You know when you fall so behind on something that even starting it seems overwhelmingly daunting? That’s where I am with my blogging right now. I’m still baking and trying new recipes, but since I (luckily) now have so many other outlets for my writing, I have been ignoring my once-beloved blog. And then the guilt set in, and made the procrastination even worse, and then that fed off itself in the way best known to ten-year-old boys who haven’t started a big social studies project that was assigned three weeks ago.
So I am plunging back in. I’ll give you a quick round-up of some of the deliciousness that’s been coming out of the kitchen over the past month or so, and then it’ll be a lot easier to jump back in the next time I bake something. After all, pumpkin season is upon us!
But in the meantime, I was busy with bananas. And peanut butter. And chocolate. And vanilla, always vanilla. I live in a house of vanilla-lovers.
BROWN BUTTER VANILLA BEAN BLONDIES
I made these for Dave’s birthday back in JUNE. (Sorry.) They were incredibly delicious, wonderfully decadent, and gave me an excuse to use my special brownie pan that pre-cuts all the squares. He loved them, perhaps just a little more because I threw in some mini chocolate chips to make things interesting.
HONEY CINNAMON BANANA BREAD
The loaves didn’t rise much, hence the short little pieces, but it was a great banana bread. I gave one loaf away and kept the other, and both went quickly. Really nice flavor.
CHOCOLATE BANANA PEANUT BUTTER BREAD
Another gem. Lovely flavor, perfect texture, and hard to keep my paws off of. Flavors combined beautifully.
PEANUT BUTTER BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MINI MUFFINS
Okay, these were my favorite. These were like crack, to me. A breeze to make, and a flavor that made no sense as these had hardly any sugar, and a minimum of butter. I gobbled these up and so did everyone else.
So I apologize to all for the delays — we Canadians do like to apologize — and now once I type up these recipes, I’m heading into the kitchen. Time to bake.
BROWN BUTTER VANILLA BEAN BLONDIES with MINI CHOCOLATE CHIPS (adapted from Savory Simple)
ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 cup packed coconut palm sugar (brown sugar is fine)
1 cup whole wheat white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 vanilla bean, seeded and scraped
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and spray or grease an 8″ x 8″ pan. Scrape out the vanilla bean and beat the egg.
Brown the butter: melt it in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts completely, turn the heat up to medium high and whisk constantly until the butter has browned. Watch carefully, as it will burn if you keep it for too long. Allow to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter, the egg, vanilla bean paste, and sugar until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla seeds.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir with a spatula until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and spread the mixture evenly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine were done in 20.
HONEY CINNAMON BANANA BREAD (adapted from The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie)
ingredients:
1 1/3 cups whole wheat white flour
2/3 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
directions:
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or spray two loaf pans. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, butter, eggs, honey, yogurt, and vanilla until well mixed. Fold in the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated, being careful not to overmix.
Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for another 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool completely.
CHOCOLATE BANANA PEANUT BUTTER BREAD (adapted from Peanut Butter & Peppers)
ingredients:
1 1/3 cups whole wheat white flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large bananas, mashed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter, smooth (I used Skippy Natural)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 generous (spilly) teaspoon vanilla crush (extract is fine)
1 large egg
3/4 cup 1% milk
directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray or grease a loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat germ, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
In a large bowl, stir together the bananas and brown sugar until well mixed. Beat in the peanut butter, coconut oil, vanilla and egg until combined. Add the milk and stir well.
Fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture and stir just until incorporated.
Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it sit in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove to cool completely.
PEANUT BUTTER BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MINI MUFFINS (adapted from Kitchen Treaty)
ingredients:
2/3 cup whole wheat white flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural)
1 cup mashed bananas (I used 3 small)
1/3 cup 1% milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease or spray a couple of mini muffin tins. (I got 36 out of this recipe.) Melt the butter.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, and salt.
In another bowl, combine the butter and peanut butter and mix well. Beat in the bananas. Stir in the milk, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Use a cookie scoop or teaspoon to scoop the batter into the tins, and bake for 8-10 minutes, until they bounce back when lightly pressed or a toothpick comes out clean. (I did mine in two batches.)
Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.
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