My Grandmother Quite Possibly made the best Banana Nut Bread on the Planet

It has taken me 30 years, but I’ve finally come close to her recipe.  Not an easy task.  My grandmother didn’t write down any of her recipes.  I only basically remembered by watching and helping.  She also never really measured anything, she just grabbed and dumped.  Her food was fabulous.  Although she never really claimed to be any sort of an expert cook, she could rival some of what is now considered “culinary genius”.   Without further ado, please enjoy…

Neurotic Grandma’s Best Ever Banana Nut Bread

Preheat oven to 350°F

Grab a big bowl and sift together:

1 ¾ c flour

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon (I never really measure this, I always add more or less ½ tsp.)

Set this bowl aside and grab another bowl:

Cream 1/3 c shortening

Gradually add 2/3 c granulated sugar and cream with shortening until fluffy

Add to shortening mixture:

½ tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Beat together well.

Add 1 ½ c mashed banana

Then gradually incorporate the banana mixture with the flour mixture.

Once blended, you can add 1 c chopped walnuts (but this is optional, I make it without nuts for my friends that have allergies to nuts).

Grease and flour a loaf pan (9” x 5” or so), and dump the mixture in.

Bake for an hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Sunday Night Baking Session

So my sister in law walks in the door Sunday night and she has a box of chocolate cake mix in one hand and some toffee chips in the other and asks me to bake her cookies – not just any cookies – but what she proclaims to be the best cookies she has ever had in her life.  This is how it went down….

Neurotic Momma’s Chocolate Cookies

(This will make 3-4 dozen cookies)

What you’ll need:

An oven
A bowl
A wooden spoon
A pair of oven mits
Cookie sheets
Cooking spray (like Pam)
A small plate
A large plate
A spatula
1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 egg
¼ cup water
1/3 cup oil
Granulated sugar

Optional ingredients
You can add the following to equal a cup:
- Chocolate, peanut butter or any other kind of chips (or even M & M’s)
- Peanuts, walnuts, pecans, macadamias or any other kind of nuts
- ½ cup of chips and ½ cup of nuts in any combination
- Use coffee in place of water to make the flavor of the chocolate come out even more

Instructions:

1. Heat your oven to 350°F
2. Dump the cake mix into the bowl
3. Grab the spoon and mix the cocoa into the cake mix (at this point, if you are using optional ingredients, add 1 cup of those and mix)
4. Add the egg, water and oil into the cake mixture and mix (although you will end up using your hands, as the dough gets pretty thick especially with optional ingredients) until the dough forms a ball
5. Set the bowl aside
6. Prep the cookie sheets by spraying on cooking spray lightly so the cookies won’t stick
7. Dump some granulated sugar onto the small plate
8. Grab a gob of the dough (about as much to form a 1 inch ball)
9. Roll it into a ball, then roll it around in the sugar, then put it on the cookie sheet
10. Space the balls out because they will expand a little (you’ll want a couple of inches between each ball)
11. Pop cookie sheets into the oven for about 11-14 minutes (depending on how crisp you want the cookies to be)
12. Put on your oven mits and take cookie sheets out of the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes
13. Carefully remove the cookies with the spatula and place them on the large plate
14. …that’s if they make it to the plate, you’ll probably eat them as soon as you remove them off the cookie sheet