Applesauce Banana Bread Loaf

Banana bread is good for breakfast and for anytime of day. As we near fall and all the pumpkin goodness that will now start infusing everything in our lives, I still go back to banana bread. This is a bi-monthly thing for me (should be more often) that I like to have around and make. Something about the smell in a house of fresh baked banana bread. And of course that first bite of warm banana flavored bread with hint of chocolate chips.

I'll admit, this isn't my own recipe but a VERY good one that I found. I have used different variations of banana bread recipes over and over again. I usually always sub the oil for applesauce. I find no taste difference and a more moist bread (even if over-baked for a few minutes!). I always sub chocolate chips for nuts, I'm just not a nut-in-the-bread kind of girl. And I usually make banana bread into muffins or mini loaves so they are easier to grab and go for breakfast.

{Found via my Instagram}

Ingredients:

3  ripe medium bananas
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large egg whites (1/3 cup egg whites)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 oz mini chocolate chips
Smart Balance baking spray (I used coconut oil)
Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. Spray a non-stick loaf pan with cooking spray. Again, I used coconut oil instead of regular. No taste difference.

Mash bananas in a bowl, set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg whites, bananas, apple sauce, vanilla; beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl. 

Add flour mixture, then blend at low speed until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into muffin pan**; bake on the center rack for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

**I used a mini loaf pan. Bake time was about 30-40 min. I monitored to be safe. Still turned out great.

Recipe credit goes here

Easy Easter Treat

{Mouth watering? Good.} Image here

I've come across a great recipe I must try. Sounds pretty simple and I know a guy who loves these Cadbury Easter Egg Treats. While these are packed with sugar, who can't stand to have a little treat every now and then.

Homemade Cadbury Eggs (from Totsy)

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 ounces of milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• yellow food coloring
• egg molds

Directions: 

1. First mix together the corn syrup, butter and vanilla. Then add the powdered sugar. Separate mixture into two bowls (about 1/3 of mixture should be in second bowl). Add yellow food coloring to one (yolk). Put in fridge. 
2. Make little yolk balls and then put back in fridge or freezer to harden.
3. Take a small amount of white filling out and flatten it into a circle. Wrap the white around the yolk ball and then stick them back in the fridge.
4. Melt chocolate and fill molds. Place a ball in the center & join the halves. Pop in the freezer so they get hard. 

How cute do these look and how simple does this sound? I hope it is as simple as it says, because I want to try these!

What are some of your Easter treats? Must haves? Any cute ideas for things to make?

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I'm linking up with {Hanna over at Bouffe e Bambini} and her Handmade Hog, such a cutie!

Overnight Bliss

You want to wake up to the house smelling of cinnamon and gooeyness and goodness?? Well this should do the trick. Found this recipe and finally decided to make these. The reason I made these was for a work breakfast get together, but I had to do a trial run first so of course we benefited from that :) 


Super easy, though some prep work the night before..actually most of the work is the night before. But when you wake up you pop it in the oven and BAM, you have Cinnamon Rolls :)


Recipe from Our Best Bites site. It even has pictures to go along with so you can SEE how to do it!

Dough
1 T active dry yeast
1/2 C warm water (105 degr F/ 40 deg C)
4 1/2 C all-purpose flour (22 1/2 oz 700g)
4 large eggs
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 C (1 stick) real butter at room temp

Filling
1/2 C (1 stick) real butter at room temp
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1 T cinnamon

Glaze
1 C powdered sugar
2 T butter, melted
2 T milk or cream
1 t vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water, allow to bloom for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth.  Whisk in 1/2 C of the flour.  Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.  

Add the eggs, sugar, butter, and remaining 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture.  Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium speed until smooth 10-12 minutes. Add a bit more flour to reduce stickiness if needed.

Cover with plastic wrap, set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.  

While dough is rising, prepare filling.  Take 2 T of the stick of butter and set aside.  Beat  remaining butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until combined and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute.

Butter a 9x13 baking dish.  Transfer the dough to a floured work surface.  Roll  out into a rectangle about 15x10 in.  Spread filling onto dough and roll up length-wise.  **I made the mistake of putting too much filling near the center, so it oozed out when I cut the slices. Try to spread some closer to the ends


Use string or dental floss (Yes, I used floss, SO easy!) to score and cut the dough into rolls.  You can make 12 small rolls, 10 medium ones, or 8 large.   Place cut side up in baking dish.  Melt the reserved 2 T butter and brush on top of rolls.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. 


The next morning remove from refrigerator and let rise until half again as high, about 1 hour.  While rising mix glaze ingredients until combined.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes.  Spread the glaze over warm rolls and serve.

Fresh out of the oven with glaze on! YUM!

It sounds like a lot of work, but it is TOTALLY worth it!! The way I made it I got 14 rolls. The first 3 were huge, so I started cutting them a little smaller, about 1- 1 1/2 inch thick. 


Linking up with Hanna over at Bouffe e Bambini for something Handmade/Homemade.

Sweet Tooth

We all get a sweet tooth every now and then, right??? Well maybe not my brother, he isn't a huge fan of sweets. That's ok. More for me. Well, not too many, I do have some baby weight to get rid of :)

Mine did NOT turn out looking like this! But they tasted just as good :)

I had a sweet tooth a while back and the first thing that came to mind (the first thing that always comes to my mind) is something peanut butter and chocolate. Upon scouring the web for recipes, I came across this one from Joys of Baking. I think I've used a few recipes from here before. This one is amazing. And SUPER easy too! FYI: use small/mini muffin pans or mini muffin size paper cups. I used a regular size muffin pan and they came out way too big. Talk about sugar rush!


Ingredients:
Filling

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tablespoons  unsalted butter, room temperature

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar

Chocolate Coating

9 ounces semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

9 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon shortening

Place the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and salt in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about 45 seconds or just until soft, but not melted (check and stir the ingredients every 20 seconds). Stir in the confectioners sugar.

Melt the chocolates and shortening in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water.

Drop a teaspoon of the melted chocolate into each of the paper lined miniature muffin cups. Top with a scant teaspoon of peanut butter mixture. Then top with another teaspoon of melted chocolate. Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Makes about 36 peanut butter cups. Preparation time30 minutes.*** Depending on the size of the peanut butter cups you make!

Yes, it says it should make 36. If you use the regular size muffin pan like I did, you'll get 15 maybe. Oops! Needless to say they lasted longer since that was way too much chocolate. But it tastes just like a store bought peanut butter cup. Must try!

Hey Little Muffin

Starting the new year off right, and also continuing to eat healthy since being pregnant, I'm making better choices about what we eat as a family. Well Jackson doesn't really have much food choice yet, but soon enough.

I'm also striving to save as much money as I can when buying groceries. So meal planning is a must. I'm trying to make ahead as much as I can and keep our freezer stocked with pre made spaghetti sauces and muffins. I like the idea of having healthy choices for a quick grab 'n go for breakfast that isn't drive through. We don't usually do fast food anymore anyways. Gosh, it's probably been months since we've had drive through food.


Whole wheat oat muffins
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
**optional: 2 tableapoons flaxseed


The flaxseed is the extra healthy kick and good for you too! The taste doesn't change much, just gives it more of a nutty flavor.


In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients, and flaxseed if you use it. In another bowl whisk eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Pre heat oven to 400°F. Fill greased or paper lined cups in a muffin pan 2/3 the way full. I used a small ice cream scoop to fill paper cups. Bake for 15-17 min.

I couldn't wait, they were just sitting right there, staring at me. Yum!

Have a great week!

Maple Chocolate Chip Bars

I know it's been a while since I've posted any cooking or food. When you're 9 months pregnant and it's 112+ degrees outside, the creativity to come up with something to cook isn't always there. A lot of what I've made lately has been regular stuff and has been last minute. However, tonight after I got home from work I wanted cookies...after dinner of course :) I made a little twist to the recipe and actually made bars instead of cookies. Who says you can't have dessert first?!

Also, I'm linking up with my good friend and fellow blogger {bouffe e bambini} for her linky party the handmade hog. She hosts this almost weekly, if not more often, and I've been wanting to link up for a while!

Enjoy!

Maple Chocolate Chip Bars
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups flour
12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer (this is the method I used) cream together sugars and shortening. Next, add eggs, vanilla and maple extracts. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer. The batter will be pretty sticky. Mine stuck to the mixer paddle. Add in chocolate chips.

From here, you could make cookies on a cookie sheet if you prefer. I thought bars sounded better. I spread the batter into a 9x13 ( i think that is the size?!) casserole pan/enchilada pan/cake pan. Get the idea? Put in the oven for about 15 minutes, check after 10-12 minutes to make sure not to burn, after all every oven is different.

Man oh man were these good! I bet they would be good with some ice cream on top too :)

Christmas Time Goodies & Sugar Rush

I absolutely love making cookies at Christmas time. I can remember lots of years baking with my mom, putting all those wonderful cookies that I never remember until this time of year into tins with foil hiding them away. It's funny how talking about a snickerdoodle cookie any other time of the year makes me draw a blank as to what they taste like, but the minute we make them in December I recall exactly how they taste--and I love them!

The last few years I've been able to bake with my sister (in law, but she's just sister to me!) Steph and we've made a list of all the goodies we want to make and make a day of it. I think that will be a new tradition for us...except this year since she's in CO and I'm in AZ. Baking from a distance though, right?!


I look up to my mom and grandma when baking, since most of my recipes come from these two lovely baker ladies. Just last night I was making peanut butter fudge, having never made fudge before in my life, I called them and asked some questions. I pretended that the whole time I was baking they were in the kitchen with me, helping me taste test. This year I made some goodies all by myself, way to go! I made fudge, first timer, some haystacks that Steph and I made last year, some new Swedish Spritz cookies with the recipe from Taste of Home but I made a huge twist on it (as you could usually guess), and some chocolate chip blondies. Can you feel the weight gain yet?! I might have to dish some of these out so the hubster and I don't gain 50 lbs from all the sugar.



Chocolate Chip Blondies





Haystacks or Butterscotchie's--Next time I'll use more chow mein noodles and not so many marshmellows.



These started to not work using the cookie press, but I switched to the "frosting" setting. So I made my own shapes!





Swedish Spritz Cookies--Vanilla-Maple flavored shortbread cookie!





Peanut Butter Fudge--with a handfull of chocolate chips thrown in to give it a slight hint of chocolate!

 I had a blast baking and cooking all this up. There is one more thing I want to make and will likely make it tomorrow on Christmas eve, since I got that day off, woot! Josh and I will spend our Christmas just the two of us this year. We were both lucky enough to get Christmas eve off so we're going to spend the day together. The gifts under our tree are growing and Lucy even has her stocking full. She can't wait to open her gift from Grandma!