~Easy banana bread and a productive morning~

This day is going well...last night I did finish my to do list after the littl kids were in bed so the house feels fresh and today I left the computer OFF until I cleaned up, baked banana bread and had a friend come by for tea,a nd picked up Austin from kindergarten. So now it's break time while the littles watch cartoons!!

Here is the banana bread recipe I love. It makes 2 loaves and is a great way to use up overripe bananas which I had plenty of today!

(the pic below is an older one of my daughters helping! Since then her hair grew down to her waist!!! She still bakes to this day! Love my enthusiastic helpers:)

I used a different recipe before but the center would stay gooey. Not to mention that it only made one loaf which is not a whole lot for my brood:):) Doubling recipes doesn't work for every recipe out there especially not for one that isn't so good to begin with. The below recipe has been sitting in my cookbook for ages. It was off the net someplace. I never did find that blog again. Anyhow the author said she doubled and even tripled it. So I looked it over and changed it just a touch to goo-proof it and here it is! Yum.

Easy banana bread:

Ingredients:

• 6 overripe, mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 1/2 cups flour

Method:

Divide mixture and spread evenly into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake covered with tin foil at 350F for about 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and finish baking. Bake until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf. Cool on wire rack and slice to desired thickness.

Enjoy!!

Apple cinnamon rolls

These were soooooooo goooooooooood!! I just used a sweet dough recipe(like what you do for cinnamon rolls) but with half whole wheat and half white flour.

When the dough was ready I rolled it our and spread it with brown sugar, cinnamon and grated(squeeze out the juices and drink it!) apples.

No butter or margarine spread on the dough....this is important as the apples add enough moisture!

I rolled it up and cut it and put it on a greased pan just like regular cinnamon rolls. Let them rise double and baked them to perfection.

We ate them with a dab of cream cheese on top and milk on the side. YUM! The kids were happy to see such a treat for their breakfast:)

Braided sweet bread for larger bread machines

I love using the bread machine!!! Last week I decided to make this for an after school snack. In Hungary this is called "kalacs" and they are often half chocolate half white. I have memories of eating this as a child. YUM!
This time I made the white variety but I've made it chocolate before as well and the kids loved it. A slice of challah with butter and a mug of milk.........yummy for a snack:)
The above picture shows the dough being divided into 3 equal portions.
Then I rolled them out into logs as below.

Next I braided them and it turned out so pretty!

I let the bread rise until doubled then baked it in the oven for about 15 minutes.



Braided sweet bread

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate milk powder(if making chocolate challah)
1/4 cup margarine or butter
2 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

Place all the above ingredients in your bread machine and set to dough cycle. Let dough rise past the time the machine indicates that it is done. Remove the dough and prepare as in the pictures above then spread with egg wash(1 egg yolk and 1tbs water beaten. I skipped that part) and bake for about 15-20 minutes in a preheated 350F oven. Enjoy! We did:)