Banana Bread + Pumpkin Patches {Family traditions}

Fall is my absolute favorite season of the year. Every other season has birthdays, anniversary’s, and major holidays to celebrate, but there is something special about fall in my heart. I don’t know if its because it brings back fond memories of the annual first day of school excitement, or if its the the crisp chilly air, the beautiful colors and the taste of the fall harvest, or the endless fall baking and pumpkin flavored treats. Alright, I confess; I do know exactly why I love fall – it’s all of the above! Today I’m sharing my favorite fall kick off activities, homemade banana bread and a family trip to the pumpkin patch!

Banana Bread

I thought it would be a great idea to kick off fall this year by spreading some fall cheer to my friends and neighbors by baking mini banana nut bread loaves with my children. This recipe is one that I have tweaked over the years, using what I have learned from other recipes to come up with just the perfect combination of my own. This bread is super moist, and full of extra bananas and nuts.

The kids really enjoy baking with me, and I enjoy the time we spend together. While I combine the butter, cream cheese, and eggs, the girls work on the flour mixture and the bananas. Emily always takes on the more precise tasks such as the dry measurements, while Ashlyn handles the simple and fun things (smashing bananas!)

Emily has been known to bake with my recipes without my help these days, so I trust her completely with the flour mixture.

Ashlyn smashed away at these bananas until they were nice and mushy. Most recipes call for 4 bananas, but I like to go for 5. I really enjoy the taste of banana! Dusting them with cinnamon at the end adds an extra pinch of sweetness to the loaves!

Here’s a little baking secret, after you add the flour (gradually) place a clean kitchen towel over your mixer before you turn it back on. This will prevent the big POOF of flour all over your kitchen!

The batter is so sweet and delicious once all mixed together, then you just add in the vanilla, bananas, and walnuts at the end and mix just until its combined. It’s really hard at this point not to eat up all the tasty batter and bits!

This recipe divides perfectly into 2 loaves OR 1 loaf and 6 mini loaves OR 12 mini loaves. I baked one large loaf for the family and 6 minis to give away to friends (allthough I should have baked more!)

After they cooled completely (I gave them a good couple hours), I wrapped them up and made them all pretty before I delivered them to my friends. I wrapped the loaves with plastic wrap, and then topped them with a short stem of fresh flowers, a mini paper leaf cut out I made with my Silhouette, and tied it together with twine. Earthy and totally fall inspired, very simple, and oh so delicious!

You can download this free leaf silhouette to make your own leaf tags:

Happy fall!

BREE’S CREAM CHEESE BANANA BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 CUP BUTTER, SOFTENED
• 8 OZ CREAM CHEESE, SOFTENED
• 3 LARGE EGGS
• 2 CUPS SUGAR
• 3 CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
• 1/2 TSP BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 TSP BAKING SODA
• 1/2 TSP SALT
• 5 LARGE RIPE BANANAS
• 1 1/2 CUPS CHOPPED WALNUTS
• 1/2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1 TSP CINNAMON

DIRECTIONS:

Beat cream cheese with the butter at medium speed just until creamy. Add the sugar gradually, mixing well until the batter appears light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until just blended, 1 at a time.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter and cream cheese mixture. Mix on low until just blended.

Mash bananas in separate bowl, and dust with cinnamon. Chop walnuts if needed. Add vanilla, bananas and walnuts to mixture and stir until combined.

Spray cooking pans with cooking oil and spoon batter into pans. Use 2 8×4″ pans OR 12 mini loaf pans (OR 1 large pan and 6 mini loaves). Batter should fill 3/4 to 4/5 of each loaf.

Bake at 350° for 60-70 MIN or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan. (40-50 min for mini loaves). If loaves begin to brown, cover with aluminum foil for the last 15-20 minutes until completely cooked. Remove from pans and cool bread on wire racks completely before serving.

The Pumpkin Patch

Baking is a fall staple, but the next big item on the fall kick off list is to visit one of our favorite pumpkin patches for food, fun, and pumpkins of course! Arlo visited the pumpkin patch for the first time last year, but I don’t think he enjoyed it as much as he did this year! (He was only 6 months old last year). I enjoyed watching him stumble around the pumpkins, slowly touching and investigating each one. What a happy boy!

I don’t think it gets much cuter than baby hands on a big ‘ol pumpkin!

As Arlo was exploring, the tractor rode by and caught his attention. Not quite old enough for that ride -but maybe next year!

After we played in the pumkins we grabbed a hand-dipped corn dog and a dozen of the farm’s own homemade apple cider doughnuts. I am obsessed with these doughnuts and come back to this farm every year and order a dozen to take home. They are sweet and just a tad crispy, with a soft and delicious apple inside. The best doughnut I have ever had! The corn dog is insanely good too. There’s just too much good food at the farm!

YUMMMMMM

The kids spent a good few hours playing in the corn pit, the hay maze, and bouncing in the play area. And of course, petting the cute animals!

I was able to get all 3 kids together briefly for a quick photo before the girls darted off again.

While the girls were playing, Arlo enjoyed some one-on-one time with dad. Arlo mostly just wanted bites of all the yummy farm food, and to be carted around to see the sights, which was perfectly ok with dad!

Before we left, Arlo had one last romp through the farm. He ran into Emily’s arms and I snapped this precious photo. It’s the moments like these that I treasure and happen spontaneously when we are out on the farm. I can stand back and just capture the memories being made by those I love most. Farm time is truly magical for my kiddos.

When it was finally time to go, Ashlyn made this face and said to me, “I don’t ever want to leave the farm mom! I want to play here every day, and every day, and EVERY DAY! Even no school, no bedtime, nothing else! Just always, forever play, play, play on the FARM!”

Fall, we happily welcome you! What an awesome start to a wonderful fall season. Now we have lots of yummy banana bread to eat and share, and since we had so much fun on the farm I am already planning the next family farm trip soon. I think everyone has something they love about fall. What are some of your favorite fall traditions?

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