A Tale of Two Banana Bread Recipes

It was the best of Times... (early morning, perfect time for Banana Bread!)...


It was the worst of Times... (My bananas were going bad, which is the bast of times to make Banana Bread!)

It was the age of wisdom, It was the age of foolishness... 
(I had a bottle of coconut rum just sitting on my counter doing nothing)

(I had the rum and I know how to use it)
... 

1 Part Cruzan Coconut Rum

1 part Pineapple Juice

1 part Cream of Coconut

Makes a wicked Pina Colada... See, I told you I knew how to use the rum.


But I digress from the Banana Bread, since we know that cooking with rum is fun too!


It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness...

I can make lighthearted heart shaped banana muffins (see photo below), or the golden brown and delicious darker tinted loafs (go back and look at that first photo above)

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

So, in the spirit of Mr. Dickens and his "superlative degree of comparison" (and with a wink and a nod to Mr. Marlin Kirk, beloved 6th grade Literature teacher in Pekin, Illinois 40 years ago, who had me memorize the opening paragraph to "A Tale of Two Cities"); I now present TWO superlative recipes for banana bread...

Caribbean Banana Rum Muffins 


2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 shot Pineapple Rum
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 mashed ripe bananas (just a bit less than a packed cup)
1/2 cup drained of juice, finely diced pineapple
3 tablespoons sour cream
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut


Coconut, pineapple, rum, lemon zest, and moistened with sour cream... Whoop dee Doo, this is really good!


But, sometime you are in the mood for a classic banana bread (doesn't mean you can't tweak it just a bit)...

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

3 large eggs

3 mashed ripe bananas (just a bit less than a packed cup and a half)

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

The Greek Yogurt in this recipe makes for an incredibly moist, creamy tasting bread.  Nothing fried out about this at all!


Whichever recipe you use, 


Cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla or rum and eggs, pre mix all the dry ingredients and add to the wet.  Add all other ingredients and mix well.


bake in a pre heated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes


And, as Mr. Dickens said, "We are all going direct to Heaven"!

...