Baking the stress away: A healthier spin on stress baking during finals
Photo courtesy of Erica Fernandez
Trinity Adams, News and Features Editor
The end of the fall 2024 school semester is coming to a close, and many students on North Greenville University’s campus are finishing up final projects and assignments. It is easy for students to become stressed with the amount of work that needs to be done in the coming weeks, and students find many different ways to cope with the stress.
Some students cope by going on walks, playing games or even watching a show, but a favorite coping mechanism of senior digital media major Erica Fernandez is baking. One of Fernandez’s favorite items to make is banana bread.
To make banana bread, you start with four ripe bananas and mash them in a bowl until there are no thick clumps. Fernandez explained that she makes sure to mash the bananas very thinly if you don’t like biting into thick chunks of banana in your bread.
In another bowl, melt one stick of butter. Once cooled, combine one cup of packed light brown sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract. Once fully combined, add two eggs to the butter, sugar and vanilla mixture.
“I like to whisk them [the eggs] in another bowl until they are nice and fluffy, then add them to the other liquids [the butter mixture],” Fernandez said.
In a third bowl, combine 1 ¾ cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and 1 to 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Fernandez likes to put her own twist on the ingredients in this part of the recipe.
“I use gluten-free flour because the flour is different, although it’s basically the same in taste and texture. I add 1 teaspoon of baking powder to help it rise a bit better. If the bananas are really ripe, then I’ll only put in 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. But if they are not as ripe as I hope for them to be, then I’ll add two,” explained Fernandez.
Once you have your wet and dry mixtures, you can mix them along with the mashed bananas until well combined. Once combined you can fold in ½ cup of chopped pecans and pour the mixture into two 8×4 loaf pans.
“You want to make sure that when you mix you’re not overmixing because that will make the bread too dense. You just want to make sure that everything is combined. Instead of pecans, I use semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, but I fold those in at the end,” said Fernandez.
Once you portion out your batter into pans or mini bunts, you bake them in a preheated oven of 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes for the medium-sized loaves and 15 to 20 minutes for the mini loaves.
“I have a major sweet tooth so I like making my own sweets and controlling how much sugar is in there and what ingredients are in there. In this recipe, you won’t get too much sugar since it is about half a cup of sugar in each loaf,” explained Fernandez.
Once the loaves have finished baking, place them on a cooling rack for a few hours to make sure they are completely cool. While you are waiting for the loaves to cool you can start to prepare the glaze.
“For me, this recipe makes two medium loaves or four to five mini loaves. I usually make the mini loaves to give out as little gifts to friends and family who request them, but I make the bigger loaves just to snack on around the house,” Fernandez said.
The recipe for the glaze is one of Fernandez’s own creations, so she suggests “doing what feels right for you.” To make the glaze she combines powdered sugar, bourbon vanilla extract, bourbon vanilla paste and almond vanilla creamer.
“I just put a little bit [of creamer]. I don’t add a lot because you want it to be a bit of a thicker consistency. Mix it until it becomes a glaze consistency and the powdered sugar is all gone. When it’s done, you just drizzle it over the bread and spread it out a bit,” Fernandez said.
This bread can be enjoyed either hot or cold and is a great snack or sweet treat to get you through a grueling study session or project work session. This snack is best enjoyed with people who you love and who you know are always there to lighten the load.
