Wake Up, You Have Breakfast

Winter in Seattle is rough. It’s dark and rainy and getting out of bed in the morning is probably the last thing that you want to do. We know. We wake up at 4:30 so we can start baking by 6 and lately, it’s been tough. But seeing as though our life already revolves around food, we thought we might try and work it into our waking up routine: because really, everything easier when there’s something good to eat.

We devised our Banana-Cranberry-Nut bread as just such a trick. Comforting and vibrant and just sweet enough, it helps put aside thoughts of rolling over with a pillow pressed to our ears and arms us with the willpower to haul our body out of bed and even brew a cup of tea. Amazing.

Banana bread is quite simple, but the truth is there are some mediocre banana bread recipes out there. Too sweet, too dense and just plain boring. This bread however is moist and airy, and addition of tart cranberries balances the sweet banana (for anyone who might find the classic version a little cloying). Best of all, there’s really no special equipment required: just a big bowl, a smaller bowl and some very ripe bananas.

This bread is even better over the next couple days, so it’s perfect to make ahead of time. So this Sunday night, when you’re doing laundry and puttering around, why not make some Banana Cranberry Nut Bread? It’s barely any trouble at all. And the next morning, when the alarm goes off and you are woken into the darkness that used to signal the middle of the night, take comfort: this morning, you have bread.