Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Just when I thought that my recipe for banana bread couldn't get any better, I went ahead and added a little bit of this and a little bit of that to achieve a level of chocolaty perfection that was previously unheard of. Seriously, my final product was absolutely sensational. In fact, it was so sensational that it almost forced me to give up on my diet for the day. But ah! I didn't HAVE to give up on my half-assed diet due to the fact that the recipe calls for applesauce instead of butter. Yeah, yeah... I know. I'm back talking about applesauce as a substitute, but seriously. It's an awesome swap and if you're not yet a a believer, this is the recipe to try as a first step.

Now not to pat myself on the back or anything (who am I kidding? I adore self-praise), but I really do have a knack for switching up my recipes and making them even better. Let the applesauce sub and the addition and subtraction of cocoa powder and flour, respectively, serve as evidence of my talents. I also added mini chocolate chips, but that's amateur stuff, so I'm not really looking for loads of credit on that one.

Ingredients:
3 very ripe and spotty bananas, smashed to baby food-ish consistency
1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (You must use minis, otherwise the regular-sized chips will sink to the bottom of the pan and you'll find yourself in a mess that I'm not willing to help you crawl out of)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350'.

2. In a large bowl, mix mashed banana, sugar, and eggs together. Add applesauce and stir until well incorporated.

3. In a smaller bowl, mix cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking power, and baking soda.

4. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ones. Stir and scrape bowl.

5. Add mini chocolate chips and stir.

6. Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle top with mini chocolate chips if desired.

7. Bake for an hour.

I usually wrap my loaf in saran wrap almost immediately after it comes out of the oven. This traps in the moisture and keeps it tasting amaaayyy-zing. Also, I usually make this at night and let it sit till the morning. Breads and muffins always taste best when they've have time to rest and the flavors have had time to marry.

P.S. I'll post pictures soon, as I am currently too lazy to fetch my camera.
Pin It

Red Light Bars

Last night after I returned home from another gruelling day at the office (actually that's a lie... it wasn't bad at all), I decided that I wanted to whip up a rather delicious treat of the sweet variety. Having neither the time, nor the majority of the ingredients necessary to make something chocolaty, I did something that I have only done a handful of times... I used a mix. That's right, I went to the store wearing a scarf over my head and a pair of sunglasses over my eyes, and bought two boxes of baking mix. Don't judge me- I know you've done it and I bet you've even tried to pass it off as homemade.

After I shelled out the cash for my embarrassing purchase, I sped home and immediately turned up the heat (literally and figuratively) in the kitchen. Eggs were cracking, spatulas were spreading, and knives were cutting... and this is what I came up with... a delicious layered bar that boasts a chocolate chip cookie crust topped with sliced bananas and a layer of brownie. I call them Red Light Bars.

Why are they called Red Light Bars? Because they're super easy (like the women who hang out in the Red Light District) and because they rely on bananas to give them that extra little something (just like previously mentioned women). If this offends you, call them something cute... like monkey bars. However, for as long as I can get away with it (i.e. for as long as I don't have children), I'm going to keep this suggestive name and hope for the best.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

3 Bananas, sliced into 1/4" pieces

Brownie Mix (don't use anything but Ghiradelli or you'll be sorry)

All the ingredients that the mixes call for

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350'.

2. Make cookie mix as directed, but add two additional teaspoons of oil.

3. Spread cookie dough into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 baking pan.

4. Arrange sliced bananas over cookie dough. The slices should be touching. Don't be cheap.

5. Make brownie mix as directed on box. As specified previously, don't cheap out and buy anything other than Ghiradelli. Yes, it's a dollar more expensive than the "leading brand", but it tastes a heckkkk of a lot better and you can likely pass it off as homemade.

6. Spread brownie batter over the bananas. This is the most difficult part of the recipe because you'll have to exercise a little self control and do this carefully. You may fool yourself into thinking that there's not enough lovin' to go around, but think like a Red Light girl and understand that with enough spreading, all things are possible.

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I'm sure this recipe is better with all homemade batters, but as someone who never cuts corners in the kitchen, I figured I was allowed to cheat this one time, right?

Pin It

100% Whole Wheat Banana-Oat Muffins

What can I say about these muffins other than the fact that they are simply aaa-maaaa-zing! I enjoy taking recipes that are tasty as written, but super unhealthy, and amping them up with nutrition and seriously bumping down the fat content. And not to come across as holy terror, but I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

So let's chat about bananas. I recently had a horrible experience with them, as I accidentally chomped down on what I believe to be a mass of spider eggs, which had hidden themselves in the bottom tip! Apparently, spiders lay their eggs in the tips of bananas and although they are sprayed before shipped to a grocery store near you, some can survive the chemical showdown. Anyway, the eggs caused my lips, tongue, and face to go numb, and also caused my right hand to twitch maniacally. Wanna talk about scary? I was so freaked out that I went to the emergency room, which probably made things worse, especially when I found out that the person next to me was infected with the black plague. No, she didn't really have the plague, but strep throat is equally as scary.

As someone who loves bananas, I wasn't sure how to deal with this experience. Then it hit me... don't eat the tips! So now when I eat bananas, I discard the first and last 1/2" of the fruit. Perfect- no problems since. I hope the fear of consuming spider eggs has not scared you away from eating bananas because then you'd be screwed out of the chance to make the following recipe. I made them yesterday and am happy to report a fully-functioning set of nerves in the craniofacial region.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup (a little less) old fashioned oats
3 very ripe bananas, mashed to smithereens (discard the tips!)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt (I know it sounds like a trivial amount, but salt is a very important ingredient because it draws out the flavor)
1 egg
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (Make sure they're mini. If you use the regular-sized ones, they'll sink to the bottom, and you'll lose all credibility as a baker!)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350'. Grease or line muffin tins.

2. On a large plate, mash the bananas with a fork until they resemble baby food.

3. In  large bowl, combine egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and applesauce. Once all ingredients are incorporated, stir in the banana.

4. To the bowl, add salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix.

5. Slowly add flour. Once the flour has been added, mix in the oats.

6. Add in the mini chocolate chips.

7. Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter. I filled 17.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Mine baked for 15 minutes and were perfect.

Enjoy them... they're wonderfully delicious and actually pretty darn good for you! Pin It

100% Whole Wheat Pumpkin Banana Muffins

I am in love with these muffins! They are moist and have a lovely pumpkin flavor. Pumpkin is one of those things that I could eat every day, regardless of how many strange looks I get when loading my cart up with Libby's in July. That's right I said it... Libby's. While I'm sure fresh pumpkin is a zillion times better than the canned stuff, I'm not denying myself of the orange sphere of wonder when the only thing currently in season is sunscreen. I'll admit that even in the autumn, though, I cheat and jump aboard the aluminum express. It's just too labor intensive to cook and scoop a pumpkin for a dozen muffins. Who knows... maybe if I get enough angry hippie comments, I'll buy a pumpkin this coming October and become a believer.


Anyway, I've been making these muffins for a while now and do not see myself stopping anytime in the near future. Although, I might recruit my awesome boooyfran to whip up a second batch tonight... maybe? We've got a bunch of severely speckled bananas that need to be used or tossed ASAP (Not Ay-Sap... AY, ES, AY, PEE).


So the recipe below looks like it has a lot of ingredients, but hold onto your hat because it's not that bad! It should all be stuff that you have in your cabinets, so please... don't worry.

Sorry this picture is kind of blurry! It was taken with my cell phone, which despite its brick-like appearance, actually has a camera in it. This is what .5 mp looks like.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (Rhode Islanders- it's okay to get this at Job Lot)
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup very ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk (I usually use 1 tsp vinegar + enough milk to equal 1/3 cup)
2 eggs
1/2 cup raisins (I usually let these soak in water for about half an hour before adding to my batter
Old fashioned oats
Sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400'.

2. Grease or line 12 muffin tins.

3. Combine wet ingredients in one bowl. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients. You know what I mean.
*** Read if you're making your own buttermilk: Measure 1 tsp vinegar. Pour it into the measuring cup that you'll use to portion out your milk. Add enough milk to reach 1/3 cup. Let sit for 5 minutes before using.

4. Add raisins to batter.

5. Pour batter into muffins cups and sprinkle with sugar and oats.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

I usually let these sit in their tins for 5 minutes before transferring to a container with a tightly fitting lid. I know this probably promotes mold growth, but I've never had a problem. This helps lock in the moisture, which is important when you're working with whole wheat flour. Pin It