Laura’s (One) Banana and Nutella Bread

I love that this recipe only uses one banana. How many times have I found myself craving banana bread and thinking I didn’t have enough bananas on hand? Too many stinking times!

This recipe produces perfectly moist “bread” (we all know we’re really eating cake) that packs a TON of flavor. It begs to be eaten in between sips of coffee. You won’t need to add any topping because of the ribbon of Nutella that runs through it, but I’m sure it would be delicious topped with a thin layer of peanut butter.

*If you don’t have a mini loaf pan, put the remaining batter in a muffin tin. It should make two or three muffins. Bake at the same temperature, but check the muffins around 25-30 minutes since they should take less time than the bread.

yup. it really does come out looking this good.

Laura’s (One) Banana and Nutella Bread

makes one regular loaf and one mini loaf

1 large, ripe banana, cut into chunks

1 egg with enough milk to make 1 cup (crack the egg in a liquid measuring cup and then pour milk over)

4 Tbsp butter, softened

4 Tbsp of coconut oil 

1 tsp vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup softened Nutella

add-ins: 1/4 cup chocolate chips, 1/4 cup nuts, or both!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and grease your pans 

1. Place everything BUT the nutella and add-ins into a mixing bowl
2. Mix on low to medium-low until most of the chunks are gone (or mix by hand)
3. If you're adding chocolate chips and/or nuts, mix them into the batter
4. Place half of the batter into a separate bowl so that your batter is now divided into two bowls
5. Stir softened Nutella into ONE of the bowls of batter
6. Pour batter into the muffin tins, alternating between using the plain batter and Nutella-fied batter 
7. Use a toothpick or spatula to swirl the batter around
8. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Use a toothpick to determine if the bread is cooked all the way through. It may take 5 or 10 more minutes depending on your oven.

February recipe challenge results

Can we blame February for being short and for FLYING BY instead of blaming my frazzled brain? I didn’t quite hit four new recipes and I definitely didn’t make a bread or a pork entrée. But let’s focus on what I did do, shall we?

that’s all me, baby

I tried kale chips and I’ll admit it: they’re good. They’re good AND they’re easy. I made them a few times over the course of a few weeks and I still haven’t quite perfected the amount of olive oil, but I’m getting there. Use a light hand when drizzling—the chips taste better when you get just a hint of oil. I’ve yet to explore various seasoning blends because plain old salt is rather perfect.

bonapetit.com

These "perfect" pan-roasted chicken thighs from the June 2011 issue of Bon Apetit were pretty darn perfect. I made them twice in one week because the first batch had me instantly craving more. If you don’t own a splatter screen for your skillet, you’re going to want to get one before trying this recipe. Also, wear an apron. They’re worth the mess. I ate a cold thigh for lunch and the skin was still crispy!

thepioneerwoman.com

I posted about these oatmeal whoopie pies earlier in the month because I made them for the Super Bowl. They still count as a new recipe for February, though! And I technically made TWO new recipes because I made both the cookies and the frosting from scratch. So really, I nailed this whole four-recipes-in-February thing.

:-/ Maybe that’s a stretch. I’ve been trying to keep track of what we’ve been eating for dinner the last two months to help me see what meats and veggies we’re missing out on. We’ve been having a lot of chicken lately thanks to a sweet sale on breasts and thighs at Weiss. Chicken soup, chicken burritos, chicken tikka masala, red curry chicken and fried chicken.

What new recipes did you try this month? Do you have any go-to recipes you wouldn’t mind sharing?