Banana Bread & House Guests

Last week my dear friend Karen came for a visit with her husband, Alex, and their two adorable kids, Amelia and Christian. It was a great visit, and a wonderful opportunity to get to know Karen's children better. I taught Christian how to make smoothies and Amelia all the different ways a sarong can be tied. Here's a picture of the kids making their own pizza for Friday night movie night.

In addition to putting together a comfortable guest room, I love to welcome all of our house guests with a homemade baked treat, and the Kim's were no exception. I baked my special banana bread for them. I think it's a quintessential island classic, and perfect for special guests or a weekday breakfast just the same. I got my original recipe over 10 years ago from friends in Jamaica, and have since modified it to make it my own. Here's the version I baked for them. Sorry, I had every intention of posting this recipe prior to Easter (it's a great addition to a brunch menu), but the week just got away from me.

CC's Banana Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup of ground rolled oats (oatmeal), grind whole oats in a food processor/blender until a powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

2 Eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup raw cane sugar

1/4 cup of honey

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tbsp dark rum (a small shot)

2 large ripen bananas mashed (or about 4 local bananas)

1/3 cup shredded coconut (fresh if you can, otherwise dry and unsweetened)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter a 9" x 5" loaf pan and set aside.

3. Sift together all of the dry ingredients.

4. In a mixer or large bowl beat eggs, vanilla, sugar, honey, coconut milk, oil and rum.

5. Beat in dry, sifted ingredients until just blended. Fold in bananas and coconut.

6. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

7. Let stand in the pan for a few minutes, remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Batter can also be used to make muffins, they take about 30 minutes to bake. Substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour and add about 1/4 cup of flax seed meal for a fiber rich, complex carb version!

ENJOY!

CC