Pecan Banana Bread Mini Loaves

These pecan banana bread mini loaves are wonderfully tender, sweet and nutty, perfect for breakfast or snack time. Eat all four or give some away as gifts!

Sometimes I like to bake precisely to give the baked goods away. It’s a great way to show friends and family that they matter to me and because I love to bake, making gifts allows me to do that without stockpiling. 

That said, these mini loaves freeze beautifully so if you don’t eat them all or give them away, wrap them well in some cling film and pop them in the freezer for another time. 

Pecan Banana Bread Mini Loaves

The foil mini pans I use for these 5 3/4 in x 3 1/4 in x 2 in or 146mm x 82mm x 50mm. They are technically disposable or recyclable but I do wash them well and reuse them. If you don’t have cooking oil spray, you can grease them with oil, using a pastry brush. 

Ingredients

6 tablespoons or 85g butter, plus extra for greasing loaf pan

1 cup or 200g sugar

2 eggs

2 large ripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups or 190g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup or 60ml sour cream

1 cup or 120g chopped pecans

For decoration: 12 pecan halves

For greasing the pans: canola oil spray 

 

Method

Grease four mini loaf pans (see note above ingredients list) and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

 

Beat together the butter and sugar until they are fluffy and light yellow. Add the eggs, bananas, vanilla and salt and beat well until combined. 

Combine the dry ingredients in a sieve and sift them into the butter mixture, alternating with the sour cream, ending with the last of the dry ingredients.

Stir well in between each addition to combine. 

Fold in the chopped pecans.

Pour the batter into your prepared pans and decorate with the pecan halves.

Bake in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the little loaves are golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing to serve. 

As mentioned above, these make great gifts and also freeze well. 

 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my Bread Baker friends to share their recipes. Our theme this month is bread with fruit! Many thanks to our host Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

• Pan di Ramerino (Rosemary Raisin Buns) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mini Apricot Cranberry Panettones by A Messy Kitchen
• Pumpkin Apple Sourdough Loaf by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Pecan Banana Bread Mini Loaves by Food Lust people Love
• Apple Crisp Sourdough Loaf by Sneha's Recipe
• Fig Bread Recipe by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Sourdough Blueberry Breakfast Loaf by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Oat and Raisin Quick Bread (Gluten Free) by Passion Kneaded

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Edamame Summer Salad

This edamame summer salad boasts pan-roasted edamame and sweet corn tossed together with tomatoes, cucumber, onion and feta, dressed with a garlic lemon vinaigrette. So fresh and tasty! 

 

It’s been a while since Food Network was one of the channels I could watch on my cable tv list but when I was searching online for recipes with edamame, I came across one by Alton Brown on their website.

It sounded simple enough with edamame, corn and tomatoes but, weirdly for a summery salad, it wanted me to turn the oven on to roast the edamame and corn. Really, Alton? I don’t know where he lives but in the southern United States no one, and I mean no one, would turn their oven on to make a summer salad. 

Because we aren’t crazy. And, yes, I know it’s March right now but it was already 80°F (26.6°C) yesterday so I’m still not turning my oven for this. Most unnecessary! 

I did like the idea of roasting the edamame and corn for a little extra flavor and crunch though so a hot skillet seemed the way to go. And I decided to add even more summer vegetable freshness with cucumber. And carrots and jalapeño and feta. 

This is the best kind of salad, the kind you can eat for days and it just gets better. Nothing that wilts! I've had it for lunch the last few days and I'm going to be sad when it's gone. 

Edamame Summer Salad

I give my amounts for the salad ingredients but know that you can add more or less according to your tastes. Love tomatoes, up the amount. Not such a fan of cucumber, put less. Want to add some basil like Alton does? Knock yourself out. It’ll still be good. 

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette dressing:

1/3 cup or 80ml olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

2 spring onions, chopped (white part only, save green for salad)

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:

2 cups or 280g shelled edamame 

1 cup or 140g fresh or frozen corn kernels

1/2 cucumber

1/4 purple onion, thinly sliced

1 ½ cups or 210g cherry or grape tomatoes

1 ½ cups or 110g shredded carrots

1 fresh jalapeño - optional

3 ½ oz or 100g feta cheese

Reserved green part of 2 spring onions

Method

Combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small jar or container with a lid. Close the lid and shake well.

In a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, sauté the edamame, stirring very frequently, until the edamame is scorched a little in spots. 

Transfer it to a plate to cool. 

Repeat with the corn.

Thinly slice the purple onion. 

Put the onion in a large bowl and pour over three-quarters of the vinaigrette. Finely mince the jalapeño, if using, and add it to the dressing bowl. Press the onion and jalapeño down into the dressing to cover. 

Cut the little tomatoes in half.

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the watery seeds with a small spoon. Chop the rest. 

Crumble the feta with the tines of a fork and slice the green part of the spring onion into small pieces. 

Add the edamame and corn to the dressing bowl and toss well. 

Add in the tomatoes, cucumber and carrots. 

Taste and see if you need to add the rest of the vinaigrette. If not, store any unused dressing in the refrigerator for another salad. Garlic lemon vinaigrette is lovely on leafy greens. 

Finally, add in the crumbled feta and toss gently to combine. 

You can add the spring onion greens directly to the top in the bowl and serve or transfer the salad to a serving plate and sprinkle them on. 

Refrigerate any leftovers and enjoy them for several days, if they last that long. 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 4th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter E. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the E recipes below:

• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Corn and Edamame Salad
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Dim Posto - Bengali Egg Curry
• Blogghetti: Easter Candy Charcuterie Board
• Food Lust People Love: Edamame Summer Salad
• Sneha’s Recipe: Eggless Banana Chocolate Cake
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Baked Beef Empanadas
• A Messy Kitchen: Golden Egg Bread
• Culinary Cam: Mayak Gyeran: A Riff on Korean Marinated Eggs
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Souper Easy Quiche
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Whipped Feta Lemon Zest & Basil Deviled Eggs

Here are my posts for the 2026 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Ají de Cerdo aka Peruvian Pork Stew

B: Baby Cos Peach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 

C. Traditional Cullen Skink 

D. Coconut Cream Date Caramel 

E. Edamame Summer Salad - this post!

To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.

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Savory Garlic Rice Noodles

Ever so slightly sweet and super flavorful, these savory garlic rice noodles are made with kway teow tossed in sauteed garlic and green onions with brown sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. 

Kway teow (粿條) translates to "rice cake strips" which are used in many dishes from stir-fries to soups. They are easy to prepare because no cooking is necessary. Just soak them in boiling water until they soften, drain and rinse! 

In Southeast Asia char kway teow is a popular stir-fry dish made with those flat, wide rice noodles and a variety of vegetables with a mix of proteins, primarily chicken and seafood.  It’s one of our favorite things to eat and the dish our younger daughter usually orders when we go to the Malaysian restaurant we love in Houston. 

When our host for this week’s Sunday FunDay proposed Noodles as our theme for today, since March is National Noodle Month, I knew I wanted to use kway teow in a simple side dish that was quick to the table, with staple items I always have on hand. (It has been one of THOSE weeks, folks.) This one fits the bill nicely. 

Savory Garlic Rice Noodles

Check out the photo of the kway teow under the ingredients list so you can see how wide they are – about 1 cm wide or ½ an inch. I buy them in an Asian grocery store but I have seen them randomly in the international aisle of my regular supermarket. They are also available online. This recipe is adapted from one on Budget Bytes.

Ingredients

6 oz or 170g kway teow or flat, wide rice noodles

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon reduced salt soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

4 cloves garlic

5-6 green onions

2 tablespoons butter

Optional for garnish: black or white sesame seeds or a combo!

Optional for serving: sliced fresh red chili peppers

Method

Soak the noodles in boiling water according to package instructions.

Drain well and rinse in a colander. Mine took about 10 minutes to get al dente but I’ve bought ones before that only took 6-8 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir the oyster sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil together until well combined and the sugar has dissolved.

Mince the garlic and slice the green onions, setting the green bits to one side. 

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and bubbly, add the garlic and the white part of the onions and sauté until for 2-3 minutes or until they are soft and fragrant.

Set aside some of the green bits for garnish and then add the rest into the pan and give the whole thing a stir. 

Turn the heat off under the pan. Add the kway teow and toss well to coat the noodles in the buttery onions and garlic. 

Add the oyster sauce mixture to the pan and toss again, once again, to coat. 

Turn the heat on again low and gently warm the noodles to serving. 

Garnish the noodles with the reserved sliced green onions and sesame seeds, if desired, then serve.

I also like to offer some sliced hot chili peppers alongside, for those who like things spicy!

Enjoy!

As I mentioned above, March is National Noodle Month and today we are sharing recipes to help you celebrate. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the links below. 

• Brown Butter Sage Noodles from Our Good Life
• Garlic Lover's Pasta from A Messy Kitchen
• Kung Pao Noodles from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Manchow Soup from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Protein Packed Noodle Bowl from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Savory Garlic Rice Noodles from Food Lust People Love
• Sour Cream Noodles from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Stir Fry Noodles with Beef from Amy's Kitchen Adventures
• Vegan Thai Peanut Butter Noodles from Sneha's Recipe
  
  

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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