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Play with Your Food, Make it Your Own

Books are a point of departure for so many great adventures. The people at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison know that. They recently staged a kid chef challenge. They picked Williams-Sonoma the Cookbook for Kids: Great Recipes for Kids Who Love to Cook, by Lisa Atwood, and then picked a recipe, banana bread on page 29. Then issued a challenge, telling kids to “change one ingredient to make it your own.”

So a bunch of kids, 10 in all— Wiley, Delia, Vivian, Cameron, Brendan, Cohen, Amy, Callum, Teagen, and Clara—brought their creations to the store on a Tuesday morning to share, enjoy, and discuss their results, says Liz Bartek, the marketing and events manager at RJJ.

Their creativity was truly impressive. Variations included adding chopped apples, adding cocoa powder both in the bread and as a dusting on top, adding dulce de leche on the top, adding bacon, and substituting mini chocolate chips for the walnuts. Three of the breads were gluten free. One kid made muffins instead of bread. And, my favorite, one kid substituted Duke’s Mayonnaise for the yogurt. You know that kid comes from a foodie household. Most people up north here don’t even know the magic that is Duke’s Mayonnaise.

Do you want to play with your food? Here’s the recipe. Have at it.

The Best Banana Bread

From the Williams-Sonoma the Cookbook for Kids: Great Recipes for Kids Who Love to Cook by Lisa Atwood

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

3 very ripe bananas

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Recipe:

1. First mix the ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 5- by 9-inch loaf pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, mash the bananas well with a fork. Add the butter, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir until blended. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring gently just until mixed. Stir in the nuts, if using. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

2. Then bake the bread

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. If the top begins to brown too much during baking, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for ten minutes, then turn the bread out on the rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely.

3. Finally serve the bread

Cut the bread into slices and serve at room temperature. Makes 8 — 10 servings.