Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread 

Friday, January 6, 2012 -
We buy a lot of bananas. Hubs takes one to work everyday. I sometimes take them. So when we buy with the thought that we each will take them, but it doesn't happen, we are left with (you guessed it), bananas. And these bananas get ripe. Over ripe. I'm not a fan of ripe bananas, so anything beyond normal ripe is just bad to me.

So what does one do? Freeze them of course. So when you have three over ripe bananas you can make banana bread. That's the thought. Sometimes it takes up to five frozen bananas for you to realize that you need to make banana bread, but that's okay. It happens.

Sometimes you might have extra chocolate chips hanging out in the pantry. Well, this girl likes bananas with chocolate. So why not toss that in too? Nothing like making some bread on a cold winter night!


Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Note: recipe has been changed up, but original concept was from a recipe I found from Bon Appétit via my Epicurious App. Here's the original, but below is my modified ingredient list.

Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup smashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Lightly grease bread pan with butter and dust with flour. Cream together eggs and sugar in a large bowl until thick and light on high. I used my KitchenAid, but a hand held electric mixer works just as well. Mix in smashed bananas, oil and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat until just blended. No need to over blend here.


Bake in a 325 degree oven until golden brown on top and toothpick comes out clean. This was about one hour for me, maybe 55 minutes. I let it sit in the pan for a few minutes before allowing it to completely cool on rack. Cut, enjoy!

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Want s'more cupcakes? 

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 -
A while back, I had baked some s'more cupcakes because, well, I really wanted a s'more.  Alas, I was baking for a recruitment event and knew I couldn't bring a plate of the delectable summer treat, so I transformed cupcakes to satisfy my craving.  This time around, I changed out a few things, but the end product was still delish.

I began with a basic chocolate cupcake rather than a yellow or white.  I sifted the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.  I also threw in some cinnamon for good measure.

Creaming together the sugar and eggs, I always add the eggs slowly and individually.  Of course, this avoids any egg shell mishaps and ensures the mixture all gets the same amount of love.  Adding a bit of vanilla extract, I whipped it all together before adding the flour mix and milk on a low speed to avoid splatters.

Once the mix was complete, I scooped it into the prepared pans.  I couldn't decide between mini or standard cupcakes, so opted to bake both. By doing so, all those New Year's resolutions people made could be in check while those who didn't care, they had a larger option to select.  When they were done, I let them cool as I wrapped up the dulce de leche blondies I was also making (oh yes, double baking was happening!)


This time around, I didn't fill the center with fluff.  Instead, I attempted to make the fluff not so messy as frosting.  Now, I understand marshmallow's are sticky and messy and all, but it doesn't mean I can't attempt to change that.  I added some vanilla extract and powdered sugar to the fluff for a better consistency (and taste I guess?) before smearing it on top of the chocolate cupcake.  I thought, "why not toast the marshmallows?  Then it will be just like a s'more!" and won't leave them all sticky.

Well, I didn't really think about the graham cracker topping.  I don't know if I would have burned the graham crackers if I put it on prior to toasting the topping under the broiler, but at least they would have stuck.  Unfortunately, once toasted, the graham's weren't having the toasty marshmallow goodness.  And of course, the chocolate pieces were melting into the mess, but that is how a s'more is!

They were all delicious the same, even with the tweaking from last time.  They were gobbled up at the football game watch, and the four that remained were eaten the next day at work.  Maybe next time I make them, they may become pumpkin s'mores...mmm...

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Dulce de Leche Blondies 

Sunday, January 16, 2011 -
Cooking or baking can be theraputic.  This past weekend, I needed some therapy.  On a sad note, one of our hedgehogs, Erbert, passed away on Friday.  Though this is sad, I experienced something worse when I received the call two days later about my aunt.  She was caring, loving and always smiling.  Many people loved her and she had a lot of love to give - she'll absolutely be missed.  While wrapping my head around all of us, I found myself in the kitchen.  As we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet for the weekend (which we ended up not doing due to the trip to Wisconsin), I found that I had little to work with except for baked goods.

Due to some strange reason, many of my friends think that I'm a baker.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, it isn't my strong suit.  All the measuring and timing, sometimes it is just more than I want to think about while I'm in the kitchen.  However, by friends request, I was informed I'd be bringing some desserts for an evening potluck (pitch-in, etc., whatever you call it, it works for me).  The timing was perfect for some baking and I began with some of Tim's favorite brownies, Ducle de Leche Blondies.


I had found this recipe in a $4 cookbook entitled, "The Cookie Bible," which I had bought when I first moved to Indy six years ago. I've used it maybe 3 times, and this is a recipe I've made twice now.  They are sweet, full of caramel flavor while holding up the brownie name.

I began by prepping the oven at 350 degrees and then greasing a 13x9 pan.  I sifted the flour, baking soda and salt together and set them aside.  Then, I turned to the mixer to beat the butter and sugar until creamy.

Slowly, I added the eggs and vanilla.  I like to crack the eggs into a separate bowl and add one by one.  This guarantees no egg shells and blends all of the ingredients together thoroughly.  Then, slowly add in the flour mixture (while of course turning down the speed so you don't end up covered in flour.)

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the greased pan, spreading it out as you go.  This bakes for 7-8 minutes - it won't be completely done, just partial, so don't be surprised by this.  Cool it for a few minutes on a wire rack (it helps for ventilation underneath the ban if you wonder why people say to use a wire rack.)

All during this baking process, I started on the caramels.  Taking a small saucepan, melt the caramels (which husband has helped you unwrap without any type of sighing of course) in evaporated milk on low heat.  


Once these are melted (of course, you've resisted sticking your finger into the hot liquid to taste the sweetness) and the baked brownies are cooled for a bit, pour the caramels over the baked layer.  Take the remaining batter and drop dollops over the caramel layer - swirl with knife.  You can swirl as little or as much as you like - I like to get it throughout the whole pan so each bite has a good combination of the flavors.  Then, bake 25 more minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients
  •  2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tea. baking soda
  • 1 tea. salt
  • 1 c. unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
  • 1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tea. vanilla
  • 14 oz. caramels (one package)
  • 1/2 c. evaporated milk

These brownies are addictive.  The first time I made them, I didn't put enough of the batter down for the first layer, so instead of a soft, chewy brownie I ended up with a crunchier type of bar.  The taste was still there, but the texture was off.  I shrug my shoulders to this because I liked both versions to be honest.  And I guess others did too, because there weren't any left over after I brought them to work.  Another piece of advise, don't cut them big - since they are so sweet, I advise on small squares (think 1 inch, or at max 1.5 inches).

Lots of love to my family and thank you for all the kind thoughts and words our friends have given us.  Every day will get easier we know, and we appreciate your support.  But I'm back and moving forward - thanks for understanding the week of silence.  And for those wondering - Gerbert is just fine - personally, I think he is enjoying not sharing the food or his sleeping hut.

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What about this cupcake? 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 -
For the upcoming Halloween event, as you may have read, hubs and I are hosting a Tim Burton themed event!  It's no secret that I love Halloween, pumpkin, cinnamon and lots of other fall things.  Tim Burton represents autumn to me as well, though he is delightful in so many other forms. 

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Nightmare Before Christmas.  And yes, there will be a room themed after this movie of course.  I came across these today on the Disney Family site (yes, make fun of me, but I love Disney, I can't help it) and I couldn't help but smile and think to myself, "do I need to make these?" 
I will have many treats in the Alice in Wonderland themed area, as well as Charlie & the Chocolate Factory room.  After my recent baking episode and the fact that I'm not a baker, we'll definitely have to wait and see.  But I just couldn't resist how cute these are!

And on a side note - my costume is complete (here's a hint) as is Nala's.  Yes, my adorable puppy has her own costume because Target was selling it for only $7 and I couldn't resist.  And no, I'm not normally the kind of person who dresses their dog up, but I really couldn't resist.  
Do you see why? 

Hubs doesn't have his costume yet, but I'm sure you can guess who he'll be! 

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Cookies, Cupcakes and Sorority Recruitment - Oh My! 

Monday, September 13, 2010 -
This past Saturday, I woke up at 8am and started baking.  Why you may ask?  Because I promised I'd bring desserts to the Sigma Kappa women at Ball State University during Sorority recruitment.  As they recruited their hearts out (yay for making quota by the way ladies!) I put together some tasty treats and made the trek to Muncie for the afternoon.  But first, I had to bake.

Now, I'm not a baker.  I don't like measuring and all that jazz.  I adore Holy Cow Cupcakes (so dangerous that they are right down the street from my home) and The Flying Cupcake (thank you for opening another location and providing me with more red velvet.)  I leave the baking business to the professionals.  But alas, once in a while, I whip out those red measuring cups and go to town.  Like this past Saturday when I made 7 dozen cookies and 2 dozen cupcakes in 2.5 hours.  Lovely.

When I was at the store, they were having a sale on Hershey bars, so I thought "Why not make s'more cupcakes?"  And of course, I saw strawberries were also on sale, so the next thought was "and strawberry shortcake cupcakes too!"  For cookies, I like all kinds, so I figured a variety mix would be good.  Thus, double chocolate chunk, peanut butter and sugar cookies were made.

First up - cupcakes.  I made a basic batter out of the good stuff (per Ms. Martha's recommendations of course) and poured half of it into one prepared pan.  The other half, I pureed some strawberries and mix those in before pouring into another pan.  Then, I baked and viola, here they are.  Unfortunately, the strawberry cupcakes did not rise as well as the plain vanilla - see the comparison?
While I let those cool, I baked double chocolate chunk cookies (sorry for the before photo, all I remembered was after!)  They were ooey and gooey, just the way I like them!
Then peanut butter - with the fork pressing of course.  The only difference is I dropped all the cookies rather than rolled - same thing with the sugar...
Sugar cookies.  I thought I had some sanding sugar to top it off with, but I must have finished that up around Valentine's Day and just forgot to restock.  So, they got red sugar crystals instead (it could have been blue, but that would have clashed even more than the red!)
Once all the cupcakes were cooled, I was ready for the fun part - decorating!  These are what makes them look appealing right?  Got together my toppings and prepped the pastry bag.  I cheated and used fluff and strawberry icing...I'm a little bummed I made that call, but I was under a time crunch, so I'll forgive myself.
Strawberry shortcake cupcakes.  I filled and frosted the strawberry vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting, though I did a really bad job piping for some reason.  It was extremely light (yes, I know, that is what whipped frosting means) and just wasn't the consistency I needed.  But putting a vanilla wafer and strawberry on top made them look extremely better. 
For the first time, I wanted to make s'more cupcakes.  Fluff (which I never heard of until I went to college and found out that is what the East coast kids grew up on - peanut butter and fluff sandwiches...anyone ever heard of jam/jelly before?) is what I decided to fill the cupcakes with and then top them for the sticky marshmallow topping.  Then, I sprinkled some crushed graham crackers on them and added a piece of Hershey chocolate.  Yum.
And there you have it!  Lots of cupcakes and cookies for a job well done!

Of course, I left some in the cookie jar for the hubs.  He would have been awfully sad if he came home and smelled the goodness to find an empty cookie jar.

Did I mention that I somehow got 3 loads of laundry done during this time too?  All before leaving at noon...nice Angie.

Do you ever get in a baking mood - and if so, what do you bake?

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