I think I could make banana bread in my sleep.

Because I make banana bread so often it's like watching "Dave" for the umpteenth time. I know exactly what's coming next. I know what to expect. I like it.

I always buy bananas and then no one eats them except for maybe on a rare occasion, and then the bananas get brown and then no one eats them ever and I don't want to throw them out.

So, banana bread.

Also, banana bread baking in the oven smells wonderful.

Here's my latest version (I do make a different one each time!). I love how lovely the streusel top looks. Sets it apart from any old banana bread.

Banana Streusel Bread

Streusel:

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter, margarine or coconut oil

Bread:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 3 medium very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup fruit juice such as mango, orange or apple
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan.

Make the streusel: mix the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add the butter and work it in with fingers or a knife until mixture is crumbly. Set it aside.

Make the bread: Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and set it aside. Beat the sugar and vegetable oil with a handheld or electric mixer set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mash the bananas and add them to the sugar mixture. Beat thoroughly until the ingredients are well blended. Add the flour mixture and beat for 1-2 minutes to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Stir in the juice and vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Scatter the streusel on top. Bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a cake rack.

 Makes one bread serving 10-12

National Chocolate Chip Day?

I heard someone on the radio mention this morning that today is National Chocolate Chip Day. I looked it up later and some sites say chocolate chip day is May 15. But some say today.

It doesn’t matter, does it? I thought every day was chocolate chip day. Americans seem to have a special love for these tiny chunks of chopped up chocolate, Maybe because of the amazing popularity of chocolate chip cookies, which are a true American creation — by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, in 1930.

There are more recipes for Chocolate Chip Cookies than there are cacti in the desert. Here’s my version, (called Grand Finale Cookies) which you can find in my book, Hip Kosher, if you have a copy. 

I also throw quite a load of chocolate chips into this recipe for Banana Bread.

And lots of other recipes too.

I always thought of chocolate chips as a baking ingredient and so I store them with all the other baking stuff like flour and vanilla extract. I prefer Ghirardelli to the more popular brand; the chocolate is much better quality and tastes deeper and richer.

But my father used to add chocolate chips to hot cereal when I was a kid, as an inducement to eat breakfast. And My husband Ed thinks they are candy. There have been more than a few occasions on which he ate a bagful. Okay, maybe only half a bagful.

Chocolate chips are amazingly useful of course, beyond cookies and banana bread, or as a breakfast enhancement or TV candy. One good thing is that because they are already small, they melt easily, so you can use them for cooked dessert sauces and frostings without worrying that the chocolate will burn. 

One of the easiest chocolate chips recipes is this one, for “dipping sauce” or coating that you can use as a dip for strawberries, macaroons, cookies, candied orange peel and so on. So, so simple:

Chocolate Coating

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Melt the chips and vegetable shortening together in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Stir until well blended and remove from the heat. Makes about 3/4 cup

Simple Banana Bread

Why do I buy bananas? I’m allergic to them as I said yesterday. It’s almost as if watching someone else eat them gives me pleasure vicariously.

My husband says he likes bananas but whenever I buy a bunch, firm and bright yellow and green at the tip, just before the starch turns to sweet and the sugar level goes up, they sit on the plate waiting for anyone.

Anyone? Anyone?

So I wind up making Banana Bread. Very often the Banana Bread goes to patients and caregivers at our local hospital for a biweekly Tea that our local Hadassah gives. Or my grandchildren eat it.

Smart kids.

If you’ve never had a Banana Bread baking in your kitchen you are missing one of the best home aromas of all time. It’s right up there with coffee, tomato sauce and yeast bread.

And of course, it tastes pretty good too. Here’s a recipe for you to try:

Banana Bread

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable shortening

4-5 medium bananas, very ripe

4 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Place the sugar and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well blended. Add the bananas and beat them in. Add the eggs and beat them in. Add the flour mixture and beat the ingredients until well blended. Stir in the vanilla extract. Bake for about an hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Makes 12-16 servings