Question for the bakers???

[picksbigwagon]

Last night at the neighborhood bonfire one of the moms brought out fresh from the oven banana bread. I am not a baker but I was thinking to myself that warm banana bread would be absolutely awesome in the morning for deer camp. The problem is the cooking time and I know that if I was up baking at 4 am, the other guys in the cabin would string me up. So here is my question: can I par bake a loaf or three of banana bread abd finish it off in the cabin in like 20 inutes or so?

[highlife4me]

You could get some mini loaf pans. Everybody gets there own mini loaf and it only takes 25 - 30 minutes to bake rather than an hour.

[delcecchi]

Bake it, freeze it, thaw the night before and throw in the oven for 10 min. or so in the morning.

That is my advice.

[nofishfisherman]

yeah I wouldn't par bake it. Either mix it up the night before and bake in smaller loaves in the morning or bake it the night before and just pop it in the oven for a few minutes to reheat.

[Jim Almquist]

How about you just throw a slice in the toaster. Nice and warm with a nice little crust. Butter will melt just fine

[pushbutton]

Not much of a baker so take this for what its worth. I actually did par bake some zucchini bread, not on purpose, just because I am not a baker and hate "trivial things like measuring and timers. Anywho, the bread did not set up properly with this thick oozing type stuff that started to seep out after a couple of days. So, would have to agree with the first two callers, and really like Jim's idea

[PartyWhine]

+1 for the toaster ... it's awesome.

The wife says "No" to the "Finish cooking at camp idea"

Freeze and reheat

BTW ... ever make french toast with bannana bread ? Oh baby.

[picksbigwagon]

Yeah I am leaning towards baking and freezing, wrapping it in foil and throwing it in the oven that morning.......no electricity at the farm

[delcecchi]

I like the french toast idea. Or just a fry pan or griddle with maybe a little butter and toast it up. Hmmm wonder how bacon fat would do instead of the butter?

[picksbigwagon]

Hmmmmmm, bacon, banana's, all that is missing is a little peanut butter........

[Jim Almquist]

It would drive my mom nuts that we would toast her fresh banana nut bread. We would also toast her fresh pumpkin bread.

Then she tried it and was hooked as well

[SkunkedAgain]

One of my fortes is banana bread at the cabin. I typically pre-mix all of the dry ingredients in a ziplock and then mix the eggs, butter, vanilla, and eventually milk right before baking. I slow cook mine at 300 for 1.5 hours because I make a dense bread. I typically set my alarm early, go outside to hand mix, and then slide into the oven and go back to sleep. Most guys like waking up to that fresh-baked bread smell, no matter what they tell you beforehand.

If you don't want to mess with that, either of the above options are good. I don't mind the reheating idea but would likely prefer to make the batter the night before, put it in the fridge, and then just extend the cooking time a bit to account for the cold batter.

My golden advise for banana bread is to freeze bananas that are in the mostly brown stage and then let thaw in a ziplock or bowl. When it comes time to "mash" the bananas, the skins will almost fall apart and the bananas will ooze out. I always squeeze out the banana "juice" from the peels. It sounds and looks gross but is well worth it. You really get a great banana flavor from those thawed, black, oozy bananas!

[BobT]

Something else that can be just as good is bran muffins. I love them hot from the oven.