Category Archives: Breakfast

Raspberry Cream Cheese Banana Bread

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The robin makes eye contact with me. Our neighbor’s porch light illuminates half of her body, the other half is consumed by the night. It is 1 am. Dirty water bottles sit in the sink, and half-eaten airport snacks decorate the counter along with boarding passes we no longer need. I stare at the robin from inside, a closed window separating us. She watches me and cocks her head to the side as she balances delicately on the fence. It is odd to see her standing on the old wooden fence so late at night. Are you welcoming me home? Do we know each other? I know her. She has visited me before. A reminder she is still present. I look away first. Her gaze is more than I can bare. I’m working on it I try to tell her. She doesn’t believe me. I wrote her name in the sand along with yours! What good will that do? You think the universe will save her? You are such a child. I am tempted to open the window and spray her with the sink hose. I’m trying, I scream. Try harder she says. I look up and she is gone.

Cream Cheese Raspberry Banana Bread

Makes 2 loaves

The recipe was adapted from my grandmother’s cream cheese banana nut bread. A traditional banana bread recipe with the addition of cream cheese and raspberries which adds a nice tartness to this moist bread.

Ingredients:

¾ unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 large eggs

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ cups mashed bananas

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup raspberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease and flour 2 8×4 inch loaf pans. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer beat together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until creamy.  Slowly add the sugar. Beat the sugar, butter, and cream cheese until light fluffy.  Scrap the bottom and sides of the bowl once or twice to ensure the ingredients are well incorporated.  Next, add the eggs one at a time until combined.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stop the mixer and fold in the bananas, vanilla, and raspberries. 

Divide the batter equally into the two prepared loaf pans.  Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.  If the bread is browning too fast cover the top with aluminum foil to prevent further browning.  Cool the bread in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove bread from pans and allow it to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy! *Loaves can be frozen. Wrap loaves in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Place in a Ziploc bag and freeze until ready to use.  Allow it to thaw at room temperature overnight before serving

ATK’s Oatmeal Raisin Bread + 5 Delicious Bread Links

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It has been a month since my grandmother passed.  I continue to walk around in a fog, seeing and hearing her everywhere I go.  Maybe at some point, I will continue my story of Ann and Tess based on my relationship with her.  Maybe I’ll share her final days with you.  Maybe not.  For now, I’ll continue to bake and cook.  I feel closer to her when I do as she was an excellent cook and baker.

I made bread for the first time.  This recipe hails from America’s Test Kitchen Cook It In Your Dutch Oven cookbook.  This bread is a project.  It’s a commitment but like most things that take time, it is worth it.  Rustic, earthy, slightly sweet, toasts well and especially satisfying with a generous slab of butter are all great descriptions but really you should just make it and find out for yourself.

Oatmeal Raisin Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen Cook it in Your Dutch Oven Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 cup (3 ounces) old-fashion rolled oats

¾ cup (6 ounces) water, at room temperature

2 cups (11 ounces) bread flour

½ cup (2 ¾ ounces) whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons instant yeast or rapid-rise yeast

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk, at room temperature

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

½ cup raisins

Directions:

Microwave ¾ cup oats and water in a large bowl. Be sure bowl is covered. Stir occasionally until oats are soft and water is completely absorbed, 5 minutes or so. Cool completely and set aside.

Using the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk bread flour, whole-wheat flour, yeast, and salt. Whisk melted butter and milk together in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Attach the dough hook and begin mixing on low speed.  Very slowly, add milk/butter mixture to flour mixture. Mix until a dough forms and no dry flour is visible about 2 minutes.  You may need to scrape down the bowl as you mix.

Increase the speed to medium/low kneading the dough until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 6 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, add raisins.  Next, slowly add oatmeal two tablespoons at a time.  Mix until well combined, about 3 minutes. Lightly grease a large bowl. Transfer dough to bowl and cover tightly with plastic.  Allow rising for 30 minutes.

Using your fingertips gently fold the dough over itself by folding the edge of the dough toward the middle. Turn bowl 45 degrees and fold again.  Turn bowl and fold 6 more times, 8 folds total. Cover tightly with plastic and let rise for 30 minutes.  Repeat the process of folding and rising every 30 minutes, 2 more times. After the 3rd fold and rise process, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it doubles in size, about 45 minutes to 1 ¼ hours.

Place a large piece of parchment paper, about 18x12inches, on the counter and spray with vegetable oil spray. Transfer dough to parchment paper. Stretch dough to 10-inch round. Be sure to deflate any gas pockets bigger than 1-inch. Working around the perimeter of the dough, fold the edges towards the center until ball forms. Flip dough so the seam of the dough ball is now on the bottom. Cup your hands and drag tiny circles on the counter until dough is stiff and round.  Mist the dough lightly with water on all sides.  Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of oats and press gently so the oats adhere to the dough.

Place loaf, seam side down, on the parchment paper. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap.  Let dough rise until loaf increases in size to about half and the dough slightly bounces back when gently pushed with your knuckle, anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Thirty minutes prior to baking place your Dutch oven with the lid on in the oven on the lowest rack.  Pre-heat the oven to 500F.

Slash the bread with a sharp paring knife, making two 5-inch long and a ½ inch deep slashes to form a cross in the center of the bread.  Remove any exposed raisins.

Remove Dutch oven from oven and place on wire rack. Remove the lid. Using the parchment as a sling, lower the dough into the Dutch oven.  Tuck in any excess parchment paper and place the lid back on the Dutch oven. Place in oven and reduce the temperature to 425F. Bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until the loaf is a deep golden brown and the temperature of the bread is 200 to 210 degrees, about 20 minutes.

Using the parchment paper sling, remove the bread and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely for 3 hours, before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

5 Delicious Bread Links

Alexandra’s Kitchen is my favorite blog.  I have yet to try a recipe that isn’t completely satisfying and delicious.  Check out her recipes for the easiest focaccia bread and the best no-knead brioche buns.  They will not disappoint!

Food 52 claims their milk bread recipe will produce the most addictive bread you will ever eat.  Curious?  Here is the recipe.

Looking for a breakfast bread to serve at your next brunch?  Check out What Should I Eat For Breakfast’s cinnamon raisin walnut bread and The Surban Soapbox everything bagel brioche bread.