Baking Banana Bread (A.K.A. Flour, Flour, Everywhere)

At 15 months my daughter Caleigh is in that fun stage where she loves to help with things! Everything is new and exciting which means she actually listens when I tell her to put her toys away. I am waiting for the shoe to drop on that one, but in the meantime I'm enjoying her obedience.  Luckily this enthusiasm carries through to the kitchen. From a young age she loved watching me cook. The stand mixer was a marvel to her and I think she would've watched it for hours if I had let her. As she's gotten more mobile and her fine motor skills have developed she has naturally gotten more inquisitive about cooking and become very eager to participate in the fun. Which brings me to our baking fun for the day!

Like most people with toddlers in their house we are never short on bananas-Caleigh has loved them since the first time I smashed them up and spoon-fed them to her. Sometimes though I am a little overzealous about the amount of bananas I buy and we can't get through them all before they turn too brown to eat. (Not that Caleigh wouldn't eat them, but I can't stomach watching her eat them when they are that ripe...ick) That was the situation we found ourselves in today-three bananas growing browner by the second as they sat sadly on our counter. I decided, rather than tossing the offending bananas into the trash, it was the perfect opportunity for Caleigh to help me make banana bread!

I've been using the same banana bread recipe for years now off of the simply recipes website (http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/) and we stuck with that recipe for our baking today. First things first we had to mash up our three bananas. I was in charge of peeling the bananas and putting them in the bowl, but once that was complete Caleigh had free reign with the masher. I set the bowl on the floor and passed the masher over. She was not very effective on her own, but together we managed to mash them into sufficient banana mush. Next we measured out 1/3 cup of butter and melted it in the microwave. Caleigh had fun pushing the buttons on the microwave and banging on the butter container with her hands, but other than that I managed most of this step. Once the bowl with the melted butter had cooled enough, we dumped it into the smashed bananas and I helped Caleigh stir them together with a big spoon. Next we added 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1 beaten egg. I did all the measuring, but the pouring was all Caleigh. At this point she did try and steal the teaspoon to put in her mouth (the poor girl is molaring-my word for getting your molars in-after all), but I managed to distract her by getting out new and exciting ingredients like baking soda and salt. After I got those out I remembered that I should preheat the oven so I quickly turned the oven to 350 then we resumed our mixing. Once again I measured out the teaspoon of baking soda necessary and she poured it in. Then I added the pinch of salt and we moved on to the next step-flour! We used whole wheat flour for our bread, but you can use any kind really. The recipe calls for 11/2 cups of flour so to extend the fun I used the 1/2 cup so she got to do some extra pouring. It was with the pouring of the third cup that disaster struck. As she attempted to flip the measuring cup over she lost control and poured flour all over herself, the stuffed animal she'd insisted on bringing in the kitchen with her, and the floor! It was, to say the least, a hot mess. But we quickly recovered our wits and added what I guesstimated the lost amount of flour to be into our banana bowl. Then we stirred, stirred, stirred until all the ingredients were well combined. Caleigh needs my help to effectively stir, but she still has fun trying. Next up I sprayed the bread pan with some Pam and I poured the batter into the pan. Caleigh was VERY interested in this part, but I thought the bowl would be too big for her to handle without making a mess so I did it myself while she watched. Unfortunately I was so engrossed in what I was doing I didn't notice how far forward Caleigh was leaning to see what I was doing and she plopped her hand right in the batter. I had a good laugh over the expression on her face as she felt the gooey substance-she was not pleased! I rinsed her hand and we moved on. I stuck the bread in the oven and Caleigh helped me press the timer buttons for the bread to bake for 1 hour. One hour later we removed the bread and after letting it cool, flipped it out onto a plate. Then came the best part-eating our creation! We saved it for an after dinner treat and enjoyed every bite! Caleigh even gave some to our dog (her favorite meal activity is throwing food to our dog...I'm sorry to say she learned this from my husband and I. Don't tell the vet!)

All in all it was a successful baking experience and we documented Caleigh's abilities for our next baking adventure!

Banana Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes (shorter if you aren't having a child help you)
• Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

(http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/)

                                                   Here's Caleigh enjoying our creation!