Ben's Banana Burrito

In 2nd grade we had to memorize a poem and recite it for the class. This was mine:

BANANANANANANA, by William Cole. 

I thought I'd win the spelling bee 

And get right to the top

But when I started spelling Banana

I didn't know when to stop. 

I know that is a random tangent to start with, but anytime I type out the word "Banana" I think of this poem and it makes me smile.

To get to the point, I like bananas, but I like them a whole lot more when they are paired with probably the best food ever created NUTELLA!!! Ben think's I am crazy for how much I love nutella because I"ll just eat spoonfulls of it sitting on the couch or while studying. What can I say, it's delicious.

Anyway, Ben makes really good breakfast and even though this one is super simple it is sooo good! Melty and warm on the inside but crispy on the outside!

He just spreads the peanut butter or Nutella (using both is the best) on the inside with the sliced banana and wraps it up. Then he toasts it in a hot, dry pan to brown the outside and warm up the inside so it is all gooey and crispy.

Really simple, execution is super easy, but it is the genius idea that counts!

Girls Night Dessert!

I have wanted to make chocolate cups since I saw this post on bakerella, I just needed an event to make them for! So when we had a girls night dinner for Christmas, last year, I finally had the excuse I needed! I made two types of mousse to fill the cups with: peanut butter mousse and chocolate mousse. With a big group of girls, I think it's needless to say that they were a pretty big hit!

Chocolate Cup
Semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
Chocolate Almond Bark
Water balloons filled with air to the size you want your cups

Melt the chocolate mixture for dipping the balloons, blow up the balloons to the size you want, get a cookie sheet with parchment and put a little dollop of chocolate on the parchment paper for a base for the balloons to sit on. Dip the balloons in the chocolate and set it on the chocolate base. Let the chocolate cool.

 There will probably be thin spots from dipping where the chocolate layer is not even thickness. Take a basting brush or the back of a spoon and fill in the thin spots so that the bowl will be full thickness. If you try to pop the balloon with thin spots, the chocolate will tear instead of holding its shape.

When the chocolate has all hardened, pop the balloon and pull out the rubber from the shell! Voila, chocolate cups!

I used regular balloons, but since I only blew them up half way, when I popped them, they weren't super stretched out, so I had to pull the rubber out of the cup. I would recommend water balloons, they will be a bit more taught!

One awesome tip about dipping chocolate: whether it is strawberries or chocolate cups, I find that mixing half chocolate pieces and half chocolate almond bark (or even just 1/3 almond bark) keep the same taste while hardening harder and having a nice shiny coat when it cools!

Peanut Butter Mousse
1 cup cream cheese (softened)

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

4 T sugar

3/4 c. whipping cream

(whip to soft peaks and fold in)

With an electric mixer blend together the cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar. In a separate bowl whip the cream into soft peaks. Once soft peaks have formed, fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture!

Chocolate Mousse
2 packages of instant chocolate pudding mix

4 cups half and half

Follow the directions on the back of the pudding box for the amount of cream and pudding, using the half and half instead of milk. Now stop following the directions and use mine. Using electric mixer, beat together the pudding mix and half and half about 5 minutes until mousse forms. This is the absolute easiest chocolate mousse ever, but it is thick and rich! It's even thicker and creamier if you use cream instead of half and half... but that seemed just a little too indulgent for me with everything else we were eating at this particular girls night.

Once all the components are finished, layer the two mousse types into the chocolate cups and garnish with chocolate shards or curls! Pretty and delicious!

If anyone else tries this let me know how it turns out, for you!

PeanutButter-ChocolateChip-BananaBread-Muffins

I am a person that likes my bananas with a little green on top. As soon as they go all yellow and start getting little brown spots on them... eh.... not so much. I hate it when the strings on the inside of the peels stick to the fruit when you peel it... NO THANK YOU! Since I am a little picky about my bananas, periodically I will throw a banana, which is too far gone for my taste, in the freezer. Once I have accumulated a few I make banana bread!

Key:
3= not quite 4= perfect 5= still pretty good 6= edible--losing interest 6.5 (not shown)= freezer time 7= NO WAY--might as well be moldy in my opinion!

Now... since I don't really like the over-ripe banana flavor that comes with those brown spotted bananas that means that I don't usually like banana bread with TONS of over-ripe banana flavor, either. What to do... what to do... ? Lets mask the flavor with something else: peanut butter and chocolate!

Don't get me wrong. It is still banana bread. You can still taste the banana, but who doesn't love peanut butter on a banana? or bananas dipped in chocolate? or the great combo of chocolate peanut butter cups? Basically I am telling you, if you are anything like me, this is THE BEST banana bread you will ever taste.

What You'll Need:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
~1/2 tsp. salt (i use the palm of my hand)
1 tsp. cinnamon
tiny pinch nutmeg
2-3 ripe bananas (2 large or 3 smaller)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbl. applesauce (normally calls for butter, but I like applesauce in this recipe!)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips (whatever kind you have, but semi-sweet is my least favorite...stick to either milk chocolate or dark chocolate for best results)

Prepare the "wet ingredients" by mushing your bananas and peanut butter together with fork. Once mashed stir in the applesauce and sugar before adding the eggs, one at a time. Follow with addition of the vanilla extract and the milk. Add your combination of dry ingredients but don't over-mix. Just stir until incorporated! Fold in the chocolate chips and pour into muffin tins or loaf pan for baking. Makes 18 muffins or one large loaf!

One of my roommates is not a huge chocolate lover so I made some of the muffins without chocolate for her. Still yummy. So that is definitely an option if that is your cup of tea... but I never turn down chocolate!

Tips:
1. Use a spatula or spoon to stir and mix the batter... if you use an electric mixer it gets over-mixed and the muffins can turn out spongy and chewy
2. Normally, I am a big fan of rounding up on the chocolate chips but in this case if you round the chocolate over-powers and you just get chocolate chip muffins. Although still tasty, not the intended target here!

For Muffins: cook at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes
For Loaf: cook at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes

Some people might wait for the muffins to cool...using this phenomenon known as delayed gratitude... I am not one of those people.

I would rather burn my fingers and mouth on piping hot muffins fresh out of the oven when the chocolate chips are still warm and melty. I think this is partially why I prefer these as muffins rather than a loaf... loaf you have to wait a while before you can cut it. Not my style!

Heaven on a Plate

This dessert has given me a very hard time while I was trying to come up with a name or any kind of short description for it. This dish is kind of a combination between a coffee cake, gooey butter cake, and a sophisticated, elegant dessert! Although the name I gave does not exactly explain what it is, it most certainly explains the absolute decadence of this invention!

Well since I don't have a better description at this time, I'll just start with how I made it! Originally this recipe was supposed to be some sort of Paula Dean orange flavored brownie, but my version resembles that in no way, shape, or form....don't lose faith yet...Here it goes!

Almond White Chocolate Blondie's with Cream Cheese Icing (best name so far):

For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips

Beat together the butter and sugar. Add the dry ingredients then mix in the eggs 1 at a time. When it comes together stir in the vanilla and almond extract with a spatula. Stir in the white chocolate chips.

I have heard that if you coat the chocolate chips with flour it helps them stay suspended in the cake... DO NOT DO THIS ON THIS RECIPE! The best part about this invention is that when you bake it the white chocolate chips sink to the bottom forming a crispy white chocolate crust! Believe me, you don't want to miss out on that!

Pour the batter in a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake at 325 for approximately 45 min or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean... Don't overcook! You want the toothpick to come clean, but just barely! It will fall when cooling...don't fret, falling leaves it and moist.

While the cake is baking whip up the irresistible almond flavored cream cheese icing.

For the Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
4 tablespoon butter
1 lb. powdered sugar (about 2 1/2 cups)
milk to thin (1-2 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

 As soon as the cake comes out of the oven poke lots of little holes in it using your toothpick and spread a thin layer of the cream cheese icing over the top. The icing will melt down into the cake to help make it even more flavorful and moist! Once it cools, add more icing on top!

This cream cheese icing is great but the recipe makes way more than necessary. You could probably cut it in half if you wanted to.... but who doesn't love a little extra cream cheese icing hanging around in the fridge to dip gram crackers, Nilla wafers, or fingers?!

I was hoping that by the end of writing this I would come up with a better name for this dish, but the perfect description still eludes me. Since I don't have a great explanation of the dessert I would love for you to try it out and let me know what you think I should call it! When I made it for my family, we at it as a dessert, and as breakfast with coffee so it can be a multifaceted recipe!

I also want to say: I promise that I really do eat much more healthily than my blog is so far leading you all to believe with all of these baked goods and desserts! However, I did have a disclaimer that my weaknesses were chocolate and cheese so not completely unwarranted! I promise more healthy recipes to come!

Carol Brownies

These brownies are my all time favorites! My aunt, Carol (whom I'm named after), used to make them all of the time, and when I was young she taught me the recipe and her technique. I don't think I appreciated the simplicity of the recipe until much later down the road, but the fact that you only need one bowl, one measuring cup, and a few ingredients that I always have on hand!

These brownies only take about 5 minutes to put together...easy and fast!

Carol Brownies:
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 squares Unsweetened baking chocolate
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla (2 tsp is better!)

Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave (or stove, but microwave is easier) just until all of the butter is melted. With a spatula stir the chocolate butter mixture until the chocolate is completely dissolved in the butter. If you heat the mixture too long to try and melt all of the chocolate, the butter will burn. Just melt the butter and use the residual heat to melt the chocolate completely. When you finish the mixture will be a silky chocolate liquid! A great beginning to any dessert.


After the mixture is completely melted stir in the sugar, followed by the flour so you have a thick chocolate mixture in your bowl. Next follow by the addition of one egg at a time. Stir in completely. Stir in the vanilla until completely incorporated and pour into a 9x9 inch pan.

Bake the brownies at 325 for 20-30 min. On my oven, 22 minutes is perfect!

If you must...you can add pecans to these. I like nut-less brownies because I can focus on the chocolaty deliciousness more that way without interruption... but i completely understand if you feel the desire to add some nuts. However, the first time, I would try at least half the pan nut-free to give them a fair shot!

Once the batter is in the oven, lick the bowl clean using spoon, spatula, fingers, tongue... any means of getting every last drop!

I have been known to eat the entire bowl of batter with a spoon (regretting it later)... If you are going to take the spoon method, I would recommend baking and then, if desired, take the spoon to the warm brownies before they completely set. Most likely you wont eat the entire batch this way, and then once they cool a bit more you still have some great brownies to eat the next few days (if they last that long...)

I usually double the recipe if my family is around because a single batch wont last more than a day... a double batch usually lasts about two.



Note: Do not ruin these brownies by using an electric mixer... my mom tried that once and took away all possible fudgy, moist properties these brownies had...

Chocolate Madness Cashew Cookies

I LOVE chocolate! Since I don't always have a ton just lying around (because i have eaten it all) I have to get creative as to what form I should make my chocolate. I also like adapting recipes and trying to improve upon them when baking to make things more interesting. This cookie was a combination of boredom, chocolate needing, and recipe searching!

I found a very generic recipe for chocolate cookies using cocoa. Looked at what I had around the apartment... low and behold.... chocolate liqueur! I had previously made an alcoholic chocolate cake for a friends 21st birthday with a raspberry rum glaze, chocolate liqueur icing, and a Bailey's cream cheese filling (it was delicious, but that's for another day).

So I decided to try and adapt to make some rich chocolaty cookies. I also found some cashews and figured those would work in nicely! I think almonds macadamia would work better in the future though. Don't get me wrong, the cashews were great, but I love cashews so much on their own, it didn't to the nut justice in such a fantastic, rich cookie!

As you might remember, I don't measure things often, so I used this basic recipe and made the following additions:

Basic Chocolate Cookie:

• 1 c. Butter
• 1 1/2 c. Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 t. Vanilla
• 2 c. Flour
• 1/2 t. Baking Soda
• 1/2 t. Salt
• 2/3 c. Cocoa Powder

My additions:

• 1/2 t. Baking Soda
• 2 T. Chocolate Liqueur (I used Godiva)
• 1 T. Irish Cream Liqueur (such as Baileys)
• 2 c. White Chocolate Chips
• 1 C. Cashews (roughly chopped)

In case that was confusing....

Overall Chocolate Madness Cashew Cookie:

• 1 c. Butter
• 1 1/2 c. Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 t. Vanilla
• 2 c. Flour
• 1 t. Baking Soda
• 1/2 t. Salt
• 2/3 c. Cocoa Powder
• 3 T. Chocolate Liqueur (I used Godiva)
• 1 T. Irish Cream Liqueur (such as Baileys)
• 2 c. White Chocolate Chunks
• 1 C. Cashews (roughly chopped)

Refrigerate the dough for a couple hours before baking the cookies! Bake these cookies at 350 for 10-14 minutes.

These cookies would definitely be great with Dark Chocolate Chunks, Walnuts, Macadamia Nuts... the possibilities are endless to a delicious chocolate cookie!

If you're a person who (like me) normally rounds up on the salt in recipes because you love the salty-sweet combo... don't do it in this if you're using both salted butter and salted cashews. If they are unsalted nuts, however, you probably will need a little extra salt because the liqueur makes the dough really sweet!

I made these cookies just like I would any other! Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, mix dry ingredients, add slowly to the wet, fold in nuts and chips.... dollop and bake!

My cookies were fudgy because I didn't use a mixer (out of laziness) but they ended up great anyway! If you want fluffier cookies rather than fudgy, sift the flower mixture and then beat in the flour mixture vigorously with the mixer after each addition.

WARNING: WTHESE COOKIES ARE YUMMY AND DELICIOUS AND SHOULD NOT BE MADE IF YOU ARE ON A DIET, BECAUSE YOU WILL EAT THEM ALL.