Thursday, June 2, 2011

"That one last piece of fruit" streusel loaf

[post by Holly]
I'm sure we've all had this happen, you end up with one old lonely abused piece of fruit that someone has forgotten about. That last over-ripe banana, bruised apple or squished peach. You probably just end up tossing it into the garbage or compost. It goes to waste and you vow to buy one less piece of fruit next time. Here is a great easy recipe that will take care of that last piece of fruit.


Most loafs call for a set amount of fruit, like a cup or cup and a half or 3-4 bananas. You can use whatever you want in this loaf since the idea is to use up anything you have, you can even combine fruits. You can add some chopped nuts or raisins to this if you like. Great for breakfast or as a snack with tea.



Banana Steusel Loaf
For my first attempt with this recipe I used an over-ripe banana. As I said above, you can make this loaf with any type of fruit.

Ingredients for loaf:
2 cups flour (I used 1 3/4 all purpose and 1/4 whole wheat)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large or several small pieces of over-ripe fruit
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla


Ingredients for topping:
1/4 cup oats
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions
Start off by preheating your oven to 375


Making buttermilk
I didn't have any buttermilk so I made my own, if you actually have some then ignore this next step!
 We need to make a cup of buttermilk. Grab your measuring cup and measure in a tablespoon of white vinegar. Top it up to the 1 cup line with milk. Give it a stir and let it sit a couple minutes.


Making the loaf
Wash and mash or chop your fruit. I did it right in the mixing bowl of my Kitchenaid, I only had a banana so I just mashed it with a fork. Add your eggs and other wet ingredients to the fruit and mix. I didn't have vanilla so I substituted a splash of vanilla soy milk.

Look at this poor sad guy.
  Add your flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir until just combined.




Pour into a greased metal or pyrex loafpan. I used this awesome silicone one I have, you don't have to grease them! I like to tap my pan on the table to help even out the distribution of the batter.



Now mix your topping ingredients in a small bowl and dump your it on top of your loaf and pat it around until the whole thing is covered. I like to poke it around with a spoon so it's incorporated into the top layers of the loaf instead of sitting on top.




Bake for 40-50 minutes, whenever a toothpick comes out clean.

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