i love seeing my man sporting an apron in the kitchen cooking something yummy. and what i love even more than that, is seeing all three of my boys in the kitchen in aprons cooking something yummy together! while josh loves to cook, i’m usually the one who bakes in our house, so when he took the lead in making banana bread the other morning, i was extra excited about the entire thing. (truth be told, he just doesn’t like seeing any food go to waste in our home and as the bananas were getting overly ripened even with all the banana-eating monsters in our home, eh-hem conrad i’m looking at you!, he knew he had to save them. bless him for saving the bananas and also making the apartment smell incredible for the following couple of hours.)
i was trying to get some work done in the other room while the boys baked, but i popped into the kitchen a few times during to snap some photos because i love a good photo and it was just the sweetest thing ever. and also, i don’t like being left out and wanted in on the fun, too. ;) i am so so thankful for the patience josh brings into our parenting, and how he doesn’t just plop the kids up on the counter to watch him bake quickly, but he invites them to do every step of the process on their own while he oversees and encourages. it’s something both josh and i are very passionate about when it comes to doing things with our kids, but i just love standing back and witnessing it sometimes.
i’ve also included the recipe below at the end of the post, for anyone who has ripe bananas in their home and wants to try a good recipe! this one is really yummy, and we love it. josh and i have been a little more lenient on our sugar rules with the holidays approaching, still trying to be good as much as we can but taking things on a case by case basis these right now. holidays and baked goods are what my dreams are made of. i just can’t deny my love of them this time of year.
banana bread recipe
ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
8 tablespoons soft butter
2 eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
instructions:
1. preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. grease a loaf pan (we brush butter up the sides!)
3. in a large bowl, combine wet ingredients: butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla, and then mashed up bananas
4. add dry ingredients to the wet: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt
5. put the batter into the greased loaf pan
6. drop clumps of brown sugar all over the top of the uncooked loaf
7. bake for 65-75 minutes, but use your nose to make sure it doesn’t burn! when your kitchen smells really amazing, then it’s about 5-10 minutes before it’s time to pull it out
8. when you pull it out to check it, try the old toothpick trick to see if the center is done (when you poke it with a toothpick, it should come out clean, not gooey)
also, please note that i suggest adding a billion cups chocolate chips (ok, two cups) when making this, but that’s just me. also please note that josh sprinkles additional brown sugar on top of the loaf before baking which seriously MAKES THIS BREAD MORE HEAVENLY THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE and if you’re not gonna bring out the chocolate chips for something like this, brown sugar on top is next best, i suppose.