Cranberry Banana Bread

I've recently come to realize that in the same way that photography is the perfect mix of science, math and art, so is baking. It's so cool to mix things together and have them turn into something new. In a weird way I feel like a mad scientist in a lab. Sometimes things work out, sometimes don't, but it's always fun and I always learn a whole bunch.

It's also a really easy way to do something nice for someone. For a few bucks you can make a whole bunch of people happy. Nowadays I think it's easy to get lost in the gadgets and wrapping paper and all of that kinda stuff. Coordinating the whole holiday thing has never been easy for me either, and timing it so everyone's presents arrive when they need to is ridiculously confusing (my brain just doesn't work i this way). Anyway, making cookies or a cake for someone isn't just giving them something delicious, it's giving them the gift of your time and that's a pretty special thing.

Here's an easy banana bread recipe that's really good. It's perfect for "simple" [a.k.a. cranially challenged] people like me who don't have any fancy equipment or lots of time to sift things or be picky. It also has fresh cranberries so it's great for all my New England friends who can get cranberries inexpensively now. You can basically just dump everything in a bowl, mix it up, stick it in an oven and an hour later have something super good to give to someone or enjoy yourself.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. You are all awesome.

(image from edibleportland.com)

(adapted from simply recipes)

Cranberry Banana Bread

3 or 4 super-ripe bananas, mashed up
1/3 cup butter (melted [microwave for 25 or 30 seconds])
3/4 cup plus a few tablepoons brown sugar
1 egg
2.5 tsp vanilla (homemade if you have it [if not I can give you some!!!!])
1 tbsp good, solid bourbon (you can really use any kind of liquor you want though, just make sure it's not cheap tasting. it'll make the whole thing taste weird.)
1 tsp baking soda
a little salt (whatever you can lift between your pointer and your thumb)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
a little bit of ground cloves
a little bit of ground allspice

1.5 cups of flour
1 cup fresh cranberries (make sure to pick deep red ones with no stems and ones that aren't nasty or mushy)

Raw sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

(you can use about 2tsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice if you want. it's a cheap and easy way of getting the same taste out of one jar of stuff).



(a) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the rack right smack in the middle of the oven. 

(b) Mix the butter with the bananas. It's cool if there's some lumps of banana. It all works out in the end.

(c) Stir in everything but the flour and cranberries. (make sure all of the spices get mixed in evenly, there's nothing crappier than hitting a big lump of spices in a cake. ugh.) 

(d) Mix the flour in until everything is smooth. Then mix in the cranberries.

(e) Butter a 8x4 loaf pan (if you're giving this away, they sell really good, cheap disposable ones in the supermarket that work really well with this recipe) and dump your batter in there. Sprinkle a little raw sugar on top if you want. 

(f) Bake for an hour (check between 50-55 minutes depending on your oven, mine's kinda wonky and needs some babysitting. A thin knife or toothpick should come out clean). 

(g) Let it cool (I use a kitchen towel on a cutting board but you can use a rack if you're all fancy and stuff) for like an hour or so? This bread's better eaten at room temperature, so letting it cool completely is the way to go. 

(h) Pull it out of the pan (run a knife around it if it's being tricky) and enjoy the numminess 

(this bread is also super good toasted for breakfast!!!)