Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I have a Banana Bread recipe that I got from a good friend. It is a favorite of Rebecca's.
Last week I decided to switch it up a bit and added 3/4 of a cup of mini chocolate chips and poured the batter into muffin tins. Making them the same but different and also another big hit with everyone. So I thought I would share the recipe.

Esme's Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 smashed bananas
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan with butter or cooking spray.
Cream butter and sugar. Add bananas. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in flour and baking soda.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 mins. or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Now if you want to make the muffins add 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips and pour into muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Now this would make a good muffin recipe without the chocolate chips but who doesn't like chocolate chips?

Time to make the Donuts

I have been wanting to make homemade donuts for several years now, and haven't got around to it. Finally last weekend I decide that this was the weekend we were going to do it. I say we because I am a little bit intimidated by the using the fry daddy and made Dom do that part. Why? I have no real reason except that a large vat of burning hot oil seems scary. It's just one of those things that freaks you out until you try and they you wonder what all the fuss was about.

Anyway, I had two good recipes. A regular plain donut recipe and an apple cider recipe both very similiar. I went with the apple cider recipe. The apple cider recipe has of course apple cider in it as well as pumpkin pie spice. I also coated the warm donuts in a sugar and pumpkin pie spice mixture. The recipe came from one of my new favorite websites Our Best Bites. There is a little linky over in my "blogs that inspire me" list. I am not going to list the recipe here, you'll have to go check it out on the website for yourself. It is sooo worth it! The donuts were yummy! We will definitely be making these again, not a regular basis as they are not very good for your body, but they are definitely good for the soul.

Halloween Yum!

I made these cupcakes as a last minute treat for Dom to take to work because I thought they were so cute. I of course saved some for us, too! I discovered them on a blog called http://www.ourbestbites.com/ . They are candy corn cupcakes. The photos on the blog are better than mine but you get the idea. The cake batter is tinted yellow and orange and topped off with the white frosting to look like a candy corn. On the blog they topped them off with an actual candy corn. I could not find candy corn and substituted candy corn kisses instead. If you like to cook and bake you should check out this blog-lots of yummy stuff!

A Taste of Fall

The cooler weather always makes me want to bake so I decided to make an apple pie. I do not bake pies that often and didn't have a recipe so I did a little hunting online, found a basic recipe and tweaked it just a bit. And I cheated and used the store bought pillsbury crusts. I've always heard the crust is the hardest part of making a pie so if I can get a decent one at the store and not stress about it why not? But someday I'm going to try making the crust from scratch.

I made homemade vanilla ice cream to go with it too. And since I had already crossed the quadruple digit calorie mark I added cool whip too. I love cool whip especially now that it comes in a can. MMM..tastes just like fall.

We be Jammin- Take Two

Despite the not so good luck with the raspberry jam, I decided to try again with blueberries this time. The girls and I were invited to pick at a local farm with friends and the girls picked a bunch! I guess things are always more fun with friends!

I was pretty sure that the reason my raspberry jam didn't work is that I added the pectin too soon. So with the blueberries I made sure that I reached a full rolling boil and added the pectin for only a minute and this time success! Blueberry jam!

We be Jammin or Not...

Last week I took the girls raspberry picking hoping to gather enough raspberries to try making a batch of raspberry jam. The girls started out strong and Kenzie is always game for anything that involves food. Of course getting her to actually pick the berries and put them in the basket and not her mouth was whole 'nother challenge.

Becca quickly lost interst in picking and didn't even want her picture taken. I used bribery to get her to continue picking and took her picture anyway. Such fine parenting skills, eh?

Back at home I attempted my first jam session .....

And failed. The jars look really pretty and all the lids sealed properly but the jam itself didn't set so what I have is raspberry sauce which, I quickly discovered, is a good thing. It is yummy over ice cream and we plan on trying it over pancakes and waffles next. I will attempt to make jam again but for now I will enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Homemade sausage

Dom and I have taken up making our own italian sausage. Really good italian sausage is hard to find around here and we used to be able to get some in Gloucester but they don't make it anymore so the only thing to do was make our own.



We bought the grinder attachment and the stuffing attachement for my KitchenAid mixer and that is how we grind up the meat and stuff the links. There is a little bit of a learning curve when stuffing the links but it really isn't too hard. We started with a basic sweet italian sausage recipe and have played around with it each time and the last couple of time have come out really good.

So since the weather was rainy again yesterday we made another batch. Our next batch will even be better because we'll use our own fresh herbs. It really is satisfying making something from scratch and knowing exactly what went into it.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I tried this recipe from the show Cook Yourself Thin and it was pretty good. The recipes are supposed to be healthier than regular recipes, but you can still only have one!

The girls both liked them which speaks volumes and makes it a hit in my book. I didn't put walnuts in mine because I knew the kids wouldn't eat them if I did. I also used egg whites instead of the two whole eggs. It was the prepackaged kind so it equaled a 1/3 of a cup.

I think next time I might try adding a little more cinnamon and maybe even a little more vanilla for a little added flavor. The chocolate chips are sprinkled on top and I put Kenzie in charge of that so there are a few more than reccomended but who's counting?



Here is the recipe if anyone wants to give it a try:



Serves 12

Calories per serving: 200


1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups reduced-fat buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons chocolate chips



Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-muffin tray with paper liners. Set aside.


In a standing mixer, combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, rolled oats, ground cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and mashed banana, and blend on low speed for 2 minutes. Add the walnuts, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and reduced-fat buttermilk, and blend for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

Using an ice cream scoop, portion the batter evenly into the muffin tin, and top each muffin with 3 to 4 chocolate chips. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Once muffins are baked through, remove them from the oven and let cool. Serve.

Sweet

I do not know what happened to the past week but it just flew by even though it was not anymore busy than usual and I know that if my mother had not been out of town for the past several days she probably would have sent me an email about why I haven't updated this blog!

I did manage to keep up on my project 365 though!

One thing I did do last week was make cupcakes for Dom to take to work. I made the coconut cream filled ones and according to him they got rave reviews so I thought I would share the recipe. I used a regular boxed cake mix, but I do always doctor them up. I always use milk instead of water and I always add a box of pudding mix even if the mix claims to already have pudding added. These two things never fail to make a super moist cake. Now the cream filling is super easy too. It is the same ingredients as buttercream frosting with coconut extract instead of vanilla.

1/4 Cup unsalted butter softened

1/4 Cup shortening

2 Cups confectioners sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon coconut extract

Mix all ingredients together with electric mixer.

Now to fill the cupcakes you need a pastry bag and a long cake tip. I used Wilton #230.

Insert the tip into the top of the cupcake and fill with cream until the top starts to bulge. Then frost the cupcakes. I actually doubled the filling recipe and frosted the cupcakes with it,

But you could frost with regular buttercream or chocolate.

Cupcake Pops

Cupcake pops are a super-cute, super yummy idea I got from this blog-www.bakerell.blogspot.com. (I added a link to my list on the left) She was also featured on Martha Stewart and if you go to Martha's website I believe there is even a video to show you how to make them. If you like to bake, especially cakes and cupcakes you must check out this blog! The basic idea for the cupcake pops is you bake a cake, crumble it all up when it is cool.(A food processor works great for this!) Then mix in a can of frosting. Next you roll into little balls and let chill. You then use a flower cook cutter, stick one end in the cookie cutter to shape the bottom of the cupcake. Let chill again then dip in chocolate. Add a lollipop stick if you want to make lollipops-fun for kids. If you don't want to make cupcake shapes you can just dip the balls in chocolate. The cake/frosting combinations are endless. And they taste so good! I made some to send into Kenzie's class for her birthday and I did chocolate cake with buttercream frosting-(I used home made frosting). They taste like supermoist munchkins dipped in chocolate. I made some more yesterday for a friends birthday party on Saturday and then experimented with some flavors.

I mixed yellow cake with raspberry preserves-this was a big hit with Dom. Then I mixed yellow cake with Nutella, also very yummy. If you don't know what Nutella is it is the consistency of peanut butter but it has a chocolatey hazelnut flavor.

For some reason I had trouble dipping just the plain balls in chocolate and they came out all deformed. I think because I was running out of chocolate and it was starting to harden up on me, they still tasted yummy, anyway. Words of wisdom from Mackenzie, "It doesn't have to look perfect, mom, as long as it tastes good!" So true! I don't have a lot of experience with melting chocolate so I'll just have to keep practicing!

Here are some cupcakes without the stick, called cupcake bites:

And here are my deformed cake bites for all you who think I am as perfect as Martha Stewart. I take that as a compliment, by the way. It usually takes a lot of practice to get things right and you should see what a mess I make of my kitchen when I bake-Martha would be horrified! Someday I'll have to take a picture of the chaos.

Hunting and Gathering

Now that Kenzie's birthday has come and gone I can now turn my attention to Thanksgiving which we are hosting this year. So this week I have begun the process of hunting down and gathering at least one new recipe to throw into our Thanksgiving meal. We do all the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc. But I like to try at least one new dish/dessert.
While in the grocery store checkout lane I picked up the Pillsbury recipe booklet for Thanksgiving dishes. I am easily distracted by the brightly colored pictures of yummy food. Sometimes I think I may have adult ADD but I guess the correct term would be procrastinator. Looking for recipes is much more interesting than grocery shopping or folding laundry, but anyway, I digress.
The point of this post is to share some recipes, so here are some side dishes and a dessert from the booklet that sounded yummy, I haven't tried them yet though.


Green Beans with Colored Peppers

1 bag(22 oz.) frozen whole green beans
1 TBSP. lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 TBSP chopped fresh or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 TBSP olive or vegetable oil
1 Medium red bell pepper cut into strips
1 Medium yellow bell pepper cut into strips
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper if desired

In a 12 inch skillet, cook green beans on stove top as directed on bag. Drain, place beans on a plate and loosely cover to keep warm. Meanwhile in a small bowl, mix lemon juice, mustard, basil and thyme, set aside. Add oil to same skillet, heat over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, cook 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently until just tender. Add green beans and lemon mixture to peppers; toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt; cook 2-3 minutes stirring frequently. Serve sprinkled with with freshly ground black pepper.

Roasted Harvest Vegetables

4 Medium carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
4 Medium parsnips (about 1lb.) peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices (3 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
4 tsps chopped fresh or 1 1/2 tsps dried thyme leaves
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lb butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2 chunks (6 1/2 cups)
Fresh thyme sprigs if desired

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In large bowl place carrots, parsnips, and half of each of the oil, chopped thyme, salt and pepper; toss to coat. In ungreased 15x10x1-inch pan, spread mixture in single layer. Bake 15 minutes.
Meanwhile in same large bowl toss squash with remaining oil, chopped thyme, salt and pepper.
add to pan and stir to combine vegetables. Bake 35 to 40 minutes longer, turning vegetables twice with pancake turner, until vegetables are tender. Spoon into serving bowl or on platter, garnish with thyme sprigs.

Turtle Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust
1 1/2 cups thin chocolate wafer cookies crumbs (about 30 cookies)
1/4 butter or margarine melted

Filling
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin-NOT pumpkin pie mix.
4 packages (8oz. each) cream cheese softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
5 eggs

Topping
1/2 cups chopped pecans toasted*
2 oz bittersweet baking chocolate coarsley chopped
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 cup caramel topping

*to toast pecans, sprinkle in ungreased skillet. Cook over med-high heat 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until pecans begin to brown, then stirring constantly until light brown.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap foil around outside of bottom and side of 9-inch springform pan to prevent drips. Spray bottom and 1 inch up side of pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press crumb mixture on bottom and 1 inch up side of pan. Bake crust 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool at room temperature 5 minutes. Refrigerate about 5 minutes or until completely cooled.
Meanwhile, in another small bowl, mix flour pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin and set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Gradually beat in pumpkin mixture until smooth. Pou filling over crust. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes or until edge of cheesecake is set but center still jiggles slightly when moved. Run knife along edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Turn oven off. open oven door at least 4 inches and let cheesecake remain oven 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 6 hour or overnight before serving.
Just before serving, sprinkle pecans over top of cheesecake. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate and oil uncovered on high 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds stirring every 15 seconds until melted. Drizzle chocolate over pecans. To serve, run knife around outside of pan to loosen cake and carefully remove sides of pan. Drizzle caramel over each serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

Smoked Salmon Pizza

I love quick, easy recipes especially in the summer so I thought I would share one of our favorite pizza recipes. This makes a really good appetizer if your having a party or we just like to eat it for a meal. I usually only make one pizza and use the leftover topping for bagels the next morning.

Ingredients:

Two 12 inch store bought parial baked pizza crusts

Extra virgin olive oil

Pepper

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 Cup finely chopped shallots

1/4 Cup drained capers

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Juice of 1/2 one lemon

3/4 pounds sliced smoked salmon

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle the crusts with olive oil, season with pepper and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a meduim bowl, combine cream cheese, shallots, 2 Tablespoons dill and lemon juice.

Spread cream cheese mixture on the crusts. Top with the smoked salmon, remaining 2 Tablespoons capers and 1 Tablespoon dill. Cut into wedges and enjoy!

Silly Spider Cake

In the past I have enjoyed making cakes just for fun and spoiled Dom's co-workers with cakes at least once a month. I haven't made one in awhile and finally sent one in for halloween. I think it came out pretty cute. Kenzie was my official color consultant and frosting taster. It was a spice cake with a cream cheese filling.

The spider on top is not all frosting it is actually a three inch cake. This helped me get back into the cake groove with Kenzie's birthday coming up soon. Also Uncle Chuck will be visiting soon and we know how much Uncle Chuck loves cake!

Fall Favorites

I love to bake. Especially in the fall and winter when the weather gets cooler. I thought I would share a couple of my favorite recipes that we have been enjoying lately.

The first two recipes are lowfat treats!

Easiest muffins ever

1 box of spice cake mix or chocolate cake mix
1 15 oz can of pumpkin

Mix together and place in greased muffin tin. Fill muffin cups to the top as these don't rise much. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 mins.
Makes approx. 9 muffins.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

1 box of carrot or spice cake mix
1 can of pumpkin
1 cup of mini chocolate chips(optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine cake mix, pumpkin and chocolate chips and beat with mixer until blended. Place by spoonfuls on cookie sheet and bake for 18-20 mins.

Chocolate Chip pumpkin bread

4 Cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Cups sugar
3/4 cup butter softened
4 eggs
1/2 Cup of water
1 (15oz) can pumpkin
1 Cup plus two Tbsp miniature semisweet chocolate chips
2 tsp sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 8x4 inch loaf pans with shortening, lightly flour. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until mixed; set aside.
Beat two cups of sugar and butter on med. speed 1 to 2 mins. or until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in water and pumpkin. Add flour mixture a little at a time until moistened. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Spread evenly in pans sprinkle tops with remaining chips and 2 tsp sugar. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 mins. or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. cool in pans 10 mins them remove to wire rack.

Caramel Apple Crisp

3 Cups old fashioned oats
2 Cups flour
1 1/2 Cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Cup cold butter
8 Cups thinly sliced tart apples(granny smith)
1 pkg. caramels, halved
1 Cup apple cider divided

In a large bowl combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon. Cut in the butter until crumbly.
Press half of the mixture into a greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Layer half of the apples and caramels and 1 cups of the oat mixture. Repeat layers. Pour half cup of cider over the top and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 mins. drizzle with remaining cider, bake 15-20 mins longer or until the apples are tender.

Enjoy!