Cinnamon Chip Banana Bread

This week was my son's last week of 8th grade football. As a mom, I am scared everyday when I send my kids out the door. They face so much in school. I love seeing them grow amid the challenges that come with early adolescence, but I do a fair amount of worrying, too.

You'd think that having a son in football would only add to the worries, but amazingly it didn't. Picking my sweaty (and smelly!) son up after 2 hours of practice every day was nothing but a positive experience.  When I asked how his day went, he'd reply, "Great!"  When I asked how football went, he'd say,"Fun!"  He'd then tell me about what he'd learned that day in class and on the field. I'd share with him some of my junior high and high school experiences that related.  And when we got home (after a snack), he'd get right on his homework. He has been managing his time so well because he has had to. 

At his football games, I never once heard a coach be anything but constructive and positive. His coaches would put their arms around the boys individually to offer advice. More than once, my son told us about specific praise from a coach for improvement in his playing skills. 

So for this last week of football, I wanted to do something special for his two main coaches. And, being from the South, I show pretty much any emotion (be it gratitude, grievance, or sympathy), with food. 

Since I had 7 bananas to use, I decided a loaf of cinnamon chip banana bread would be appropriate. 

I had just enough batter to make two large loaves (one for each of his coaches) and two tiny loaves (so my kids didn't feel jipped). 

We loved it, as I'm sure the coaches did. And you will, too!

Here's the recipe: 

Cinnamon Chip Banana Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

7 ripe bananas, mashed

4 eggs

2 scant cups sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup sour cream

4 cups flour (I did half whole wheat, half white)

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 cups cinnamon baking chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Prepare two loaf pans with cooking spray and flour.

2. Mix bananas, eggs, sugar, and oil well with an electric mixer. Stir in sour cream.

3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir well into wet mixture. Stir in cinnamon chips.

4. Bake 50-60 minutes, until tops no longer look wet and return to shape when touched. 

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Buttermilk Biscuits with Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil. We've been hearing for a few years about its health benefits. I just read this morning about this study in which coconut oil was shown to reduce waist circumference. (!!)  

Other benefits abound, some of which can be found here.

So what if you could have a delicious, moist, buttermilk biscuit, which historically was made with lard or vegetable shortening, and eat it GUILT FREE?  Would you try it? I would. And I did. And it was good.

Here's the recipe:

Buttermilk Biscuits with Coconut Oil

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups  all-purpose unbleached white flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sea salt

3/4 cup coconut oil, room temp

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.  Prepare cookie sheets with cooking spray or parchment paper.

2. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl with a wire whisk.  

3. Using a pastry blender, cut the coconut oil into the flour mixture until it looks like fine crumbs.  

4. Stir in buttermilk, and form the dough unto a ball. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/2 inch thick.  Cut out biscuits with a round cutter or a a cup. 

5. Place on baking sheet, just touching. Bake 11-13 minutes, until light brown. 

6. Butter tops while hot, if desired. 

I had one sans honey with my meal, and shared this one with the hubs for dessert.

The yummiest of sandwiches. :)

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