PITA BREAD

Not sure where Mom found this recipe. I really like these though. And the kids always got a kick out of making them. They are really good filled with BBQ, or Chicken Salad, Tuna Salad, etc.

4 1/2 to 4 3/4 cp Flour
1 pkg Dry Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 3/4 cup Water
2 Tbls Oil

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cps flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix well. In a sauce pan heat water and oil until warm (120 to 130 degrees). Add to flour mixture and beat on low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes on medium. By hand, gradually stir in enough flour to make a firm dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover dough with plastic wrap, then a towel. Let rest on board for 20 min. Remove towel and wrap and punch down dough. Divide into 12 equal parts. Shape each part into a smooth ball. Cover and let rise 30 minutes, allowing enough space between each ball to rise. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6" circle. Place three circles at a time directly onto oven rack. Bake until puffed up and top just begins to brown. Cool on racks.

Cut in half and fill with your favorite fillings.

JAMAICAN BANANA-RUM BREAD

This is another recipe I long ago fattened up from Cooking Light. This is really good for breakfast with a cup of good strong coffee. And try spreading a slice with honey/pecan butter sometime!

BREAD
2 Tbls Butter
2 Tbls tub Cream Cheese
1 cp Sugar
1 large Egg
2 cp Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp Salt
1 cp ripe Banana, mashed
4 oz Evaporated Milk
2 Tbls Dark Rum or 1/4 tsp Rum Extract plus 2 Tbls Water
1/2 tsp grated Lime Rind
1 Tbls Lime Juice
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 cp chopped Pecans, toasted

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, sugar and egg on medium speed until fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, combine banana, milk, rum, lime rind, lime juice and vanilla. With mixer on medium, alternately add flour mix, then banana mix to butter mix. Stir in pecans. Pour into greased 4x8 loaf pan and bake at 375 for 1 hour, or until toothpick comes clean. Cool in pan for 10 min, than turn onto rack to cool.

TOPPING
1/4 cp packed Brown Sugar
2 tsp Butter
2 tsp Lime Juice
2 tsp Dark Rum or 1/8 tsp Rum Extract and 2 tsp Water
2 Tbls chopped Pecans, toasted
2 Tbls Baker's Coconut

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, lime juice, and rum. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in pecans and coconut. Spoon over bread.

BANANA CAKE w/ Rum Glaze

This is one of my favorite recipes. I adapted it from a recipe in Cooking Light about 10 years ago. I'll leave a link to the original recipe, which is also excellent.

1 3/4 cp Brown Sugar, packed
2/3 cp Butter or Margarine, softened
2 lg Eggs
1 cp ripe Banana, mashed
1/2 cp Sour Cream
1 Tbls Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 1/2 cps All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

Place Brown Sugar and Butter in a large bowl. Beat at med speed until light and fluffy. Add Eggs, beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine Banana, Sour Cream, Vanilla, and Cinnamon. Set aside.

Sift together Flour, Baking Powder, and Baking Soda. Set aside.

With mixer on low speed, alternately add Flour mixture and Banana mixture to Sugar mixture. Pour batter into a greased 10" Tube pan. Bake at 375F for about an hour, or until toothpick comes clean. Cool in pan for 10 min, then turn out on to rack and cool completely.

GLAZE
3/4 cp Powdered Sugar
1 Tbls melted Butter
2 Tbls Dark Rum (or 1/4 tsp Rum extract plus 2 Tbls Milk)

Stir together and drizzle over cake.

This cake is just killer served with a good premium coffee! I particularly like Sumatra Mandahling or Columbia Supremo.

Original Cooking Light recipe from 1997 HERE