Banana Bread

Could anything be lovelier than the comforting scent of warm, soft banana bread wafting through the house on a crisp fall morning?  My love affair with banana bread is a recent one, as my mother, not being much of a breakfast pastry eater, rarely made it.  It fell into a broad category of her dislikes that I was deprived of during childhood, along with coconut, bread pudding, and nuts or dried fruit invading a baked good in any form.  "Why would you ever put in nuts when you could put in chocolate chips?" she would ask, without a hint of irony in her voice.  As I discovered when I was turned loose in my own kitchen, I am quite, even especially, fond of all these things and I have done my best to make up for lost time.

After trying several recipes for banana bread, I found that my own version is in fact my favorite.  It uses four bananas rather than the standard three, which keeps it wonderfully moist and sweet enough with less sugar.  You may use any milk alternative you like, but I think coconut makes the most natural partner for bananas.  And trust my mother on this one: gooey chocolate chips make a much more beguiling accent than walnuts.  Your morning coffee just found a new best friend.

*Ingredient note: You may have noticed that most of my baking recipes call for white whole wheat flour.  It is made from a lighter variety of wheat, so while its nutritional profile is the same as traditional whole wheat, its color and flavor are milder.  I can't resist adding it to recipes like this because it adds some nutrition without sacrificing flavor.  If unavailable, you can substitute regular whole wheat flour or all purpose flour.

Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 very ripe, darkly speckled bananas
1/4 cup regular coconut milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350* F.  Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside.  Combine coconut milk and lemon juice in glass measuring cup and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine flour, white whole wheat flour, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  In another bowl, mash the bananas well with a wooden spoon, then stir in the coconut milk mixture, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla.  Mix until well combined (there should still be some small banana chunks).  Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until most of the flour is incorporated, then gently fold in the chocolate chips.  Do not over mix.

Pour into prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center of loaf comes out clean, about 55 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Burger Night

I have eaten more bun-less burgers in the last two months than I care to count.  Dairy-free, soy-free hamburger buns are impossible to come by at the grocery store, and ciabatta rolls just aren't the same as a soft, chewy hamburger bun.  We are still going strong in our quest to avoid eating out, so last night I decided to try making some from scratch, along with French fries from Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook.  (If at this point you're wondering how on earth I have time to bake bread and hand-cut French fries with a three year old and a newborn, you should know that I accomplished absolutely nothing else yesterday.  It's all about priorities.)

I hadn't come across any dairy-free burger bun recipes in my usual sources, so I came up with my own loosely based on a recipe for dinner rolls.  Sweet potato is used to replace most of the butter, which lends just the right amount of sweetness without any added sugar.  It's worth taking the time to pick up some bread flour as it really improves the texture.  These are actually very easy to make, and while it does take several hours, most of that is just rising time.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to store-bought buns after this!


Homemade Hamburger Buns

2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup mashed sweet potato (from 1 small baked sweet potato)
1 cup plain rice milk, warm (about 110 degrees)
1 egg
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 egg white
Sesame seeds

In bowl of standing mixer, combine flours, salt, and yeast.  Mix to combine.  In a glass measuring cup, combine warm rice milk, sweet potato, egg, and olive oil.  Mix well.  With mixer running at low speed with the dough hook attached, slowly pour in milk mixture.  Continue mixing until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Dough will be soft and slightly sticky.

Turn dough onto lightly floured board.  Knead by hand for 2 minutes. You can add a little flour if it is really sticking, but try to use as little as possible so you don't end up with dry rolls.  Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place until doubled in size, about 3 hours.

Turn dough onto lightly floured board and knead until dough is smooth and elastic.  Using bench scraper or sharp knife, cut dough in half, then cut each half into quarters so you have 8 pieces.  Roll each piece into a smooth ball between your palms.  Place on baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.  Flatten into a disc and repeat with remaining dough pieces.  Brush each roll lightly with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Put baking sheet in a warm place until rolls are puffy, about 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 F and bake buns for about 10 minutes, or until tops are lightly golden.  When rolls are cool, slice horizontally with a bread knife.  Serve as is, or brush with dairy-free margarine or olive oil and toast on the grill.