Steve Lewis points to the banana bread chocolate chip cookie as an example of why there’s no such thing as a “best” when it comes to what we eat.
“There’s only what speaks to you,” says the man behind Gideon’s Bakehouse. But before he was a man who baked cookies, he was a boy who baked muffins.
“I was 10 when I made my first attempt at a dessert: a banana bread-chocolate chip muffin,” he says.
He practiced. He tweaked. He perfected. And eventually, he was happy with it.
Orlando’s East End Market turns 10
Things haven’t changed all that much. Lewis still goes through an exhaustive process each time a new variety of his half-pound cookies are created, “and the ultimate cookie for me was that banana bread chocolate chip cookie. I spent over 20 years trying to get that recipe perfected. It’s not easy to add that much banana into cookie dough without turning it into mush. There’s no artificial flavorings in it. It’s real banana. So, that cookie is special to me because it’s a love letter to that 10-year-old boy.”
And to the countless fans who not only embraced it, but turned it into the only limited edition Gideon’s cookie to make the jump to the regular menu.
It’s a creative — and very Orlando— way to pay homage to National Banana Bread Day (Feb. 23).
This dense, $6 delight, available at both the East End Market and Disney Springs locations of Gideon’s Bakehouse, features a rich vanilla bean cookie blended with real bananas and a mixture of dark and semisweet chips with candied walnuts and crushed banana chips for incredible texture. In fact, it is the cookie that knocked Gideon’s Coffee Cake cookie into my No. 2 spot after years at the top with no competition. It’s that good.
Lewis’ former neighbors, Brittany and Patrick Lyne of Farm & Haus have a unique take, too, but theirs — a new item since moving into their bright space on Winter Park’s Park Avenue — leans more traditional.
The simple, quick bread, baked in a loaf pan, comes with childhood inspiration, as well.
“I was raised by a single mom,” co-owner Brittany Lyne explains. “And so I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house.”
It was there, through her grandmother, that she found her love of food — though not precisely bananas.
“They weren’t my favorite fruit,” she says, laughing. “I think I’d had too many experiences with fake banana flavor and candy. But banana bread is something my grandmother would make all the time, and I would get so excited when I saw them getting really ripe on the counter because that meant banana bread!”
The Farm & Haus version, a stellar $8 slab served warm and toasty with fresh fruit, honey butter and a little powdered sugar, is grandma-inspired — but it’s not her recipe because it’s entirely gluten-free.
“I eat gluten-free at home,” she explains. “It’s not because of an allergy, it’s just a preference — I find I feel better when I don’t eat gluten — and so a lot of what you see on the menu is gluten-free or can be made gluten-free. We’ve really drawn in a crowd for that.”
Not that you’d necessarily know when it comes to the banana bread. I didn’t. Dense by nature, it’s a simple dessert that translates very well sans wheat flour. Grab a plate and add some coffee and you’re set with what has to be one of the most reasonable breakfasts on Park Ave.
“It’s very nostalgic for a lot of people,” says Farm & Haus chef/co-owner Patrick Lyne. “And those flavor combinations — the bananas, the spice — it’s all very comforting.”
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So much so that Lewis once created a banana bread cold brew for the Disney Springs location.
“Everyone said I was crazy, but I released it anyway, as I do,” he chuckles. “And everyone loved it. In fact, I need to bring it back. It’ll get a month soon,” he promises.
Keep your eye on Gideon’s social accounts to find out when.
Personally, I like mine alongside (and occasionally dunked in) a cup of hot, traditional joe. But that’s the whole point, really.
“We all taste things so differently based on our own personal history,” says Lewis. “That cookie is so special to me because of that little kid. We’re all protective over the little kids inside of us. And that flavor profile transports me back to who I was more than any other food.”
More info
Gideon’s Bakehouse: East End Market (online preorders available here), 3201 Corrine Drive in Orlando or Disney Springs; gideonsbakehouse.com
Farm & Haus: 526 S. Park Ave. in Winter Park, 407-790-4371; farmandhaus.com
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram@amydrooor on the OSFoodie Instagram account@orlando.foodie. Email:amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join theLet’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
