Finally Fall

Up at 8am on a Sunday gave me the chance to mess around in the kitchen before people started waking up and if there is any chance that I might be able to bake something before they do wake, I have to at least try. The latest issue of Cooking Light had a couple different banana bread recipes and this is the one for which I had most of the ingredients. Yes, I didn't have peanut butter, but I had spiced rum. It's the sort of household I run.

This recipe really turned out. It uses a lot of mashed bananas- and let's face it, when you have one black banana, you usually have 2 or 3. The orignal recipe used plain yogurt but I did not have that on hand, so I went with the dairy product I always have in my fridge: sour cream. I'll put sour cream on just about anything- strawberries, pizza, sweet potatoes ect. And it really works here too. You're just gonna have to trust me. Or substitute the yogurt back in!

Bananas Fosters Bread

Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe from October 2010

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
• 1/4 cup cognac or dark rum, divided
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter, and 3 tablespoons spiced rum in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add sour cream, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter, remaining 1 tablespoon cognac, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over the warm bread