Banana Bread

When life is getting you down or the weather has been a little too overcast for far too long, that is the perfect time to turn to some quality comfort food. Whether it is a dish that your grandmother used to make on a cold winter’s day or that crowd pleasing pasta dish you excel at, comfort food has a way of brightening everything. So, when the forecast has been icy and another storm is on the horizon (Yay winter!) I turn to my mom’s homemade banana bread. This recipe is simple to make but packs a whole lot of yum. Nothing beats the smell of bananas coming out of the oven. It literally has my mouth watering just thinking about it! I’m a simple gal, so throwing some butter on a piece of fresh banana bread and walking out the door is the best start to a soon to be snowy day.

So when I decided to make some I realized that I was fresh out of ripened bananas. What’s a girl to do? Pick up the phone and call Mom! Not only does she have some ready to go but my dad would LOVE to see the back of his freezer =) As a thank you, I made two batches and left some for them to enjoy. My mom is awesome and the last time she baked banana bread for me was the morning I was leaving for a flight to California. The plan was to pick up a friend in San Diego and road trip it up to Seattle and Vancouver. I asked my mom if she would do me the biggest favor and make some of her awesome banana bread for me to take so we could have it for breakfast while we traveled. She got up early and made some for me fresh.

To keep the bread fresh, she wrapped the loaves in cling-wrap and then aluminum foil. As the savvy traveler I am, I realized that the bread had to go in my carry-on so as not to get squished. What I didn’t count on was how it would look on the scanner. So there I am, shoeless at 5 in the morning hoping to grab something to drink before I get on the plane and security comes over and asks to scan my bag again. Sure, I’ve got nothing to hide. It comes through and he asks me what’s in there. "Oops! Forgot my camera equipment was stuffed in there." “No, this is on top.” “Oh! That’s my banana bread! My mom just made it for me. It’s fantastic!” “Can we scan it?” Into a plastic tub it goes. At this point I really doubt I’m getting my bread back and this thought takes the wind out of my sails. If I can’t eat it, someone must so I told the guy he could keep it, but he would have to eat it. A woman comes over holding my bread and goes “Is this her?” Ok, now I might be in trouble. “Sorry ma’am, I told him to give you a hard time, but you’re good to go.” “Great! Can I have my banana bread back?” With a smile she hands it over, and I feel victorious! There will be banana bread for breakfast! It wasn’t until I called my mom to tell her the tale that she laughs and tells me they probably thought it had been C4. It was the right shape and wrapped in foil. I am a genius. Apparently a brunette can still have major blond moments!

So, without further ado, here’s the recipe for my mom’s security stopping banana bread!

Babycakes

YOU WILL NEED:

 

1/2 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

3/4 c. mushed banana (roughly 5 frozen bananas)

1 1/2 c. flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

PREPARATIONS: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. Cream the shortening and sugar together until fluffy. 

 
3. Add eggs one at a time until fully mixed. 

4. Stir in mushed bananas. 

 
5. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. 

6. Add to banana mixture. If you want to add nuts, you can either mix them in now or sprinkle them on top.

7. Place into a greased 9x9x2 pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. If the bananas are still slightly frozen (see note below), then it will take the bread longer to cook. After 30 min, check it every 5 until it is not longer goopy and a toothpick comes out mostly clean. You want some residue on the toothpick because this means the bread is not overcooked and thus too dry. Moist banana bread is, in my humble opinion, amazing =)

You can use fresh bananas for this but I find it’s best to let your bananas get a bit rotten. When they start to turn brown, my mom throws them into a zip-lock bag in the freezer. When we are ready to use them, we place them in a bowl to thaw (you can microwave them for a minute so the peels are easier to get off or just wait until they fully thaw, the peel sloshes right off). These “rotten” bananas are full of sugar and juicy so they make the bread sweet and moist: The perfect combo!

Peanut Terrells

Most of my friends and I have special nicknames for each other, for instance Sweet Cheeks and Baby Cakes, Maggles and Squishie, or Magro and Ashbu.  But only one of these nicknames has inspired me to create her a recipe.   

We have been friends since high school, quickly bonding over our introverted natures and our love for Rock and Bowl.  Each time we went bowling, we'd create new nicknames.  We'd try to keep a theme like Bond girls or colors or something equally silly.  On one particular outing, we decided to be nuts.  I was in charge of naming everyone.  One friend became Pistachio, another was Cashew, I named myself Macadamia and dubbed her as Peanut.  It seemed fitting, she is so small and cute.  Although Pistachio and Cashew were never called those names again after that night, Peanut and Macadamia stuck between the two of us.  My name has changed slightly since, after Peanut misspelled it in a birthday card as Macadadamia and we liked that better. 

My Peanut recently got married and is currently living with her in laws until she and her husband find a place to live closer to their jobs than their last apartment was.  When I learned that she and her mother-in-law share the same first name, I joked that when I send her mail I'd have to address it to Peanut Terrell to distinguish who its for.  "That's a good name for a cookie!" said Baby Cakes, and so it became our mission to create a new recipe in honor of my Peanut. 

So without further ado, I give you... Peanut Terrells!

<3 Sweet Cheeks

YOU WILL NEED:
 

1 c. Butter

1 c. White Sugar

1 c. Brown Sugar

2 eggs

1 c. Peanut Butter (we used honey roasted)

2 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp Baking Soda

Toffee

Caramel cubes cut into quarters (or smaller) – make sure the caramel you use is soft. Kraft just recently came out with caramel bits that would work perfectly for this recipe!

Rolos

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cream butter and sugars.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one.

4. Add peanut butter and mix thoroughly.

5. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking soda, then add to mixture.
 

6. Take a spoon full and roll into a ball.  If the mixture sticks to your hands, gradually add more flour, up to a 1/4 cup.  
7. When the mixture is ready, roll into a flat circle and place toffee and caramel in the center.  We also made a few that just had Rolos in the center. 
 

8. Fold the sides onto the toffee and caramel to form a ball.

9. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.

10.  Cool on wire racks.

If you want to make the cookies without the toffee and caramel center, roll the dough into balls and press down with a fork.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet 8-12 minutes, then cool on brown paper bags to soak up the oil for crispier cookies!

We topped our Peanut Terrells with chocolate ganache. 

YOU WILL NEED:
 

PREPARATION:

1oz baker's chocolate

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tbs confectioner's sugar

1. Chop up chocolate into small pieces.

2. Heat the heavy whipping cream until boil, but be careful not to burn.

3. Pour on top of chocolate and mix until melted.

4. Add confectioner's sugar after chocolate is melted to thicken it up.  For a thicker ganache, add more sugar.

Drizzle on top of your Peanut Terrells and enjoy!

Yin Yang Surprise

The ancient Chinese believed there existed in the universe two complimentary forces known as Yin Yang. This philosophy symbolizes how two entities that seem like polar opposites are, in fact, interconnected and cannot exist one without the other. When Yin and Yang come together, they create a whole that flows back into itself without separation. Every entity has both Yin and Yang elements contained within it and these elements change over time as one side becomes stronger and then gives way to the other. This philosophy about opposites coming together to create a greater whole was not only the perfect description of our friendship but was also an ideal basis for a cupcake!

Yin represents a more introverted and passive personality while Yang is more of an extroverted, active personality. Sweetcheeks has always been the cooler head in our friendship: Talking me down from whichever soapbox I find myself on. And I have always dragged her (sometimes kicking and screaming) into new areas of exploration that she sometimes surprises herself in liking. I’m definitely the more talkative but she has a way of getting inside my head and understanding where I’m coming from without me having to explain myself. We try to be open and honest to one another so that we can see our flaws, even when we really don’t want to, and work on making them better. This complimentary friendship has weathered many storms and has given us both the confidence and security that we need to go out into the world and be ourselves. We don’t always see eye to eye or even like the same things so we agree to disagree on the fluff and enjoy the things we both love: Baking =)

Chocolate and vanilla are forever polar opposites and the best of friends. Who doesn’t like a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing? There will always be passionate discussions on which is the best (it’s a unanimous CHOCOLATE from the both of us), but these two flavors combine to really make your taste buds dance. With this in mind, we set out to create a Yin Yang cupcake that packed a bit of a surprise punch. Enjoy!

Babycakes

YOU WILL NEED:

2 1/2 c. white flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tbs cocoa powder

1/4 c. high quality bittersweet chocolate

1/2 c. butter, at room temperature

1 c. sugar

1 tbs vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. buttermilk

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

PREPARATION 

1. Preheat the over to 325°.  Insert liners into medium cupcake pans.

2. In a bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder.  We don't have a sifter, so we combine the ingredients and whisk them for a few minutes.
 

3. Melt chocolate in a bowl placed over a pot of hot water or use a double boiler and mix until smooth.
 

4. Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, beating with the mixer's flat beater on medium speed.  Add vanilla extract and melted chocolate (scraping sides of bowl as needed), until batter is light and airy.
 

5. Reduce mixing speed to low, add eggs one at a time, mixing well.  
 

6. Gradually add the dry mixture and buttermilk, mix until incorporated into a smooth batter. 
 

7. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full.  We use an ice cream scoop, it's an easy way to get the perfect measurement without making a mess.  
 

After filling 12 cups, we decided we wanted to add a "kick" to the cupcakes, so we added 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper to the remaining batter and mixed well.  
 

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the cupcake's center comes out clean.  We took ours out at 18 minutes because Sweet Cheek's oven is notorious for overcooking. The toothpick came out clean, but the bottoms were very moist.

9. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. 

ICING

We made both chocolate and vanilla icings for our Yin Yang cupcakes.

Chocolate icing:

4 tbs heavy whipping cream

4 tsp light corn syrup

2/3 c. mini choc chips

1. In a small, heavy saucepan, combine heavy whipping cream and light corn syrup over medium heat until it simmers.

2. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips.

Vanilla icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 tbs heavy whipping cream

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.  Add more heavy whipping cream if necessary to reach your desired consistency.