Peanut Butter and Banana Bread





From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I wish all delicious things could be beautiful and appealing to the eye. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. This quick bread is a perfect example of what I mean. It is wonderfully moist and flavorful, but it is homely in the extreme, and when these ingredients are used, there's not much that can be done to improve its appearance. The combination of bananas, peanut butter and chocolate is irresistibly tasty, but as you can see, they turn the batter a blotchy, muddy tan that is less than pleasing to the eyes. I normally wouldn't bother with something like this, but the bread has such outstanding flavor, that I keep granting it clemency, and bake it over and over again. The recipe was developed by Beth Lipton and I found it at the library in her book, You Made That Dessert?. I really like the earthiness of this bread and I recommend it to you, but with a caution or two. First, do not attempt to make this with natural peanut butter. It is too thin to work as a butter replacement in this recipe. Second, avoid using regular chocolate chips if you can. They will blotch more than the miniatures as the loaf bakes and you'll end up with a hot mess on your hands. Last, and, most important of all, the bread should sit for a day before it is eaten. The flavor improves remarkably when it's given the opportunity to ripen. This is a moist loaf and it keeps well if properly wrapped. I think you will like this. Here's the recipe.



Peanut Butter and Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts ...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Beth Lipton



Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use "natural")

2/3 cup sugar

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or chopped pecans (optional)

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips (optional)



Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mist a 5 x 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

2) Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl until combined.

3) Place peanut butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until well-blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in mashed banana and eggs; mix well.

4) Using a wooden spoon or flexible spatula, stir flour mixture into the peanut butter–banana mixture, mixing until just combined, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in chopped nuts and/or chocolate chips, if using. Scrape batter into the pan and smooth top.

5) Bake 45 minutes. Cover pan loosely with foil and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool bread on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan. It helps to run a paring knife around edges of pan to loosen bread before turning it out. Invert bread onto a wire rack. Carefully turn bread right-side up. When cool, slice and serve. Yield: One 9-inch loaf. Serves 8.















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Two Years Ago Today: Apple Custard Pie with Streusel Topping

















Your might also enjoy these recipes:

Banana-Applesauce Bread - My Kitchen Adventures

Wonderful Pistachio and Banana Bread - Nibbles and Feasts

Vegan Mango and Banana Bread - The Sweets Life

Orange-Glazed Banana Nut Bread - One Perfect Bite

Marbled Banana Nutella Bread - Sugar Plum

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Scandinavian Shrimp Salad









From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite... This lovely salad is inspired by those that are served in Scandinavia during the summer months. I classify it as a summer salad because it uses fresh dill heads and they are a seasonal ingredient. The heads, seen to the left, are more strongly flavored than the feathery fronds you can always find in your grocer's produce aisle. They are used primarily for pickle making. They have a wonderful fragrance that is as easily identifiable as that of tarragon or cilantro. The salad defines simplicity, both in its use of ingredients, and the effort required to make it. Cooked shrimp, from the fish market, can be used to make it if you are running short of time. I tend to use less mustard in this dish than many others do. I like dill to be the dominant background flavor in this salad and it already has to compete with the strong flavors of the cornichons and capers. A little mustard, here, will go a long, long way. We are talking shrimp, not hot dogs. I like to serve the salad as a topper for open faced sandwiches. It can, of course, also be served on a bed of lettuce if you would prefer. I know those of you who try this salad will love it. The shrimp and cucumbers give it lovely texture and it is truly a gift from the sea. Here's the recipe.



Scandinavian Shrimp Salad...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Bon Appetit



Ingredients:

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon water or stock

1/4 cup fresh dill heads, chopped

1 to 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 pound medium-size shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked

1 cup sliced English cucumbers, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into thin slices

1/3 cup cornichons (gherkins), sliced

1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed



Directions:

Thin mayonnaise with water or stock. Add dill, Dijon mustard to taste and lemon juice; whisk to combine. Add shrimp, cucumber, cornichons and capers; toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Yield: 4 servings.



















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Two Years Ago Today: Blue Cheese Steak Sandwiches















You might also enjoy these recipes:

Chilled Calamari Salad with Lemon and Parsley - Gina's Skinny Recipes

Santa Barbara Salad - Ciao Chow Linda

Debo's Seafood Salad - Christine's Pantry

Tequilla Lime Crab Salad - Hugging the Coast

Crab Salpicon - The Winter Guest

Challenge 48 - Tipper Week

Good Morning Top Tippers
Are you ready for another fab challenge this week?

Don't forget our Birthday Bash is getting closer - 6th Sept - What will our challenge be? You decide...Vote NOW...£100's of prizes...Don't miss out!!!


Tipper Week


We on the TTT DT love our Tipper Weeks - it's when we get to share with you our favourite tips!

But don't forget we'd love you to share your Top Tips with us too
Write your Top Tip in your blog post, link the post adding (TIP) after your name and if you make a project using our theme too you'll get the chance of 2 prizes!!!


This Week's Challenge


'Masculine Card'

 
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Random.Org Prize............




 Stamp and Create is a fairly new on-line store.
We specialize in Rubber Stamps and Scrapbook supplies. Some of the companies we carry are: Wags 'n Whiskers Rubber Stamps, High Hopes Rubber Stamps, Whiff of Joy, The Greeting Farm, Penny Black clear stamps, Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, Stampavie, My Heart Stamps for You, Basic Grey, Ribbon, Charms, Shimmerz, and more!



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Top Tipper Prize............

Stash Books


celebrate handmade



who is offering our featured tipper an amazing book:







Stash Books is an imprint of C&T Publishing located in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you’re craving beautiful authenticity in a time of mass-production…Stash Books is for you. Stash Books is a new line of how-to books celebrating fabric arts for a handmade lifestyle. Backed by C&T Publishing’s solid reputation for quality, Stash Books will inspire you with contemporary designs, clear and simple instructions, and engaging photography.





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Now onto the Top Tip Tuesday Design Team's Masculine projects and Top Tips...



Heike


Tip:
When using punches, turn them upside down, so you can see what you're punching through the hole in the bottom of the punch!



Maggie
Tip:
When heat embossing, gently rub the surface with anti-static bag to remove fingerprints and prevent stray pecks of powder.



Tip:
For a "guy card" use twine or raffia instead of ribbon.  It feeds the need to embellish without the risk of making the card too "girlie".



Tip:
Masculine cards can be difficult to make; however,
 if you include a joke, power tools and a plumber's butt...you can't go wrong!


Bettina
Tip:
When You are creating a background for your stamp, make sure you place the stamp first and then cover it up before you're stamping on it ;)





Tip


#1 - Nesties look great horizontally and vertically together.
#2 - If there is a pattern in clothes or stamp, try to choose DP with the same pattern to coordinate



 
Tip:
Always think odd!
The human brain likes to 'group' things, so when adding gems (or any other embellishment) always use odd numbers - that way the human eye will see one group of 3 rather than 2 groups of 2! This works for anything visual - crafting/gardening/etc.


 

Tip:
#1 - Hand sew your buttons on with jute/twine,
They wont pop off in the post, and this looks better on masculine cards.
#2 - Use a kitchen sponge... like the ones that have the green scourer, to stipple your sky.

 

Elaine
Tip:
Male cards don't need to be dull and drab colours, try some bright and cheerful tones.




Tip:
#1 - Dip the ends of ribbons very lightly into wet craft glue to 'seal' the cut ends and let it dry before adding to your projects.  It will dry clear so you will not see it, but it will prevent the ends of the ribbon from fraying.
#2 - For a more 'masculine' bow, just tie a knot in a ribbon and pull the ends out flat rather than tie an actual bow.



Tip:
Ground your image by adding a shadow on the floor; so that they do not look like they are floating in the air.




Tip:
Using a Digi image and find it smears?!
Why not spray a bit of cheep hair spray over the top to stop the smudging!










Winners for Challenge #47



Good Morning Everyone........

Did we love Maggie's Centre Step Card last week - wasn't it fab!


And you wonderful Top Tippers created some stunning Thank You projects too :)

On to the winners...


Our 1st Prize is...




Inky Impressions is a rubber stamp company carrying images of the cutest little girls and animals. The inspiration of the stamps comes from the owner Nicole's little girl, MarLeigha (LiLi).  Each Wednesday Inky Impressions has an Inky challenge hosted by their own Inkettes and if you participate each week, you are eligible to win a special goodie bag from the store at the end of the month. You can also catch some daily inspiration from all of the Inkettes on the Inky Impressions Inspirational Blog!
 Come play along with the fun and get inky..we dare ya!"


And the lucky winner as chosen by Random.org is......



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This week we had quite a few Tip leavers who didn't mention their tip was for TTT in their post and some who also didn't add 'TIP' after their name when linking :(
We considered ALL tips left in blog posts this week but from now on will ONLY enter those tips linked correctly and who specify in their post that the tip is for TTT.

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And this week's Top Tipper Prize...


who are offering one lucky winner £10 gift voucher to use in their shop.



DewDrop Craftz is a UK online company specialising in digital images with a difference and other crafting goodies.  Authorised distributors of the fantastic Cougar electronic cutters and Foil Master machines.  Now also stocking wall art and tile art - that something a little different to add to your home.



Each week we love you to leave tips!
It couldn't be easier...
Write a Top Tip in your blog post, link that post to Mr Linky with a picture and add (Tip) after your name...
Next time YOU could be the winner!


Top Tip Tuesday's Top Tipper this week is...

Whose fab Top Tip is...


"To add interest to the little squares [an image cut into inchies] and save time: digitally draw a square frame around the cropped sections and space them evenly before you print, then you won’t have to cut each one and mat it separately. Just color and cut neatly around the all four and your grouping is all ready to go."

Well done ----- Great tip!


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Thanks so much to everyone who left a Top Tip on their blog and linked it with (TIP) after their name...We are all be banking some fabulous tips each week :)


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Congratulations girls!

Please contact us at toptiptuesday@hotmail.co.uk to claim your prize!
(In the subject line please write which prize you are claiming)

Either copy & paste the address into your e-mail or use the direct link in the RULES AND CONTACT INFO tab at the top of the page


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Ok so this weeks Top 3 in numerical order...




Beautiful image, beautifully coloured - we all loved the rose too :)


33 - sherryn
Such a fab Centre Step Card - glad you enjoyed the tutorial :)


35 - Delphine

Beautiful colours here and the image is coloured to perfection - look at the 'hue' around her - gorgeous!


 
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Congratulations to all of our winners - please make sure that you take your badges and show them off on your blogs :)

Thank you for stopping by - make sure you come back later for this weeks fabulous tutorial/challenge.