What do you do with overripe bananas?

Some of you may throw them out, but my wife makes the best banana bread I’ve ever tasted. Topped with a little butter or cream cheese and you have a great breakfast or afternoon snack. Add a little ice cream and you have banana bread alamode for dessert.

Couldn’t be easier. Usually at least one of the girls volunteers to help. Best of all, we can pack a slice or two for the girls to take to school for snack time.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening or try substituting vegetable oil
3 ripe bananas
1-teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1-cup sugar
2 cups flour
Butter for greasing the loaf pan
chocolate chips, walnuts (optional)
 

How to Make Banana Bread at Home

Start by preheating you oven to 350F.

Combine the ingredients together in a mixing bowl (I use a cuisinart) in the order listed above. Mix by hand (or by cuisinart) until it forms a thoroughly blended batter.

Transfer the batter into a greased loaf or bread pan.

Bake until done, usually about one hour. A good way to tell if the bread is done is to stick it with a toothpick. If nothing sticks to the toothpick, it is done.

Simple and delicious.

I’m not one for calling any recipe “perfect (unless it has a dramatic sound to it). I think calling any recipe perfect has more to do with an individual’s tastes and preferences. However, my friend Geoff, a novice home cook who loves to make desserts and now has the reputation among the dads of making incredible cakes, brownies and cookies, took “The Perfect Chocolate Chip” and made it better.

The recipe originally comes from a book called Search for the Perfect Chocolate Cookie, the result of a cookie competition in Massachusetts back in 1987 to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in America. From over 2,600 recipes sent in to the competition, more than 100 are included in this book.

The chocolate chip cookie recipe Geoff decided to share with me was the Grand Prize winner that he adapted because of his son’s allergy to nuts. The original recipe submitted to the contest was first published by the Junior League of Las Vegas in a book called Winning at the Table.

Because Geoff’s son can’t eat nuts, he just substituted more chocolate chips essentially doubling them up.   I’m sure this recipe would be great with the nuts, but after enjoying his version at several family events, I can say this is the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever tasted. Here’s the recipe:
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1-¾ cups flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1-cup butter, softened
1-teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (Geoff substituted 1 extra cup of chocolate chips)
1-cup semisweet chocolate chips

How to Make at Home

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Combine the flour and baking soda, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add vanilla and both sugars and beat until fluffy. Beat in the egg.

At low speed, beat in cocoa, then milk. With a wooden spoon, mix in dry ingredients just until blended. If using the nuts, stir them in with all the chocolate chips.

Using a teaspoon, measure out rounded teaspoons for each cookie and place them onto a nonstick or foil-lined baking sheet. If you have more than one baking sheet and room in your oven, use them too.

Bake the cookies in the oven for about 12 to 13 minutes. When done, remove and cool slightly before removing them from the baking sheets.

This recipe should make about 3 dozen “perfect” chocolate chip cookies.

I received an email today that said, “Love your site — very charming and informative and am going to try the Key Lime Pie this weekend!!! Will you be adding any more desserts??”

I responded by telling the writer I will try. Truth is, I’m not much of a baker AND I’m trying to loose a few LBs so I don’t make a lot of desserts although I love them. Here is a simple but classic favorite of mine for Pecan Pie.

PECAN PIE

Ingredients

¼ pound butter (1 stick)
1-cup brown sugar
¾ cup corn syrup
¼ honey
1 tablespoon orange zest
1-teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/8-teaspoon cinnamon
1/8-teaspoon nutmeg
1-cup pecans, chopped
1 - 9 inch pie shell, uncooked

Prep

Preheat the oven to 425°F. while you put these ingredients together.

Finely chop the orange zest and chop the pecans.

Brown the butter. Here’s how. Using a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and cook until the edges turn brown. Be very careful not to burn the butter. The goal is to brown the edges of the butter to give it a nutty flavor. Remove the pan from the stovetop and let it cool a little.

How to Make at Home

Combine the rest of the ingredients except for the pie shell & pecans in a large mixing bowl using a whisk to blend all the ingredients together. Now add the butter & pecans being sure to mix together well but don’t overwork it.

Pour this combined mixture into the pie shell and bake for 10 minutes on the center rack. Reduce the heat to 375° F and bake for an additional 35 minutes.

Remove the pie form the oven and let it cool before trying to slice it.

If I really want to blow my diet, I like to serve this with vanilla ice cream.

For more RG desserts, check out my Dessert Recipe page. There aren’t that many and I will try and work on some more but the one’s there are great.