Apple Cinnamon Bread

Fall is here, accompanied by the fragrance of apples and cinnamon filling my home with the sound of rustling leaves for background music through the open window. A friend of mine gave me a bushel of small, tart apples to feed my cooking fetish, so this is my first try at Apple Bread.

One fall, several years ago, I was blessed to visit the state of Maine during its height of color. The coastline was lined with antique stores, book shops, bead and breakfasts, and bakeries that made me feel like being transported back in time to simpler days. So, when I came across this recipe from Ogunquit, ME, I knew I had to try it. It is every bit as delicious as a slice of New England history should be.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbl vanilla
2 cups apples, peeled, sliced 1/4 in thick and cut in half
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbl flour

Directions
Heat oven to 350, grease the bottoms of 2 glass loaf pans.
Toast walnuts in heating oven 10 min or until you can smell them. Cool, then toss with flour.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, cin, soda, salt, and baking powder.
In a separate, large bowl, beat eggs for a minute.
Add sugar, butter, oil, and vanilla, stir just until incorporated.
Add flour in quarters and stir just until mixed. Add apples and walnuts.
Pour into two pans, bake for 1 hour, rotating half-way through.
Check 10 min early and then at 5 min intervals until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Let cool for 5 min before dumping out of pan.
Savor the smell!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• I woke up this morning to grey skies, the wind rustling the leaves outside of my window and the soft patter of rain serenading me. I started thinking of all the wonderful things I could make for breakfast when a Jack Johnson song started playing in my head, "Banana Pancakes." That sparked another thought, chocolate chip banana bread, one of my favorite comfort foods. 

Yesterday I had a bunch of girls over to watch a movie and do a chocolate tasting, so, conveniently, we had a selection of chocolate to choose from. I mixed dark chocolate with orange, sea salt chocolate, several milk chocolates, and a 85% dark chocolate. It keeps the banana muffins mysterious, and hard to pinpoint what you're tasting!

• 
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 large over-ripe bananas from your freezer, thawed
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate bar, chopped up

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream bananas and sugar, add eggs, butter, vanilla, yogurt, mix well. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl, add to banana mixture 1/3 at a time. Add chocolate, just stir to incorporate. 

Grease a muffin tin or a loaf pan. Bake muffins for about 15 min, until sides are brown. Bake Loaf for 30-40 min until a toothpick comes out clean in the center. Don't open the oven too much as it can cause the center to fall. 

Tip: When your bananas start to go bad, throw them in the freezer. The peel protects them, and when you thaw them out they are a nice soft consistency that mixes well.