If I said something about yeast it would probably just be gross...

I baked bread last night. I'm not sure what the motivation was but at some point when I got home from the basketball game and while I was trying to make up for not eating lunch so I could go for a run I decided I needed to bake bread. (Ahhh, so while I was making up for not eating lunch clearly it was an I wish I had some good bread and butter to eat pre-run because that will not make me feel ill.)

So I had to go to Safeway and buy flour and yeast and pulled my old trick of picking the wrong line. I need to not do that. The one time I told the cashier that I always pick the wrong line he was totally insulted. I don't do that anymore.

Anyway, flour & yeast secured, I managed to not kill the yeast by using too much hot water. The dough actually rose fantastically. Somehow I'd also discovered a no-knead recipe which was nice because I don't have the right kind of board to knead bread on.

Here are before:

And after photos:

Anyway, then I shaped the dough into loaves (and I have a good amount saved in the fridge for next weekend), let it rest for a while to rise some more and baked it in the oven with a semi-steam bath. Let's say that could have been more successful had I had a broiler pan maybe.

But the breads came out nice. They sort of expanded out instead of up but they are delicious. So I will be eating that all week, along with my banana bread which I have promised to bring to work tomorrow.

I am so crafty, though easily impressed too. Katie made homemade oreos.

Chocolate Marble Banana Bread aka I need to host brunch soon.

I've had these brown bananas hanging around for a few days and clearly I knew what I was going to do with them. BANANA BREAD.









Again I had my healthy add-ins confused and thought I needed applesauce (what is this, pumpkin bread?) but no, it was plain yogurt which I of course didn't have.



So I went to the grocery store after I bought the cats a laser pointer.
They weren't particularly interested. Well, only a little bit - they didn't go nuts.






(Creaming the butter & sugar)



But while I was searching for healthy banana bread that used applesauce instead of butter/oil (you'll see I didn't find it) I came across this super fantastic AND EASY idea for chocolate marble banana bread.

Recipe:
Combine: 2 c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon & set aside
Cream: 1/2 c (that's 1 stick) butter and 1 c sugar, then add 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla
Then: Mash 3ish soft bananas and add 1/2 c plain yogurt

Add bananas and dry mixture to butter/sugar - alternating wet & dry mixtures.
Then stir in 1/2-3/4 c chocolate chips (I used mini ones) and 1/2 to 3/4 c chopped walnuts to batter.

Now comes the marble part - melt 1/2 c chocolate chips in the microwave, then stir in approx 1 c of the banana bread batter - you've got chocolate banana bread.
Spoon regular and chocolate batters into a pan, then use a knife to cut across (thus marbling) the batter.



(In the oven - I actually had to take out the top rack because it puffed so high.)




Bake in 325 degree oven for 50-60-70-80 minutes... I'm convinced this cooks too low since it always takes FOREVER to bake this bread (such that I've taken it out while still kind of raw a few times) and our new oven cooks hot so it shouldn't have taken as long as it did.

EAT. Deliciousness.