Pioneer Woman Banana Food

BANANA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Grease and flour bundt pan.Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating for a few seconds after each addition. Add mashed bananas and beat.Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.Add dry ingredients and sour cream alternately to the mixing bowl. Beat well until all combined.Pour into bundt pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.Invert on a cooling rack and allow cake to cool slightly before slicing and serving with softened butter.

BANANAS FOSTER

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar. Stir together and cook for a minute or two. Pour in the cream and stir it around to combine.
• Peel the bananas and slice them on the bias inside the peel. Drop the slices into the pan. Next, add the chopped nuts and stir them into the sauce. Then - and this is where you need to be a little careful - stir in the rum. Let it start to bubble, and then carefully use a long lighter to ignite it. (Be sure to have a lid handy in case you need to extinguish the flame.) Let the fire burn and go out (it'll only take about 30 seconds or so), and then stir in the cinnamon at the end. You may also cook the mixture without flambeing it.
• Spoon it over a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream and enjoy immediately.
• Spoon bananas Foster over French toast, waffles or crepes. Substitute peaches, pears or cherries for the bananas. Of course, then it probably wouldn't be considered bananas Foster.

BANANAS FOSTER

Steps:

• *Be careful with the open flame*In a heavy skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and stir together. Add cream and continue cooking, then stir in bananas and chopped walnuts. Mixture should be bubbly. (The steps so far should take less than 2 minutes; this is quick!)Pour in rum and stir to combine. Carefully tip the skillet slightly toward the open flame of the burner to ignite the alcohol in the pan, then let the mixture flame for 30 seconds or so (it should go out on its own.) You can shake the pan a bit to get it to calm down. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon.Serve sauce immediately over vanilla ice cream or French toast. (Sauce does keep in the fridge, though. Delicious!)* Note: You can omit the flame step altogether if you prefer. Just let the sauce cook for a minute or two--still utterly delicious!

THE BEST BANANA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
• Whisk together the flour, pecans, granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt and nutmeg in a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, melted butter, buttermilk, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl; stir in the mashed bananas. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined (it's OK if there are some lumps).
• Pour the batter into the buttered pan and lightly tap the pan on the counter to evenly distribute the batter. Bake until browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out completely clean, about 1 hour. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

PIONEER WOMAN'S BANANA PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 F.
• Separate 3 of the eggs and set the whites aside.
• Add the remaining whole egg to the yolks.
• Stir 1/2 cup sugar with the flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a saucepan.
• Whisk in the whole egg and 3 yolks, followed by the milk.
• Bring the mixture to a simmer on the stove, whisking frequently until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes.
• Remove the mixture from the heat and add the vanilla.
• Spread the pudding in a 1-1/2-quart casserole dish in a thin layer.
• Arrange a layer of vanilla wafers on top of the pudding.
• Place the bananas on top of wafers after thinly slicing them crosswise, about 1/8-inch thick.
• Continue layering wafers, bananas, and pudding, ending with pudding, after spreading one-third of the remaining pudding over the bananas.
• Beat the reserved egg whites until stiff with the remaining salt to make the meringue.
• As you beat, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and continue beating until the whites do not slide out of the mixing bowl when it is tilted.
• Place the meringue on top of the pudding and spread it over the top, making a few decorative peaks.
• Bake for 5 minutes, or until the meringue is lightly browned.
• Serve and enjoy.

BANANA MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly brush a 12-muffin tin with butter and set aside.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Whisk the banana, oil, milk, eggs, salt, and vanilla in a large measuring cup with a spout or another bowl.
• Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the center; then stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened but still lumpy. Do not overmix the batter or your muffins will come out dense. Gently stir in the nuts. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin.
• Put the muffins in the oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking. (Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin to check if it is done. Toothpick should come out clean). Cool muffins in the pan on a rack for a couple minutes. Turn the muffins out of the pan and cool on the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Copyright 2003 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved