Saying that I am an expert in anything seems to be a bit of a stretch. However, the first thing my roommates said when I asked them what they’d consider me an expert on is baking. My earliest childhood memories consist of my mom teaching me how to make banana bread and homemade chocolate chip cookies. My mom has been baking for as long as I can remember and is known by friends as the best chocolate chip cookie maker ever. Her teachings have turned me into 1. Someone who needs to have dessert after every meal and 2. Someone who (constantly) bakes for their roommates.
I would consider chocolate chip cookies one of my areas of expertise. My mom and I buy giant 5-pound bags of chocolate chips every few months if that gives you anything to judge by. Despite my use of the recipe on the bag of Nestle chocolate chips, I have a few tricks to make the best chocolate chip cookies (and the link to the recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/174864/original-nestle-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/)
- Start with room temp butter and save yourself the trouble of trying to beat cold butter (or put it in the microwave for 10 seconds)
- Make sure when adding each ingredient, it is fully incorporated into the dough before continuing to mix (add the eggs one by one, the dry ingredients little by little), which will make for a more cohesive dough
- Add walnuts for a crunch! Walnuts make every cookie better
- Don’t skimp on the chocolate chips.
And now, the banana bread pro tips: (I use the Fanny Farmer cookbook recipe)
- Use the ripest bananas you can (I let mine get super brown because it brings out the sugars in the banana)
- Mash bananas with a potato masher
- Beat your eggs until they are fluffy!!!!
- Add some kind of nut
- Serve with coffee
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Hello Ellie, I first want to say that I am an crazy lover of banana bread. I actually make some every now and then. Let me not leave out chocolate chips though! Your post resonates so much with me because I too must have dessert after every meal! I have quite the sweet tooth, and this is not even mentioning my love for coffee. I haven’t had it with banana bread yet, but now I know what I will be trying next, so thanks! I usually enjoy warming up my banana bread a little and having it with some vanilla ice cream, or maybe now I’ll even try some coffee ice cream. The recipes look amazing and it definitely seems like you are quite the expert on chocolate chip cookies. Great post, now I want dessert, lol.
Hey Ellie,
I can totally resonate with calling myself an expert being a stretch, but if you’ve got pro tips about the proper way to make banana bread I’m gonna say you’ve reached expert baking levels. I’m totally using these tips the next time I’ve got some time to bake by the way. Baking was a big thing me and my mother used to do together when I was growing up so your post really brought back some good memories. It’s really nice to have a hobby that was based around something you did growing up with parents, I feel like no matter what, it’d always put you in a good mood. Please feel free to share any more pro baking tips you have in the future!