Honey and Brown Butter Strawberry Banana Bread

Sometimes life is stressful. Sometimes you have exams you absolutely must excel in to get the fantastic grades you desire and three papers to write in the next two days. Sometimes you have who-knows-how-many loads of laundry spilling out of your closet. Sometimes you have bananas and strawberries getting older and older in your kitchen.

Luckily, for such moments as these there is strawberry banana bread.

As a kid I hated both strawberries and bananas with equal, intense passion. Now these berries (Did you know bananas are considered berries?? So are avocados and pumpkins. Wild!) rank among my absolute favorites and they work so so well in this recipe. The best part is probably the strawberries: the slices on top are cute and their juice seeps into the bread like a delicious natural glaze. :)

 Honey and Brown Butter Strawberry Banana Bread

Adapted from Joy the Baker Brown Butter Banana Strawberry Bread

makes 1 9x5” loaf or 9x13” cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and browned

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup strawberry yogurt or buttermilk

1 cup bananas, mashed (2-3 bananas)

½ cup diced strawberries + thin slices for top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9x5” loaf or 9x13” cake pan with butter or cooking spray.

Heat butter in saucepan on stove until melted and golden brown. Butter is ready when light brown flakes begin to form at the bottom of the pan and butter smells nutty. The butter can burn quickly, so remove instantly to cool in a small bowl.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In separate large bowl or stand mixer, combine honey, eggs, vanilla, yogurt (or buttermilk) and mashed bananas. Add butter once cooled. Fold in dry ingredients until incorporated, scraping sides and bottom of the bowl. Fold in diced strawberries.

Pour into desired pan and top with sliced strawberries. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Wrap well and freeze bread or eat in the next four days.

Take that, finals.

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Peanut Butter Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Welcome!

After years of ardently following lovely baking blogs, I have decided to jump in for myself. What better way to do so than with a recipe adapted from one of my favorite bloggers, Joy the Baker?

Joy's was one of the first blogs I ever saw back in the Spring of 2010. Her witty writing and mouth-watering photos have kept me hooked ever since. When she came out with her first book in February 2012, I knew I had to pick it up. It is full of humor and wonderfully comforting recipes, including several delectable cakes. I combined Joy's skill with my favorite food, peanut butter, to bring you this:

This cake has a soft and smooth texture inside, a buttery and nutty crispness on the outside from the brown sugar and is full of the decadent triple threat of peanut butter, banana and chocolate.

Peanut butter-y, banana-y, chocolate-y goodness.

Peanut Butter Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Adapted from Joy the Baker's Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

The Cake:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup oil

1/4 cup buttermilk*

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

4 large eggs

The Glaze:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons milk or cream

*Buttermilk can be made by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a 1 cup measuring cup and filling the rest with milk to make 1 cup of buttermilk. To make 1/4 cup for this recipe, simply cut the measurements by 1/4 (1/4 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice and milk to fill a 1/4 measuring cup).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare bundt pan with butter (or cooking spray) and flour.

In large bowl, sift and whisk together granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In separate bowl or stand mixer, blend together brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, mashed bananas and peanut butter. When well mixed, add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Add dry ingredients to wet and use rubber spatula to fold ingredients together. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl to fully incorporate dry ingredients (you don't want any pockets of flour in your finished cake!).

Pour mixture into prepared bundt pan. Tap pan on the counter to release any air trapped in the batter. Bake approximately 1 hour; when time gets close, test using a toothpick, which should come out clean. Allow cake to rest in pan for 30 minutes before removing. To remove, place plate or serving platter atop the bottom of bundt pan and flip so plate is on bottom. Say a prayer and gently lift pan off of cake.

When cake is completely cool, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, heat chocolate chips and milk or cream. Stir continuously, being careful to avoid burning by removing from heat when mixture just comes together.  The glaze will be thick, but spreadable. Pour liberally onto cake.

Slice. Serve. Smile.

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