Banana Yeast Bread

I found this recipe for banana yeast bread at Monet's anecdotes and apple cores on my computer this morning and by this afternoon I was enjoying a wonderful PBJ sandwich on my own freshly baked bread. Thank you Monet, modern technology, my pantry, mixer and oven. And don't forget the ripe bananas on my counter! Now if this isn't the most delightful combination of flavors all combined into one sandwich made with fresh home made bread, I don't know what is! I had all the ingredients in my kitchen except the white whole wheat flour so I substituted Irish whole meal flour and all-purpose flour from King Arthur's Flour. My grandchildren will love this bread and it will be a pleasure to serve it to them.


I had fun taking these photos of the bread making process, starting with the mashed bananas and ending with the sandwich.



The dough was sticky and had big chunks of soft ripe banana, that's why you don't want to over mash your bananas.



I added more flour to get the dough to come together in my mixer. I kneaded it until it was smooth and soft, around 5 minutes.



I kneaded it a few times on the counter and placed it in an oiled bowl, covered it and let it rise for approximately 1 hour.




I removed it from the bowl, kneaded it a few turns and formed it into a loaf to fit into a 8x4 inch loaf pan.



I covered it and let it rise for another hour before preheating the oven to 350°F.




The dough rises up in the pan and even more in the oven forming a beautiful golden loaf of fragrant banana yeast bread in just 35-40 minutes.




Wow, these slices of bread look good but they look like they're waiting for something....




Peanut butter and jelly!




I can't believe I'm going to Hawaii next week where I'll be putting on a bathing suit! This is my last post for awhile and the next one just has to be salad!


Here are the ingredients and directions

2 teaspoons instant yeast
3 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup lukewarm water
3 cups white whole wheat flour, I used 2 cups Irish whole meal and 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 ripe bananas, slightly mashed

Place the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 pinch of sugar, cover with the water and mix.
Set aside until foamy.

Add the flour, salt, honey, cinnamon and banana to the bowl. Stir everything together and mix, using the dough hook until you have a smooth and soft dough, around 5 minutes. I started with 3 cups of flour but added the additional cup of flour because the dough was too sticky, may have been my choice of flours? The final dough should be smooth, not sticky.

Place the dough on the counter and knead it by hand a few more times. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 & 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl, place it on a lightly floured surface, knead it a few times, form into a loaf and place into a lightly greased 8x4 inch loaf pan. Cover the pan with a damp towel and allow to rise for another hour, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 350°F, bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from the oven to a cooling rack, let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

PS. The 'J' in my PBJ was D'Arbo Black Cherry Fruit Spread!