Banana Nut Bread with Seeds, Chocolate and Bourbon Dried Fruits

We have made banana bread a couple of times the last 2 weeks.  One we made cupcakes with cream cheese icing and this time as a bare loaf.  Ours isn't the normal BNB.  We add chocolate chips and chopped dark bar chocolate, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, bourbon re-hydrated dried, sultanas, raisins, cranberries, prunes, and apricots.  The nuts include, walnuts, almonds and cashews with a splash of walnut oil.  iced or no - these are some seriously good  cupcakes or plain slices of sweet BNB.

Our recipe today was too big for a loaf pan so we made 6 cupcakes too.

Brownman’s Banana Bread or Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Dry Mix:

1 ½ C plus 2 T flour

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp each ginger, cloves, allspice

1 tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

1 C chopped walnuts, almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds

1 C chopped chocolate chips

Bourbon Fruit – add bourbon to below dried fruits in a Pyrex 1 cup measuring cup covered with plastic wrap.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds and set aside 15 minutes to plump up fruits.

 2 T bourbon

¼ C raisins and sultanas

¼ C dried cranberries

¼ C dried apricots cut into raisin size pieces

1/4 C prunes - chopped

 Wet Mix:

 3 mashed up ripe bananas

1/8 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

½ C vegetable oil

½ C each brown and white sugar

1 T walnut oil

 Add ½ C sugar, ½ C brown sugar and Bourbon fruits to wet mix and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Mix the wet into the dry and stir 50 times with spatula until the flour is incorporated.

Bake cupcakes for about 12-16 minutes until wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Loaves will take 45 minutes or more for wooden skewer to come out clean. 

After 20 minutes remove from pans and let cool completely on wire racks.  Ice both with cream cheese vanilla icing and put sprinkles on each to decorate per the holiday or special occasion.  Makes about 21 cupcakes or 1 large bread loaf pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting for Cupcakes or 9x13 Cake

Ingredients

1/2 C butter, softened

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended; stir in vanilla.

Cut recipe in half for 20 Cupcakes or 9x13 sheet cake .