Banana Bread

This post is looooooooooooong overdue.  I've been meaning to post a recipe for like 6 months..so here it is.

I had some overripe bananas that I didn't want to go to waste so I thought...Banana Bread!

I looked up a recipe online and it was fabulous!  Bennett was the best banana masher in the house!  He loves to help in the kitchen.  I found it here.

It was so good he had to close his eyes to lick the spoon!

I added pecans for a little crunch.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

• 1/3 cup melted butter

• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• I added 1/2 cup pecans to change it up a bit

METHODNo need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Buttermilk Blackberry Breakfast Cake

I whipped up this recipe for our small group breakfast and it was divine! Blueberries were in the original recipe, but blackberries were on sale so I went went those instead. I will hopefully try it with blueberries in the near future.

Serves 6-8

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries *I used blackberries
½ cup buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Bread

The best way to go into a sugar coma (other than downing pure sugar) is eating a slice of pumpkin bread at Starbucks. I love it. I hate it. It’s so good. It’s so bad.

Bottom line. It tastes like a little piece of goodness on my tongue, but it has a whole lotta sugar.

Naturally I wanted to recreate the recipe to punish myself or rather my hips. The Starbucks Pumpkin bread recipe has a whole slew of other spices/ingredients none of which I had in my cabinet so I turned my focus to this recipe which turned out just as well with minimal ingredients.

Happy Thanksgiving! I’ll be posting one of my favorite dressing recipes some time later this week!

PS – I still don’t know what my main dish will be tomorrow. Turkey or Ham? What does your family do?

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter (melted)
1 can of solid pack pumpkin (approx. 15 oz.)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Heat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Mix egg, pumpkin, butter, sugar. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until well corporated. Cook 35-50 minutes or bread is set in the middle.

Banana Oatmeal Bars

This recipe is a variation from Money Saving Mom. I eat oatmeal just about every single day so I'm always looking for new combinations. This recipe is relatively healthy, tastes great, and makes your kitchen smell divine!

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
3/4 cup raw sugar (or brown sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk
3 cups oats (regular or quick oats)
2 very ripe bananas (smashed)

Directions
Beat eggs, sugar and butter together. Mix in baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.

Stir in milk, oats, and banana. Pour into a greased 9×13 foil pan or baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until set in the middle. Serve warm with milk or cut into bars.

Almond Cinnamon Apple Muffins

It appears that most of my recipes consist of apples & cinnamon. Mainly because those are the two things I readily have on hand. The original recipe called for cheddar cheese, but I thought that was a little odd. They still turned out yummy and who knows, maybe the cheese adds some sort of overly delicious dimension.

I made these for Sunday School and the leftovers lasted all week long. I did keep them in the refrigerator which probably helped a little bit.

Enjoy!

Almond Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 cups Bisquick
1 large apple pared and chopped
2 tbs vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped almonds

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Beat egg; stir in all other ingredients.
3. Pour into muffin pan. {I used mini muffins}.
4. Sprinkle almonds on top and bake for 12-15 minutes.

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Apple Nut Breakfast Crumble

This was thrown together in a matter of minutes and it turned out great. I made this for Sunday School, but quickly realized it wasn’t my day to bring breakfast…oops! Ben and I were forced to eat this all by our lonesome’s despite Ben’s healthier eating habits. The apple part is healthy.

It’s also VERY crumbly, so eating it with a spoon straight from the baking dish is highly recommended.

Ingredients:
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups Bisquick
1/3 plus 1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 medium apples pared and chopped
1 tsp cinnamon, divided
1/4 cup chopped nuts (any will do)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease 9x12x2 baking pan.
3. Beat egg; stir in milk; apples and oil. Stir in Bisquick, 1/3 cup light brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
4. Stir just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).
5. Pour into pan.
6. Mix 1/4 cup brown sugar, pecans, and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.
7. Sprinkle mixture over cake batter and bake until golden brown about 20 min.

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Fruit Pizza

this recipe is coming to you straight our of Ruston, LA!  Molly brought this to a little Sunday School party a few weeks ago and I have been craving it ever since.  She said that her mom makes it all the time...I can see why!

I took this picture of Molly's pizza after it had been eaten, but I couldn' t resist posting!

I made this patriotic fruit pizza for the 4th.  I hope it's as good as Molly's!

Fruit Pizza

1 roll sugar cookie dough

1 8-oz cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

assorted fruit

glaze:

1 cup orange juice

2/3 cup sugar

2 T cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pat sugar cookie dough on pan.  Bake at 350 for about 12 min or until done but not crisp.  Combine softened cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar.  Spread over cooled dough.  Arrange fruit on top.  Combine starch, sugar, salt, and orange juice.  Mix and boil 1 minute, stirring occasionally until thick.  Cool 5 minutes.  Pour over fruit.  Refrigerate.

Banana Bread

Martha Stewart knows how to bake!  This may be the first Martha recipe that I've ever tackled and it turned out great.

I love banana bread made with sour cream. It gives the bread a little somethin' somethin'!  The hardest part of this whole process was slicing the banana bread. It was primarily due to my lack of patience in letting the bread completely cool. What can I say? I was hungry!

****
Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.


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Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 12+ muffins

4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
cinnamon sugar - for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare muffin tins.

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix only until moistened. Fill muffin cups and top with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.
**Note: I used a mini muffin pan and they baked for 10 minutes.**

Breakfast Casserole for two

I love breakfast casserole, but sometimes it will feed the masses and leftover casserole just isn't the same.  Here's a way to feed 1 or 2 people and not have half a pan left to throw away.

3 slices of bread cubed
3 eggs
4-5 tbs milk
1/2 cup cooked ham diced (or breakfast sausage)
2 dash of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp dry mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste

*Note, I baked the casserole in a six muffin pan.

Combine all the ingredients (minus the bread) and mix well.  Place a few cubes of bread in each muffin cup. Evenly distribute the rest of the ingredients. Muffin cups will be at least 3/4 full. Bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.

Pecan Pie Muffins

This is a recipe from Tasty Kitchen and it only has 5 ingredients!! They were amazing. It was kinda like eating pecan pie for breakfast and not feeling guilty.

* 1 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
* ½ cups All-purpose Flour
* 1 cup Chopped Pecans
* ⅔ cups Softened Butter
* 2 whole Eggs Beaten

Preheat oven 350 F.

Grease your muffin pan (whatever size) or use the silicone cups. I grease my silicone muffin cups with Crisco or lard.

In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and pecans. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and eggs together until smooth. Stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Cups should be about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks when done.

Option: when you take them out of the oven, place a slice of butter on top and eat warm. You may also use walnuts instead of pecans.

Make Ahead Muffin Melts

This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman.  I actually halved the recipe and had a few variations due to ingredients in the fridge. I could have used the halved recipe for 6 english muffins, but I only had 4 so they had a little more height than PW's but still delicious.  I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of cheese, so next time I will make without cheese and just add to the top for Ben.

Ingredients

• 12 whole Hard-boiled Eggs, Peeled And Chopped
• 2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup (real) Mayonnaise
• 12 slices Bacon, Fried And Crumbled (I used one roll of Jimmy Dean sausage - cooked and drained)
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon Mustard (no dijon, so I used regular mustard)
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 3 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 6 whole English Muffins Split

Preparation Instructions

Combine eggs with all other ingredients. Fold together gently. Cover and store in the fridge overnight.
Spread on English muffin halves, then broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until hot and bubbly. (Don’t set them too close to the heating element.)

Serve immediately!

Sausage Pull Aparts

I made this recipe for Sunday School this morning. It's from the Pillsbury website and the original recipe calls for bacon, but I used Jimmy Dean sausage instead.

(because I was hungry, one or two biscuits may be missing above)

Ingredients
1 egg
2 tbs milk
1 can of Pillsbury biscuits
1 roll Jimmy Dean sausage (cooked and drained)
3/4 cup shredded cheese
1/4 cup green onions (diced)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat egg & milk until smooth.  Cut biscuits into quarters and gently stir in biscuits.  Fold in sausage, cheese, and onions.  Spoon mixture into 11X7 baking dish and arrange biscuits into a single layer.  Bake at 350 for 23-25 minutes or until the tops of biscuits are golden brown.

Florentine Frittata

I got this recipe from Cooking Light and have made it often for brunch or dinner. It is great with a fruit salad! I usually make this in a cast iron skillet or a skillet that can transfer to the oven since it goes under the broiler after it cooks on the stovetop.

Florentine Frittata

2 T. water

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 (16 oz) carton egg substitute

1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry

1 T butter

2 cups thinly sliced Vidalia onion

2 c frozen shredded hash brown potatoes

1 (7 oz) bottle roasted red bell peppers, drained & sliced

3/4 c (3 oz) crumbled feta cheese

Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat and add onion; saute 5 minutes. Add potatoes and cook 9 minutes; stirring occasionally until lightly browned. Pour egg mixture over onion mixture. Arrange roasted bell pepper strips on top of frittata. Cook 7 minutes or until set. (sometimes I just go ahead and put it in the broiler after the 7 minutes even if it is not all the way set in the middle). Preheat broiler. Sprinkle with feta. Broil frittata 5 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned (feta will not melt). Cut into wedges and serve!

Banana Crumb Muffins

This weekend I made muffins for Katie & Will's wedding.  Apparently there is a tradition floating around for morning weddings that guests bake muffins for the brunch.  Anyhow, I came across this recipe and the best thing is I had everything on hand!  This RARELY happens to me because my cooking is normally from a box or from the freezer.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs butter

1. Preheat overn to 375. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tbs flour & cinnamon. Cut in 1 tbs butter until mixture resembles course cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Amanda

Breakfast Sausage Toast

I'm not sure the real name for this recipe, so breakfast sausage toast seems appropriate.  Today we had a Sunday School breakfast for some friends that are moving to KY.  I made a variation of a recipe from Ben's cousin.  Apparently it was a hit because I came home with an empty dish.

1 pound sausage
1 jar of English Cheese
English Muffins (I used some left over sliced french bread)

Cook sausage, then add cheese, mix until all melted.  Put mixture on  muffins.

Leah (Ben's cousin) normally puts the English muffins in the oven (plain) for a crisp finish, then she puts on the mixture.

Quick and simple...my kind of cooking!

Amanda

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are so fabulous! They are perfect for a Fall day.

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour (I only use 3/4 cup)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup plain pumpkin
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with foil or paper baking cups. Thoroughly mix flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Break eggs into another bowl. Add pumpkin and butter, and whisk until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour over dry ingredients and fold in with a rubber spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened. Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until puffed and springy to the touch in the center. Keeps 1-2 days.