleep I made myself a cup of tea and perused the insides of my new treasures.  I read details on distinguishing the body language of horses and then moved on to a cookbook featuring recipes from across the world.  So happy with these books, I decided to search for a recipe to make to thank my mom that I could give her when she picked up my brother.

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Well, I found nothing in those books that fit the bill so I actually adapted a recipe from the internet for my thank you gift (the internet is probably one of the reasons the library was giving away these books in the first place…).  I chose to make an apple dessert because my mom’s husband is a lover of all desserts apple flavored and I had quite a few granny smiths in danger of becoming horse snacks.

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Quick breads aren’t something I make often since the Omnivore is not a fan so I used this opportunity to whip one up.  This apple banana bread recipe was delicious.  The apples are  sauteed with a bit of butter and then mixed with vanilla extract and cinnamon.  That smell of that mixture itself was a huge indicator of how delicious this dessert is.  What’s great about making a gift for your parents is that they don’t mind if you give them their goods with a slice or three removed :)

 

Apple Banana Bread (adapted from Melissa Murphy)

1 tablespoon butter
2 apples—peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour (I used half whole wheat but any combination of all purpose flours will work)
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large very ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup orange juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Lightly cook the apples on the stove by melting the butter in a skillet and adding the apples.
  3. Stir occasionally and cook until soft – about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the cinnamon and vanilla extract and remove from heat to cool.
  5. In a large bowl, combine the butter and the sugar, beating with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
  6. Add the eggs, juice, and mashed bananas and combine thoroughly.
  7. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
  8. In increments, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
  9. Just before all the flour ingredients are fully incorporated, add the diced apples and stir until just combined (don’t overmix or it’ll get tough).
  10. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and bake in a preheated oven for 55 minutes.

 

from → bread, Cheap & Easy, Dessert

  • Kate

    What a fabulous haul of books.

  • Carly

    Just put a loaf in the oven! Unfortunately, I didn’t have any orange juice on hand, so I’m tying a substitution of 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk and about 3/4 teaspoon of dried orange peel — we’ll see how it turns out (fingers crossed!)! Thanks for the great recipe!