Baking Banana Bread Using an Air Fryer

Hello lovelies!

I missed baking. The last time I baked was almost a decade ago, when Perry was still 1 or 2. Now he's 10! 

I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos on what bread to bake in my air fryer because we do not have an oven yet. I wanted to bake because there were times when I do not have anything to eat for snacks given my current situation (diet and lifestyle change; bitter taste due to chemo). I saw lots of recipes for sourdough, pan de sal, dinner rolls and pizza. But today, I decided to bake a banana bread that I watched from Pro Home Cooks. Having fruits in your snacks is always good.

I asked Lincoln to help me. He turned 5 years old last July and our fun and creative activities together have not been documented here as much as with my eldest. For years, I was preoccupied with other stuff and forgot how this hobby - blogging, together with arts and crafts and baking - makes me happy. 

I prepared all the ingredients first before I asked Lincoln to join me. It's my first time baking without an oven so I prayed for our activity to be successful. 

Lincoln wanted to do everything on his own. The only time he asked for my help was with the bananas. He said it was tiring. Hahaha We only used spoon and fork to mash it. 

The baking pan I used was a round ceramic dish that can fit in my air fryer. When we put the batter there, it was almost full to the brim. There was just half of an inch allowance. I got a bit worried that the bread might overflow. I was not sure if it will happen. So I decided to transfer some batter in 3 ramekins. 

Aside from that, I had to experiment with the temperature and length of baking time using my air fryer. I decided to try 150C for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, I wasn't sure if the inside and bottom of the bread were done, I decided to add 5 more minutes of baking time. Then after that, I increased the temperature to 200C for 2 minutes because I wanted a crisp crust. 

And luckily, we succeeded! The bread was cooked, It has a crust that I love. The moisture is just right. And according to the boys, it was yummy! I could not tell because there is still that bitter taste in my mouth from my therapy 6 days ago. But based on how they ate the bread, I believe them! 

So here's how we did it. 

BANANA BREAD 

Ingredients: 

- 3 medium ripe bananas 

- 1/3 cup olive oil 

- 1/3 cup honey 

- 2 eggs - 1/4 cup milk 

- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

- 1/4 cup instant oats 

- 1 tsp baking soda 

- 1 tsp cinnamon powder 

- 1 1/2 tbsps almonds chopped 

- 1 1/2 tbsps walnuts chopped 

Process: 

1. Mash the bananas in a bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients together with the bananas. 

2. Sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Add the oats. Mix thoroughly. 

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. 

4. Add the nuts (almond and walnuts) and mix thoroughly. 

5. Pre-heat the airfryer at 150C for 5 minutes. 

6. Pour the batter into the baking pan/dish. 

7. Bake at 150C for 30 minutes. (The ones in the ramekins were done in about 10 minutes.) 

8. Remove from air fryer and let it cool down a bit before removing the bread from the baking pan/dish. 

9. Serve and enjoy!

You can incorporate chocolate chips or raisins instead of nuts or all of them altogether. If you try this recipe, please tell me how it turned out. :)

xoxo,

Ails

Weekend Baking - French Macarons (1st & 2nd Attempt)

Last Saturday, I attempted to bake one of my most craved food that is not available in our town -  French Macarons!  I can only buy this delicate confection in Manila which is 2 - 3 hours away from our home.  Since it is pretty much hard to get, I decided to try to make my own at home.

I followed the instructions of Bakerella for the macaron shells.  Then I made my own recipe for a yema filling instead of ganache or buttercream.

Unfortunately, my 1st attempt failed.  Cause of failure = short baking time.  I followed the 18 minutes instruction from Bakerella because I was afraid I might overcook the shells.  But I was sooo wrong.  I should have baked the batch for 25 minutes.  Some shells from the 1st batch had feet and smooth top shells but they break when i try to peel away the baking sheets.  Sad.

But my Quality Control Team (my cousins and my aunt and my mom and my sister and my DH) enjoyed the yema filling.  They paired it with my sister's pan de sal. Happy.  

While taste testing my yema filling, I prepared my 2nd batch, this time I colored it pastel green. 

Can you see the feet of some shells? However, the top shells were cracked and most didn't have feet.  I think I underfold the mixture and I raised the oven temperature a bit higher to cook the batch faster.  But again, I was soooo wrong.  My QCT enjoyed them nonetheless.  And they encouraged me to practice some more and to remember to invite them over again for quality control. Hahaha That's why I love them s much!  

Ohhh this is a start of something beautiful. I know.

On the other news,  I find it hard to do paper and needle crafts these days.  Our kind university nurse advised me to visit an ophthalmologist to have my eyes tested.  I'm starting to have an impaired vision so I might be needing a pair of eyeglasses. Sad.  But I'm looking forward to finding the cutest pair of glasses for mah eyes!

Weekend Baking - Spiced Cider Whoopie Pie, 1st Attempt

I am still not over with my apple-cinnamon craving.  So when I saw this Spiced Cider Whoopie Pie Recipe by Emma from Elsie's blog, I thought I want to try it too.  

However, I think I have failed in my first attempt at baking this whoopie pie. :(  Here's how I did it and I really hope to learn from this.

Ingredients:


1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup sour cream (i used all purpose cream with 2 calamansi extract)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
(a pinch of cloves -  i could not find my cloves so I disregarded this) 
2 apple (Granny Smith) peeled cored and cut into small pieces


Procedure:

1.Cream together butter and sugar
2. Add the egg, sour cream and vanilla and mix until just combined
3. In another bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Then, combine the wet and dry ingredients until there are nearly no lumps left. 
4. Stir in the apple pieces.

Can you see the consistency of my batter at the fourth picture? It was too thick. I thought that maybe there was something wrong with my batter after I stirred in the apple pieces.  But I continued anyway.

I placed spoonfuls of batter on a greased baking sheet and baked at 375 F for 15 minutes. Below is my first sheet/tray.  It has 12 pieces and they really look funny and so different from Emma's.

I wanted to see the result first before baking another tray so I waited for this to finish.  Below is the result of the first batch.  It took 15 minutes to bake this.

Below is my 2nd sheet/tray. It only has 11 pieces. I tried my best to make them smoother than the 1st batch.

And below is the result of the second batch.

For the filling... What filling!?! Well, I did not continue making the filling because the 1st batch of my "whoopie pies" was almost gone when I finished with the 2nd batch.  Dad, Mom, hubby, and my baby's nanny almost finished off the 1st batch even without the filling!

They said that there was something funny with the taste but it was delicious.  I told them to wait for the cream cheese filling but they still ate them as is.  :D  So that is why I think I failed.  My family ate these as if these were cookies! 

Where do you think have I gone wrong?  Or did I make them properly but failed to add the filling?  I am no expert baker here.  And I really want to know why my whoopie pies are so different from the pictures of my recipe source.  I'll definitely try this again some other time because Mom was already getting tired of my apple-cinnamon baked goodies.   

P.S.
Filling:

Combine 1 cup cream cheese, 2 tablespoons melted butter, a pinch of cinnamon, and 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar until you get the frosting consistency you prefer. :D

busy with pastries

Busy day.  My sister received orders of 100 buko pies and 20 cassava cakes today, aside from their daily quota and the walk-in customers buying pizza from her Pizzeria.  Sis and her angels have been cooking and baking since 5am!  The orders were delivered tonight.  They're just closing as of this moment.  :D

Of course, I helped her.  And I took pictures too.. :D

Trois Buko Pie

Trois angels busy packing the pies

Trois angels packing while selling other pastries and sweets to a customer

Trois Buko Pie handmade label

Aside from helping my dear sister, I also played with my baby boy and started with my new furniture project for my Blythes.  Busy, busy, busy but still very happy. :D

I hope you are enjoying your loooong weekend too! :D Happy Halloween!

Weekend Baking - Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

I have always been a BIG fan of apple pie, even McDonald's.  My favorite apple pie was the one sold at the UP College of Law canteen when I was still in college.  That was more than a decade ago.  As much as I can remember, it has a cookie crust and a crumb topping.  So for this weekend, I have decided to start my quest for the most delicious apple pie for me and my family's taste.

I searched online for various ways of making the crust, the filling, and the topping.  And below is my first apple pie experiment...

Crust Ingredient & Preparation:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted

(however, I wanted a thicker crust so I increased the ingredient by 50% more)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well and press into a 10-inch pie plate and up the sides.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.

Crumb Topping Ingredients & Preparation:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted

3. In a bowl, combine all dry topping ingredients.  Pour cool melted butter into the dry mixture.  Toss and cut until small to medium sized chunks form.  Break up large chunks as needed.  Refrigerate until needed.

Filling Ingredients & Preparation:

3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used calamansi juice)
4 medium-sized Granny Smith apples and 1 large Fuji apple, peeled and sliced
(original recipe suggested 6 cups apple chunks)

4. In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Gently stir in lemon or calamansi juice, vanilla, and apples.  Spoon mixture into the crust-lined pan.
5. Bake for 35 minutes and remove from oven.

6. Place the crumb topping mixture on top.  Place back in the oven and bake for another 45 minutes.  Cover with foil if it begins to over brown.

Allow the pie to rest and cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Family Rating:
me - 5
hubby - 5
daddy - 3.5
mommy - 3 (She wanted sweeter apples)
sister - 3

I hope my next apple pie experiment will satisfy my parents' and sister's tastes.

If you happen to try my recipe, please let me know how much did you enjoy it too. =D

Weekend Baking - Carrot Apple Muffin

Hello!

My Weekend Baking is a little bit early.  I had to bake last night for my hubby's party at school today.  This recipe is really delicious according to my dad, my number 1 food critic.  :D

Ingredients:

Batter:

2 2/3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used Saigon Cinnamon. yum!)

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 1/2 cups grated carrots

2 medium apples, peeled, cored & chopped (I used Granny Smith) 

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional. I used Pili nuts again because I do not have walnuts in my pantry)

4 large eggs (I used 6 small straight-from-dad's-range-chicken eggs)

1 cup canola oil (You can use corn or any vegetable oil)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons calamansi or orange zest 

Cinnamon Sugar:

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin tin or line with paper cups. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, sift together all dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  Add carrots, apples and 2/3 of nuts.

3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, vanilla, and calamansi or orange zest.  Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients.  Mixed just until combined.  Scoop into prepared muffin tins and top with the remaining nuts.

4. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over muffin batter.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until done.  Cool completely before serving. 

Makes 36 muffins. 

The house was filled with cinnamon scent while I was preparing and baking this muffin. Yum!

Up next on Weekend Baking will be my first Apple Pie experiment.  :D

Weekend Baking - Apple & Pili Cake with Caramel Topping

Hello!

It's a rainy Saturday.  The weather made me want to curl up on the sofa with my sewing project and a cup of hot black tea.  But it was impossible because Perry's yaya took a leave today so I had to do her chores (e.g. laundry) while taking care of my baby.  Fortunately, in the afternoon, I got a chance to bake while my dear hubby is holding and playing with Perry.

I wanted to start a tradition of baking something special for my family every weekend.  For the month of October,  I chose to bake apples and cinnamon in celebration of autumn.  I know, we only have sunny and rainy days here in our country.  But I want my baby to grow knowing the four seasons and aware of the exciting surprises that each season brings.

For this weekend, I'm sharing with you Apple & Pili Cake with Caramel Topping.

Apple & Pili Cake:

2 medium sized Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup Pili nuts chopped

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel Topping:

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons butter

Procedure:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease pan.
2.Combine and mix together all dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer until light and foamy.  Add oil and vanilla gradually as you continue beating the eggs.
4. Stir in the mixed dry ingredients with a spoon until the flour mixture disappears.
5. Add the apples and pili nuts and mix into the batter.
6. Scrape batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
Prepare the caramel topping while waiting for the cake.
7. Combine all caramel ingredients in a saucepan.  Stir to dissolve sugar.  (I made a mistake here by not dissolving sugar before cooking over the fire, thus the sugary topping in the pictures)
8. Once the sugar is dissolved, cook over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3 - 5 minutes more.
9. Spoon the hot caramel over the still hot-from-the-oven cake.  Let the cake cool completely before serving.

My family enjoyed it despite the sugary topping.  We paired it with Twinings Apple, Cinnamon, & Raisin Flavored Black Tea.

Yummy! It is a perfect partner for your afternoon tea, specially on a cold and rainy day.  How do you spend your stormy days? What traditions are you practicing or starting with your family?

Share with us your take on my recipe through the comment box.  Be sure to mention your post's link too if you have a blog.  Have fun baking! =D