Banana Cinnamon Chip Bread

It came out good, which means I can share the recipe with you now!

I couldn't get the color in the photo quite right, it's actually an AMAZING orangey color from the cinnamon chips.  It's so cool looking!  Now, those of you that know me, know that I HATE bananas.  Hate hate hate, cannot eat them, they are the one food that I just can not stand.  However, the kneading action of my bread machine made it so there weren't any slimy chunks of bananas and they were spread evenly throughout the dough, leaving the sweetness behind without compromising the consistency of the bread.  I wasn't too thrilled about hand mashing the bananas, or how it smelled when it was in the mixing phase.  But then, I'm in the minority in my feelings on bananas, so let's move on!

For a 1.5 pound loaf:

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 banana yielded this for me, and when it has some brown skin it's perfect for baking!)
1/2 cup Hershey's Cinnamon Chips (chocolate chips would also be amazing)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, cut in to pieces
1 cup bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Select the whole wheat /whole grain cycle on your machine.
Note that I put the cinnamon chips in first - I did this because my whole wheat cycle preheats the the pan before it mixes, so it made my chips all melty before mixing.  There are no chips left, just the cinnamon sugary flavor throughout.   If you would prefer your chips to stay intact, you could put them in last (which is what the recipe called for in the first place), or put them in after your bread is partially kneaded.

I had a hard time finding the Hershey's Cinnamon Chips in stores, but finally had success from Amazon!  I had to order several bags of them, but I'm sure I can figure out what to do with them!  :D

French Toast, and the Bread it Once Was

French Toast WEEKEND!!!  All of my photos of this event are kind of hilarious, as I tried to find a balance between not burning anything, taking photos, stuffing my face, and taking more photos.  Of the 10 photos I took, I'd say 2 are acceptable.  We won't even go in to "good".  I may as well take a moment up front and apologize for my haphazard use of capitol letters in French Toast.  For me it's like Chocolate or Where The Wild Things Are or The Queen; while I have an explanation, it's funnier to let you draw your own conclusions.

FRENCH TOAST!  I like mine to be savory - no maple syrup or added sugar for me.  Just one egg for every slice of bread, a splash of milk (which I actually forgot this time), a dipped piece of bread, thrown in to a buttery pan as you would a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  Flip when the cooked side looks like the photo (or when it looks like it's edible to you), continuing to butter the pan as needed.  Top as you wish.  I realize my instructions are a bit...lacking, I think part of that is with FrenCh ToAst, I always feel like "I'm doin' it wrong", that it comes out great and just how I like, but that even a line cook at a diner would say "really?  THAT'S you technique?"  Whatever.

So - I haven't mentioned the best part yet.  What kind of bread am I using?  ORANGE CINNAMON BREAD!  Yep, last night as we tore in to this for the first time, I realized it would make for perfect breakfast tomorrow.  Also, just a small amount of orange made my whole house smell like citrus last night.  YUM!

Put things in your bread machine for a 1.5 pound loaf on the regular white bread cycle:

1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup water
a quick squeeze from an orange (this was a tbsp at the most)
1 egg
3 tbsp butter - cut up
3 cups bread flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp orange zest
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon (I used my new fancy stuff from Penzeys!)
1 tsp active dry yeast

Orange zest - take your cheese grater with the small holes, and grate ONLY the orange color.  Once you hit the lighter color and then the white - you've gone too far.  That's the pith, and it's gross and bitter.  As you're zesting the orange peel it should be very aromatic and nice.  I ended up using 2 oranges for that much zest, don't be afraid if you can't get it all in one!

Even if you don't make FRencH TOAST with it, it's still amazing by itself.  Yum, bread.