Welcome to Clubhouse Eats, where we celebrate the game’s most delectable food and drink. Hope you brought your appetite.
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Some comfort foods are simply more comforting than others. Take banana bread, for example. Just the smell of freshly baked banana bread often brings a smile to most people’s faces. In fact, that’s exactly what happens at Windsong Farm, a private golf club just west of downtown Minneapolis, where banana bread has always been on the menu — originally as a quick treat served with salted butter at the turn. It’s a popular offering at the club, one that boasts a devout following amongst the club’s members.
“It’s part of Windsong’s DNA,” says the club’s head chef, Erik Swanson. “The aroma of banana bread in the morning fills the clubhouse, and the nostalgia of ‘what’s cooling on the window sill’ is exactly what we’re looking for at the club.”
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Baking a delectable banana bread is easier than you might think, and it’s even more approachable thanks to Chef Swanson’s advice. For starters, he recommends taking all of the chilled ingredients out of the refrigerator ahead of time, letting them warm up on the counter before you start mixing the batter. As the chef explains, using room temperature ingredients allows more air into the batter, and that produces a lighter bread. “Cold ingredients,” he says, “lead to denseness.”
Also, be careful not to overwork your batter. As Swanson shares, that mistake can produce too much gluten. “Mix gently,” he advises, “folding with a soft spatula just until the mixture comes together.”
An even more common mistake involves pre-heating the oven. As Chef Swanson told us, it’s a misconception that quick breads require a pre-heated oven. “Starting in a cold oven,” he says, “can allow a slower baking time that leads to a more fully baked and loftier bread.”
Armed with these tips, delicious homemade banana bread is just around the corner. And if you’d like to fill your own home with the delectable aromas of Windsong Farm’s bread, we’ve shared Chef Swanson’s recipe below. Happy baking!
Windsong Farm’s Banana Bread
Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sour milk*
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
0.5 tsp. baking soda
*To make sour milk, add combine one tablespoon of white vinegar with one cup of milk
Preparation:
In a medium bowl, stir together all dry ingredients until they’re well incorporated. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
Add the bananas and eggs and mix until well combined.
Gradually fold in the mixture of dry ingredients and the milk (alternating between the two) until well blended.
Spread the mixture into a prepared loaf pan.
Bake in a non-pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for about an hour.