Mom-To-Be Freezer Meal - Banana Nut Bread Muffins (Nuts Optional)

Is it a surprise that I'm going to be talking about a recipe from one of my favourite recipes books? The Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking has a great banana bread recipe, and it's quickly become a Go-To for me. It doesn't give instructions or timing adjustments in the book if you want to make muffins instead of a full loaf, so I took the liberty of testing it out. If you choose to make muffins with this recipe, it takes 25-30 minutes until they are done, depending on the climate and region you live in, of course.

 

Now, the reason I have the '(Nuts Optional)' in the posts title, is because I don't often care for nuts in my banana bread - I usually replace the nuts with chocolate chips.

 

Delving a little deeper into why I absolutely <3 LOVE <3 this recipe, is because it's SO versatile! I've subsituted the nuts with so many different ingredients it's ridiculous - and I've loved all of the variations I've tried to date. Below, is a list of substitutions that I've tried and loved.

• Fresh peaches (I've also tried this with fresh that I've flash frozen myself)
• Fresh Nectarines (I've also tried this with fresh that I've flash frozen myself)
• Chocolate chips, obviously
• Fresh cranberries (I've also tried this with fresh that I've flash frozen myself)
• Apple

In the future, I would love to try blueberries (thankfully, we have a blueberry farm in the local area, which I plan to visit in the summer) dried cherries and I think it would be interesting to try this recipe with pumpkin. I'm not usually a fan of pumpkin, but I'd like to start experimenting.

To freeze these muffins, I wait until they are completely cooled and then simply toss them into a freezer bag.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe for the:
Williams-Sonoma Banana Nut Bread
Ingredients:
2 large bananas
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I don't often have whole wheat flour, so I just add more all purpose flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (For those of you who know me, know that I skip adding salt to most recipes)
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg (I add more but I don't measure it out, I also add cinnamon and ground ginger. For these spices, I go by the fragrance they make together rather than measuring)
1 tbsp grated orange zest
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or whatever you'd like to substitute)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
6 tbsp unsalted melted butter
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees, butter and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan - if making muffins, generously butter the muffin tin. I prefer not to flour the muffin tin.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas. You should have 1 1/3 cups. In a seperate bowl, stir together the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt (if using) nutmeg (cinnamon and ginger if using), orange zest, and nuts - or chocolate chips. If you are going to use a dried fruit, add it now as well. If you are using fresh fruit, either add it in with the mashed banana or after the batter is formed.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until blended and stir in the brown sugar, butter and milk. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternately with the bananas and stir with a rubber spatula unitl just the batter is moistened.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with the rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 50-60 minutes for a loaf, 25-30 minutes for muffins. If the surface starts to brown too much (I haven't had this problem with the muffins), cover with a sheet of aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto the rack and cool completely. For the muffins, they should come out rather easily, but if they don't you may want to leave them in the tin for just a little longer, but don't be afraid to sacrifice one muffin to see if they are ready to come out.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or freeze up to one month.

Mom-To-Be Freezer Meal - Cornbread & Buttermilk Clover Rolls

Ahhhh, breads! How I love bread! For both of these recipes, once they are finished and cooled, I just toss them into a large freezer bag and take out just as many as I need at the time. I usually take them out about an hour before I want to eat, let them thaw for a while, and toss them in the microwave so they are warm when I eat them. I do flip them over so they are heated evenly.

I am a HUGE fan of cornbread. My favourite meal when I went to summer camp was when chili night finally came - and it always came - because it was always served with cornbread. LOTS of cornbread.

The recipe I use is from one of my favourite cookbooks, which I received as a gift from someone who loves me very much. <3

I have to say, some of my favourite recipes are from this book.

The Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Classic Corn Bread recipe has the option to add fresh corn kernels, as well gives you a few flavour variations. Although I haven't tried the variations yet, I have to say, Red Pepper and Jack Cheese Cornbread sounds yummy - I'm not too sure about the Sun-Dried Tomato and Pistachio Cornbread.

I did manage to find the exact same recipe on someone else's blog, because well, I didn't want to have to type the whole recipe and directions out - but I really dislike when I am checking out recipes on blogs and get redirected to another blog - I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and write my blog to my standards and my (blog follower/reading) preferences. You lucky bugger you...
Williams-Sonoma Classic Corn Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh corn kernels (Optional, and I left them out)
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey or firmly packed brown sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 1/3 cups buttermilk (If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and then enough milk to equal 1 cup, then let sit for 5 minutes)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Butter an 8 inch cast iron frying pan or an 8 inch square baking pan. (For the last batch I made, I double the recipe, so I had to use a bigger baking pan)

In a bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soday, salt and the corn kernels (if using). Set aside.

In a large bowl, which the eggs until blended. Add the honey (or brown sugar), buttermilk and butter. Whisk until blended. Add the dry ingredients and stir until evenly moistened.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Let the bread cool slightly in the pan on a wire rack. Serve warm. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze up to 1 month.

Buttermilk Rolls

I found the buttermilk rolls online, and I have to say, I love, love, LOVE this recipe! The rolls are tasty, have few ingredients that you probably already have in your house and are quick and easy to make. With this recipe, you don't have to let the dough rise for very long - and you don't have to punch down and let rise for a second time.

If you had to have fresh rolls and have them done for company coming over in a couple hours, this would be the recipe you are looking for.

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 tablespoon honey

5 tablespoons butter, melted and divided

1 egg

Method:
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the flour, salt and yeast until well combined; set aside. In a small pot, heat buttermilk until warm to the touch (about 115°F). (Be careful not to overheat the milk since it may cook the egg.) Remove pot from heat and whisk in honey, 3 tablespoons of the butter and egg. Pour buttermilk mixture into bowl with flour mixture and whisk until a thick batter is formed. Stir in remaining 1 3/4 cups flour until a soft dough is formed.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting dough with more flour as needed to keep it from sticking, until smooth and no longer sticky, 7 to 8 minutes.

For cloverleaf rolls, divide dough into 36 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Arrange 3 balls of dough in each cup of a greased 12-muffin tin. For large pull apart rolls, divide dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a small ball. Arrange balls of dough snugly in a greased 9-inch round cake pan. Brush rolls with a bit of the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then cover loosely and set aside in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush rolls with remaining butter and bake until deep golden brown and cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot, spread with butter, if you like.