Banana-Coconut Cream Cheese Nut Bread

Banana bread is my go-to quick bread to make when I'm pressed in time but I really, really want to bake.  In this case, I want to finish an opened cream cheese package and there's some ripe bananas on the counter.  I've always had bananas in the house; they're eaten frequently and my family doesn't say no to banana bread.

I'm pretty sure I've made this banana bread before but I don't remember where I got the recipe.  Luckily, Pinterest came to my rescue.  Judging from the way the recipe is I can tell that this one is a keeper.  I traced it back to Southern Living magazine website and it was one of their most popular recipes to be made over and over again.  The original recipe had some cinnamon crisp topping but the recipe that I found from Pinterest eliminated that topping.  So I made my own modification which was to add shredded coconut on the top of the loaves.  It gives a nice texture to the bread and goes together with the flavor profile.  And I love that this recipe yields two loaves, one for me, none for you :D!

Banana-Coconut Cream Cheese Nut Bread

Yields 2 loaves

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
1 cup roughly chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.  Greased and floured two 8-x4-inch loaf pans.

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended.  Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla.  Spoon batter into the loaf pans.  Sprinkle coconut equally on top of loaves, pad lightly so the coconut will adhere.

Bake for about an hour or until a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan; shielding with aluminum foil the last 15 minutes to prevent browning, if necessary.  Cool bread in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans, and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing.


Source:  adapted from Southern Living

Pecan Sour Cream Muffins

Today's weather is just glorious.  Spring comes a little early to Oregon because it's been warm and dry lately.  I don't complain much, rain or sun is fine with me, but it's actually nice to not to put on layer upon layer of clothing.  Although the rain will come towards the end of the week, I'm planning to enjoy this warmth as much as I can.

For my weekend baking--this has become my thing, bake only on the weekends--I made pecan sour cream muffins.  The recipe comes from Maida Heatter's book, Cake.  I borrowed it from the library and has started to read it back and forth, and I decided to try this for breakfast today.  There's a lot recipes to try from the book and hopefully I can make as many as I can and blog it.  Sometimes weekend baking is just too short of a time for me, but it's the only time I have during the week to bake.  My family loves it when I bake though, they always have snacks for lunch boxes and after dinner treats.

This muffin batch is easy to make and make wonderful moist and rich muffins.  Yes, they look a little plain but they taste pretty special to me!

Pecan Sour Cream Muffins

Yields 12 large muffins

1 1/3 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch of nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
5 1/2 ounces (1 1/3 cups) toasted pecans broken into large pieces, plus 12 large toasted pecan halves


Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 400F.  Either butter 12 2 3/4-inch muffin tin or line them with cupcake liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg, and set aside.

In the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.  Beat in the sugar to mix, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition.  On low speed, add half of the sifted dry ingredients, then all of the sour cream, and then the remaining sifted dry ingredients.  Beat only until smoothly incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the 5 1/2 ounces of pecan pieces.

Spoon into the prepared muffin tins.  It is not necessary to smooth the tops; the muffins will do it themselves during baking.  Place a pecan half, flat side down, on each muffin; press them only slightly into the muffins.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the muffins spring back when pressed lightly with a fingertip.  During baking the muffins will rise with high, nicely rounded, golden-brown tops.

Remove from the pans immediately and place on a rack.  These may be served warm or cooled.


Source:  adapted from Maida Heatter's Cakes

Roasted Root Vegetable and Wilted Romaine Salad

Perhaps before you're going to overindulge in two days, remember that this salad will be super to have afterwards.  With roasted root vegetables like carrots, beets, parsnips, and turnips, this is one super healthy, rich in vitamins and surprisingly, very fulfilling salad.  I think roasting vegetables is one of my favorite ways to cook them because it brings out the sweetness with a bit of smokiness.

Now that school's off for a week, I thought I'd have more time to relax at home but unfortunately, such a inspiration is harder to achieve.  My son has been bugging me to play Wii games with him whenever I have a spare time.  Last night, I played some games with him, and frankly, I actually enjoyed it after haven't played for ages.  We had a good laugh over some pixelated characters, and my husband was even amused--since he didn't play with us.

Well, I know that Thanksgiving is two days away (well, who doesn't?) but I'm in a bit of a pickle.  My lower oven of my double ovens has finally gone kaput.  It stopped working about a month ago, but it went back working again.  But after setting it in high temperature a couple of weeks ago, it decided that enough was enough.  No more baking.  Unless I change its igniter.  Which I ordered just tonight.  Sigh.

So I'm without an oven but I still can bake!  How come?  My parents live next door which means I can still bake.  But I don't want to bake too many things because it's still a hassle to transport things back and forth.  I'll bake a pie for sure but no more.  The rest of the dinner story will be told after Thanksgiving :)

Roasted Root Vegetable and Wilted Romaine Salad

Makes 12 servings

2 medium fresh beets (about 12 ounces)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper

1 ¾ pounds fresh carrots, turnips, and/or parsnips

4 medium shallots, peeled and quartered

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

1 teaspoon honey

1 clove garlic, minced

8 cups torn romaine

½ cup chopped pecans, toasted

¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Wash and peel the beets, cut into 1-inch pieces.  Place in a 2-quart baking dish.  Toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the salt and pepper to taste.  Cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  

Meanwhile, peel the carrots, turnips, and/or parsnips.  Cut carrots and turnips into irregular-shape 1-inch pieces.  Cut parsnips into irregular ¾-inch pieces.  Place in a 15x10x1-inch baking pan.  Add shallots.  Toss with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.  Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper.

Remove foil from dish with beets, stir beets gently.  Increase oven temperature to 425F.  Return beets to oven and place pan with carrot mixture alongside beets.  Roast both pans, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, for dressing, in a screw-top jar combine the 6 tablespoons olive oil, the white wine vinegar, thyme, Dijon-style mustard, honey, garlic, and additional salt and pepper to taste; cover and shake well.

To serve, in a large bowl toss the romaine with the dressing to coat.  Place on a platter.  Top with the hot vegetables.  Sprinkle pecans and parsley over all.  Serve immediately.

Source:  Better Homes and Garden, Holiday Recipes 2013