Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of the desperate need not to waste food. Sure, I could throw those bananas in the freezer, but there they would languish, forgotten, until they become freezer burnt beyond all recognition.

As I was baking up treats for the Great American Bake Sale I looked around my kitchen and realized I had both bananas and mangoes on their way to a sad end.

Ever the Type-A overachiever, I decided to add two more baked goods to our bake sale roster; Banana Toffee Walnut Bread and Mango Cardamom Hazelnut Bread. Before I even started mixing ingredients, I grabbed the silicone “dessert bar” pan out of my cupboard, and knew that finally, finally I was going to make that dastardly pan work for me.

You see, silicone bake ware and me, we go way back, and our history has not always been positive. But, banking on some advice I’d been given to always place the silicone ware on a baking sheet, and to be incredibly careful not to overfill the wells, I decided I’d give this little disagreement we had going on one more shot at resolution.

I’m glad I did. I made sure to so very careful to fill the wells just less than half full. I placed the pan in the center of a jelly roll pan, in the center of the oven. Twenty-two minutes later, perfectly formed mini-loaves emerged. Perfect for packaging in little cellophane bags for the Share Our Strength bake sale, and perfect for your kiddos to nosh on the way to school without too much mess.

If you’d rather make a large loaf or muffins, feel free to do so. The recipe is adapted only in taste, not quantity, from the original loaf recipe. And I’m sure it would fill cupcake wells quite as easily as it did the dessert pan.

In a couple of days I’ll share the recipe for the Mango Cardamom Hazelnut Bread, along with some tips about mangoes. Don’t be skerred of them! They’re a lovely fruit to have around the house. And they smell divine!

[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Mini Banana Toffee Walnut Bread – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]