Banana Pineapple Bread

I sought out a banana bread recipe since we had some bananas that were really ripe. I like banana bread but when I ran across this recipe that had pineapple too, I thought that this recipe couldn't be all bad. It is incredibly moist and the hint of pineapple flavor doesn't overpower the banana. I omitted the raisins and added a teaspoon of coconut extract. Very good!

Banana Pineapple Bread

3 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Cups sugar
3 Eggs -- Beaten
1 Cup Oil
2 Cups Mashed Bananas
2 T Vanilla
1 Can Crushed Pineapple (8 ounces)
1/2 Cup Raisins

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Spray 2 loaf pans, with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into pans. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 50-60 minutes.

Grandma's Potato Refrigerator Dough

This is my ultimate, all time favorite bread recipe. It came from my Grandma and she makes these rolls for every holiday. There were a few years when I was younger that I would only eat jellied cranberry sauce and these rolls for Thanksgiving. Grandma does it right and lets it sit in the fridge for a few days but I'm impatient and bake them the same day. While it still tastes good, it tastes better when it's left to ferment for a couple of days.

Potato Refrigerator Dough

1 pkg. dry active yeast
1 ½ cups warm water (105 to 155 degrees)
2/3 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup lukewarm mashed potatoes
7 to 7 ½ cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt, shortening, eggs, potatoes, and 4 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover bowl tightly; refrigerate at least 8 hours or until ready to use. (Dough can be kept up to 5 days covered in refrigerator at 45 degrees or below. Keep covered). Punch down dough; divide into 4 parts. Use ¼ of dough in each of the variations. Let rise for 1 ½ hours before baking. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls 15 to 25 minutes.

Sweet Cornbread

I've only been to Boston Market a few times in my life and the only food I really remember is the cornbread. I was on a mission to find a copy cat recipe and while I was doing so, I actually found one that was better. I like cornbread but sometimes it can be so, well, corny and dry. I like this recipe because the result is sweeter and it's really moist. I wouldn't use this recipe for my Buttermilk Cornbread Dressing but it's really good on it's own with butter. It's really excellent with butter AND honey.

Sweet Cornbread

1 box Jiffy Mix Cornbread Mix
1 box Jiffy Mix Yellow Cake Mix
Ingredients called for on each box

Use a large mix bowl, add both boxes together, and add the other ingredients listed on the box all at once. Pour into a greased 9x9 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees until done, about 30 minutes and test for doneness. Enjoy!

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

This pumpkin bread satisfies my sweet tooth but with a spicy punch. Your whole house will smell like a freakin Yankee Candle when you make this and it just screams fall. It's delicious coming out of the oven and it's even more delicious the next day after the flavors have all melded. This recipe is great for holiday gifts because it makes three loaves.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread
Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Beer Bread

This bread is awesome. It was also one of the participating side dishes in one of the first meals I made James. It's deceptively delicious despite the minimal effort exerted in making it. It's crusty with a hearty flavor that would be perfect for meatloaf or chili. Because it requires no proofing or kneading, this quick bread can easily be a weeknight standard. Mix it up, pop it in the oven and go about your business. Experiment with different kinds of beer. We really liked the light taste of Blue Moon white ale.

BEER BREAD
Makes one 9x5 loaf

3 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 12 oz. bottle of beer (experiment!)

Start with a cold oven. Grease 9x5 loaf pan. Mix all ingredients until you have a lumpy, sort of spongy wet dough. Spoon into loaf pan. Put them in the cold oven and set for 375 degrees F. Leave in oven for 60 minutes. 20 minutes before they're done, brush butter on top of loaves and return to oven.