MY BEST DARN BANANA BREAD (FLOURLESS!)

Hello, dear reader. Hope you're enjoying the beginning of summer. I'm about to take little trip to visit family in Illinois, and I'm so looking forward to it. Despite the heat and the 95% humidity, I love Illinois in the summer. Probably what I miss most about midwestern summers is summer thunderstorms. After a hot sticky day, there's nothing quite like running outside into heavy rain and thunder, tromping around barefoot and feeling the thunder rumble. And the whole time it's still 80-something degrees, so the wetness is a welcome refreshment.

The forecast calls for storms this week. I can't wait!

The other thing I'm most looking forward to is driving out in the middle of no where (you don't have to go far), in the middle of the night, sitting out by a silent field and watching the stars. Nate and I tried to get that kind of quiet the other night in the bay area (to see the recent anticipated meteor shower, which we didn't see), and we totally struck out. Too close to city lights and noises, and not enough time to go up a mountain just for an evening view.

Of course I'm hoping that those thunderstormy skies clear up enough for me to get a star fix.

Since I'm leaving for more than a week, these last few days have involved a lot of strategic cooking in order to use up all the food we have in our kitchen without having to throw anything out before leaving town. Naturally we had some ripe bananas, so I used them up on my favorite banana bread recipe. I've baked this recipe several times now, learning and tweaking a little bit each time. This time it was so delicious that I decided it was blog-worthy.

I've made this recipe with and without chocolate chips and walnuts, and with both; every combination works well. This time I left them out, since I was feeling more of a classic banana bread taste.

Enjoy any little trips you might be taking in these early weeks of summer!

MY BEST DARN BANANA BREAD (FLOURLESS)

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
4 ripe bananas, smashed (very ripe (read: almost black) = best)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1- 2 tablespoons bourbon*
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1 3/4 cups dry oats, blended (in a blender or food processor) to powdery consistency
optional 3/4 cup chocolate chips or walnuts

* just for flavor; it mostly bakes out, but if you particularly dislike bourbon, use only 1 tablespoon

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a big bowl, mash the bananas. Don't make them too smooth - there should be some small chunks. Stir in the melted coconut oil. Mix in sugar, egg, vanilla, bourbon, baking soda, and salt, and spices. Gradually fold in powdered oats. If using, stir in chocolate chips or nuts last.

Bake in a greased 4x8 inch loaf pan for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

HOW TO MAKE VANILLA EXTRACT

Last Christmas, I made vanilla extract to give to friends and family as Christmas gifts. It really was so easy, and it's inexpensive. The trick is that you need to allow a few months' time for the alcohol to extract enough flavor from the beans (2 - 4 months, specifically: after 8 weeks it is perfectly usable, but the flavor gets stronger the longer you let it go). So, for those of you who might have some summer free time and want to get WAY ahead on your Christmas gifts, now's a good time to start!



Making vanilla extract yourself is great for lots of reasons, whether you're planning to gift it or not. First, it really is pure vanilla extract - much better quality than you can find at your local grocery store... unless you're paying a fortune or you happen to be reading this from Mexico...  And, believe it or not, it can be much cheaper this way, too, especially if you are making a lot at once.

Homemade vanilla extract has the strongest, most wonderful velvety smell and flavor. Plus, of course, your house will be filled with the scent while you're making it. Mmm...

HOMEMADE VANILLA EXTRACT:

--unflavored vodka, 80 proof or higher (at least 40% alcohol) - can be really cheap vodka
--vanilla beans
(750 ml vodka / 12 vanilla beans)

Slice the beans lengthwise. Place in glass bottles or jars. Fill bottles/jars with vodka. Beans should be completely covered with alcohol, so you may need to cut the beans into shorter pieces, depending on the size of your bottles/jars. Seal the lid tightly. Shake well. Store in a dark place to steep for 2 - 4 months, shaking well once a week.

You may remove the beans and strain the extract (through muslin), but the bits and pieces of the bean floating around in there only give it a stronger flavor.


WHERE TO GET VANILLA BEANS
Vanilla beans tend to be exorbitantly priced at grocery stores, so I do recommend buying online. There are several varieties and a range of sources to buy from online. I bought Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans from Amazon, during a holiday-time sale. To read more about varieties of beans, as well as how to use and store them, these FAQs on Beanilla are an excellent source.

My advice: order in bulk, and have some leftover to use for other things in your own kitchen!

ABOUT BOTTLES
I loved the little bottles I got from Specialty Bottle. I used the 4-oz. Boston Round bottle for most of my extract, but I also ordered some 2-oz. bottles for me to keep and and refill continually. In addition, I filled a couple of ball jars for myself, so I'm set on extract for a long time.



HOW TO USE EXTRA VANILLA BEANS

In most recipes, you can use pure vanilla - scraped directly from the bean pod - instead of extract. I use  vanilla beans in most of my baking, and I especially try to use them in recipes which showcase a vanilla flavor, like vanilla ice cream. 

The empty pods actually have lots of flavor left in them after the "guts" have been scraped out, so I like to put them in my sugar canister and let them infuse vanilla into the sugar. Vanilla sugar - there's another gift idea! :)



TIPS FOR GIFTS
I used in 4 oz. bottles for gifts, so I placed 2 vanilla beans in each bottle. One 750 ml bottle of vodka = about 25 oz., so it does about 6 of these bottles.

As for labels, you can of course print them (or have them printed) on adhesive paper. I printed mine on regular paper, then ModPodged them onto the bottles. They came out very nicely, though some of the ink rubbed off a little if I used too much pressure with the paint brush. You can find tons of label templates online. I designed mine myself. 

(Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the extract 

when it was "dressed up" with ribbons, etc. for gifting, 

so I just snapped a photo of the ones I have in my cupboard.)