Once again, I glowered at my bunch of blackening bananas.
Adding my own variation to the recipe above, I used half, whole wheat flour, and half, unbleached bread flour, and glazed the dough with a coating of egg wash. The finished loaf is moist and cinnamon scented, and the bananas add some subtle sweetness. In hindsight, the addition of plump raisins would have been lovely.
This bread is wonderful toasted, and makes a tasty grilled cheese sandwich when griddled around sharp white cheddar, a drizzle of honey and sprinkling of sea salt.
Ingredients
1 package of instant yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 Tablespoons of honey
3/4 cup of warm water
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups of unbleached bread flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg beaten into egg wash
Directions
In a large bowl, mix the yeast, warm water, and honey until the mixture blooms and becomes slightly frothy.
To the yeast mixture, add the cinnamon, salt, oil, and mashed bananas.
Incorporate the flour and stir with a spoon or your hand until a dough forms.
Roll the dough onto a floured surface, and knead until it’s elastic, smooth, and not too sticky. The dough will feel dense because of the whole wheat flour.
Place the dough into an oiled bowl, oil the exposed surface of the dough, cover, and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour or until doubled.
Remove the risen dough from the bowl, turn onto a floured surface, and knead for a couple minutes. Place dough in a greased loaf pan, or form into a round, making slits in the top. Cover and let rise for another hour or so.
Uncover, brush with egg wash, and bake at 350 degrees F. for 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F.
Cool on a rack.
Hmmm….how did you know that I had two bananas I needed to find something to do with? I think I will make this today!
YUM! I have some of those pesky bananas, too, and never would have thought that you could use them in yeast bread!!! I don’t have any whole wheat flour but I bet it would work with all bread flour! Thanks for the idea!!!
Bread flour would be perfect! In culinary school, we only stocked bread flour instead of regular all purpose. It worked fine in most anything from cookies to cakes (although there is cake flour with less gluten). I think we did also have whole wheat varieties.
Wow, look at that rise! I love how you try new things all the time.
It’s an oldie I need to revisit. I was admiring your new recipe today! Never tried to make black rice but always enjoyed it at restaurants.