Pumpkin and Cranberry Bread

Submitted by Kendall (Libby's Pumpkin recipe)

3 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice or water
1 cup fresh, dried or frozen cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.

2. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and orange juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.

3. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Banana Bread

Submitted by Kendall

Cream together:
2/3 cup Butter (soft, room temp)
1 cup Sugar

Combine in a separate bowl:
2 ½ cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp. Salt

2 Eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup Mashed RIPE Bananas (3-4) *see note below
½ cup Buttermilk or sour cream
(you can substitute buttermilk with regular milk and 2T white vinegar or I like to use a buttermilk powder - Cultered Buttermilk Blend - that I store in the fridge, you'll find it in the baking aisle at the store)

Cream butter & sugar, add 1 egg and 1 T. flour mixture; add 2nd egg and 1 T. flour mixture. Add bananas and beat well. Add milk and flour mixture alternately. Optional: chopped nuts or chocolate chips.

Grease the bottom of cake round or loaf pans. I have been baking with silicone and I love it! It's so easy to pop the bread out and clean up. I like the individual cupcake shapes - rounds, square, hearts and cake round/square. Bake 350° 30 – 40 minutes for round or loaf and 20 - 25 minutes for muffins...until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

RIPE BANANAS
We never eat all the bananas, doesn't matter how many I buy. When I notice the bananas beginning to turn, not black, but too ripe to eat, I throw them into the bottom of my freezer. For those of you who have seen the stash in my freezer, you might think I have a ripe banana hoarding problem. I easily have enough frozen ripe bananas to make 20 batches of bread! I feel the hoarding is genentic as I learned this behavior from my mother and my sister does it as well, although not to the same degree. When ready to use, set them out for a couple of hours until thawed. They will be super mushy and slimy and juicy...ALL GOOD!