I'm a real jerk sometimes. I look at my dwindling stocks of something and decide that I just can't share with everyone. Sometimes, I go ahead and do it anyway, like this weekend when I saw thatI only had maybe enough of my chamomile infusion to make maybe one more cocktail and almost refused to make one for a guest.
My wife got to me before I could do that though.
Or the time when I decided that I could only share my bourbon banana bread with just a few of the people at work instead of the entire team. And sadly that didn't even include my really good friend (who I couldn't figure out a way to call over without alerting everyone else as well).
So since she is leaving this week for a job that promises both more stress and more fun I feel it is only right that I make up for that earlier slight by bringing in two whole loaves of the tasty treat. And since I'm trying to be a nice guy for a change, I figure that I should also share with you, my fellow bourbon lovers. My guess is that you already have the most important ingredient on hand.
Bourbon Banana Bread
Dry ingredients
2.25 cups flour
1.67 cups turbinado sugar
1 tsp salt
2.5 tsp baking powder
1.25 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp SaCo cultured buttermilk blend
Wet ingredients
3 bananas (2 mashed, 1 diced)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp high-proof bourbon (I used Knob Creek single barrel because 120 proof means more flavor and less water)
1.5 tsp vegetable oil
.5 cup (4 oz) plain non-fat yogurt
.67 cup skim milk
- Preheat oven to 350°F, spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray
- Melt butter in a frying pan and add diced banana. Cook over medium heat, turning frequently, until the bananas start to caramelize. Sprinkle a little turbinado sugar over them and pull off of heat.
- fold together mashed and caramelized bananas
- Mix together dry ingredients
- Mix together wet ingredients.
- When the oven is preheated mix together wet and dry ingredients
- immediately pour into 2 loaf pans
- bake 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the top comes out clean
Once you mix the wet and dry ingredients together, speed is essential as there will be a chemical reaction going on between the baking powder, baking soda, the buttermilk powder and the wetness that will cause the mixture to be very light and foam-like. This is what provides lift to the bread and if you wait too long, you will have flat loaves. Still yummy, but harder to show off.