Banana bread

This is a very forgiving recipe that has a lot of room for slighlt wrong amounts, different sized bananas, and tolerance for coooking time. It's a bit of a slow cook but not tricky at all. We make this a couple of times a month, sometimes doubled recipe and freezing some.

Start off with

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar

Cream together. I use a stand mixer but whatever.

Add in and mix well:

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 very ripe bananas

Next add and mix:

• 2 cups flour (up to 1/2 cup whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips

In our household, adults always use walnuts and kids always bake it with chocolate chips.

Pour into oiled/floured loaf pan. Or multiple pans. Or make muffins.

Bake 45 minutes to an hour at 350°F. Use the clean toothpick test. Smaller cooks faster, so cupcakes may be 30 minutes, big loaves closer to the hour mark.

Grant Loaf

A variation of Doris Grant's 1940s no-knead "Grant Loaf". This is a dense whole wheat bread good for toast.

Line a loaf pan with baking paper. I used a 8"x4"x4" "Pullman" pan, which has a lid to use during baking. Recipe in grams and baker's percentages.

Add to a bowl:

• 450 g wholemeal bread flour (100%)
• 5 grams salt (1.1%)

Whisk together to mix and aerate.

Mix in another container:

• 450 ml warm ("hand hot") water (100%)
• 7 grams dried yeast (1.5%)
• 7 grams molasses (1.5%)

Pour the wet into the dry, and mix with a wooden spoon for three to four minutes. The dough will be very wet. Transfer into the pan and cover to rise. I waited about an hour.

While it is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). When adequately risen, bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from pan and return to oven for 5 more minutes to give it a better crust.

Just out of the pan, the top weirdly textured from the baking paper.