Banana Bread

Obviously still on a banana kick, my next recipe from the cook book was this banana bread. Everybody has their tried and true recipe, but I figured I might as well get crackin’ with the recipes in this book since they all have slight variations. Who knows, maybe I’ll find a hidden gem to replace my go-to banana bread recipe.

My Review

This was definitely one of the better banana bread recipes I’ve made. It was easy and the result was better than I expected. Since the recipe used shortening instead of butter, I was expecting the flavor to be a little off, but I couldn’t really tell the difference. This bread also did cook at a lower temperature than I usually cook quick breads, so I was interested to see how that affected it. I did need to cook it longer than the recipe suggested, and even forgot about it, but it came out great.

Rating
Ease:  4
Attractiveness: 4
Taste: 4

Original Recipe

My Tips

• Increase the cook time. The middle was still pretty wet when I first checked it at the recommended time. I added about 15 minutes to the cook time.

Hobo Bread

Amidst my busy life, I somehow managed to find an afternoon (well, about two hours) to myself. Just me and the dog. How did that happen?! I immediately took the opportunity to bond with my kitchen and pick the next recipe from this cookbook to make.

Because I felt like being mildly lazy, I decided I wasn’t going to run out and get any ingredients. Turns out I had everything on hand to make Hobo Bread.

What is Hobo Bread? I still don’t know, but it’s tasty. Flour, salt, sugar, one egg, some raisins, water, baking soda, and shortening. Every hobo I know always has those on hand, so, maybe that’s how it got its name. The recipe called for this bread to be baked in three greased 2.5 cans. I opted for a loaf pan because unlike the church cooks of North Dakota in the 1970’s, I do NOT use ‘cream-of-something’ soup every single night, so I do not have those cans on hand. However, I’m sure that didn’t alter the taste…too much anyway.

   

My Review
Have you ever had Irish Soda Bread? If not, you’re missing out. If so, this tasted like a poor man’s Irish Soda Bread. The texture was that of a quick bread – think banana bread – and the flavor was sweet, but not overly so. It almost tasted like there was molasses or brown sugar in it, but obviously there wasn’t. The bread had a nice firm crust and was really moist (I hate the word and can’t believe I just used it) inside. A perfect snack bread if you ask me.

This Hobo Bread was so easy to make, I’ll definitely keep it on hand for those times when I have a hankering for a slightly sweet snack. Added bonus: the boys were a big fan, too! I don’t know Janice Plecity, but I thank her for this recipe 🙂

Rating
Ease: 4
Attractiveness: 3
Taste: 4

Original Recipe

 

My Tips

• If you use a loaf pan like I did, bump up the cooking time to at least an hour. I baked mine for 60-65 minutes.
• Let the bread cool for at least 5 minutes before removing it from the pan to finish cooling on a wire rack.