Food Archives | Reinventing Erin

Do you know how to make banana bread? I just learned, and I’ll let you in on my new secret recipe.

I’m a shy baker.

I want to be a talentedÂ treat maker. I’d love to makeÂ homemade cookies and pies and bread, but the idea of it all makes me nervous. There is so much I don’t know about baking, so most of the time instead of learning, I just buy my baked goods. But that isn’t the Erin I want to be. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem purchasing yummy deliciousness, but I want enjoy baking when I have the time.

A few months ago an acquaintance posted on Facebook about the banana bread she was making that afternoon. I hadn’t eaten banana bread in years, and because I had a few too-ripe bananas on my kitchen counter, I decided I wanted to make some as well.

Now, I didn’t know how to make banana bread, so I did what I do best â€“ I asked Google. Have you ever googled, “how to make banana bread?” There are tons of recipes out there, and there are so many variations of what to include. I picked what seemed to be the most simple banana bread recipe, and it turned out great. Since then I’ve made banana bread quite a few times. What can I say? I tend to buy bananas andÂ forget to eat them. Every time I’ve baked banana bread I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit, and I think I’m finally happy with the results.

I hope you enjoy!

How to make banana bread: The ingredients

3 ripe (or slightly over-ripe) bananas (sometimes I go crazy and use 4!)

1 egg

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of butter (melted)

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

How to make banana bread: The instructions

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside. It’s going to be important in just a little bit.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Let it warm up while you combine allÂ the ingredients.

While the oven is heating up, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, beatÂ theÂ bananas, egg, sugar, and butter together.

Next, stir the dry mix into the new gooey mixture until everything is combined.

Pour the batter into the greasedÂ pan and pop it in the oven. It’s time to cook this banana bread!

This next part depends on your own oven. It took my oven about 45 minutes to cook the banana bread, but it took a friend an hour in her oven. Do you know how to tell if your banana bread is ready? UseÂ a toothpick to testÂ the center of the bread. If it comes out clean,Â it’s ready!

I’m dying add to thisÂ simple banana bread recipe. The next one I make will either be aÂ chocolate chip banana bread or an apple and peanut butter banana bread.

Do you know how to make banana bread? What variations have you made from the standard recipe? Let me know in the comments!

Trying to eliminate dairy from your diet?

Can you make instant pudding with almond milk? I tried it, and I’ll tell you all about it.

For a while we were wondering if the baby was allergic to cow’s milk. I was trying to eliminate dairy from my diet to see how she reacted to the change. Do you know how hard it is to not eat dairy? Dairy is in everything!

I don’t often think when making decisions. For example, I wanted to make dirt pie for Mr. O for his birthday (talk about a dairy-fest right there!), so I went to the store to buy some pudding. Of course I found a bunch of fun flavors like Banana Cream Pie and Cookies and Cream that I wanted to get and eat on a separate occasion â€“ so I did. It wasn’t until I got home and started to make the dirt pie that I realized the only ingredient I need to make pudding was milk, and a lot of it!

That doesn’t work for a dairy-elimination diet, now does it?

Anyway, since I use almond milk instead instead of cow’s milk for other things like coffee and cereal, I assumed I could use it in pudding as well. I don’t know what made me Google it before trying it, but I’m glad I did.

Turns out, it says right on the package that you can’t use soy milk to make pudding. But what about a different alternative. Can you make instant pudding with almond milk? If you Google it, the answers are varied. Some people say that you can â€“ though you need to use less than you would for cow’s milk. Other posts say that you can use almond milk if you also use cornstarch.

I didn’t know what option was best, so I figured I would try both.

Can you make instant pudding with almond milk? The Instructions

The first thing I did was try theÂ less almond milk option. If you’re wondering how much almond milk to use, it’s simple: use half as much almond milk as you would use cow’s milk. For the box of pudding I used, it meant that I used one cup of almond milk and the packaged powder. The rest of the directions are the same. Simply beat the mixture until it thickens (about 2 minutes for me) and then refrigerate for a short period of time before serving. I wasn’t planning on eating the pudding until later that evening, so I just covered it and left it alone.

Can you make instant pudding with almond milk? The Outcome

Success!

Mixing the one cup of almond milk with the package powder was just as easy as doing it the old way. Refrigerating it was also just as easy.Â The taste was great.

The texture? Well, that is the only thing that was a little bit off. And when I say it was a little bit, I only mean a itty bitty tiny amount different. I think it tasted a little thicker than when using cow’s milk, so I added a tiny bit more almond milk to the mixture. It helped a little, but I still think there is a small difference than the original texture.

Will I do it again? Â You bet I would! I actually really liked the almond milk pudding, and I can’t wait to try the Cookies and Cream flavor. Just remember, if you’re serving this to other people, you’ll need to purchase more pudding since you’re using less milk.

Now, if anyone ever asks you “Can you make instant pudding with almond milk,” you know the answer!

Have you ever used almond milk to substitute for cow’s milk in other recipes? I’d love some more suggestions on what you’ve tried. Let me know in the comments!