Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

So after making the Banana Breakfast Cake a few weeks ago, I decided to try to this recipe again with just a few alterations. 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt



1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 whole bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, banana, egg, and vanilla until smooth.  Gradually mix in flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and honey.  Once mixed, fold in chocolate chips.  Pour into 9x9 greased baking dish and bake for 30-35 or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Banana Breakfast Cake

Happy Sunday!  How's everyone's weekend so far?  We've been enjoying a pretty relaxing weekend so far!  One of my best friends came over Friday night for grilled burgers and veggies and game night.  We love board games of all kinds and enjoy having friends and family over to discover new games.  We opened up our new Deadwood game and spent the evening discovering the rules and developing strategies for a successful game.

Yesterday Troy and I went with my parents to lay flowers at my grandma's headstone and check out a quilt shop that recently hit our radar.  My mom and I love visiting quilt shops to check out the different fabrics, patterns and finished crafts on display.  And last night Troy and I stayed in for a movie night.

I'm glad we've kept the weekend pretty low-key and stress-free as we can.  I'm headed into work today for the afternoon and evening.  I have a love-hate relationship with weekend workdays.  They're great for getting a ton of things done since there are only one or two other people in the office, but terrible for being able to spend days off with family and friends.  Thankfully I'm off tomorrow in celebration of Memorial Day where we'll head to lay flowers at my aunt's grave and out for lunch with extended family.

Before I head to get ready for work, I thought I'd share a recipe I recently came across on the Chiquita Banana website: Banana Breakfast Cookie.  I read through the recipe a few times and tailored it towards our taste.  I had originally intended to make the cookies, but after seeing the batter, I opted to make a cake instead.  So without further ado, here is Banana Breakfast Cake.

 

 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt



1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 whole bananas, mashed
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup craisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, banana, egg, and vanilla until smooth.  Gradually mix in flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and carrots.  Once mixed, fold in chocolate chips and craisins.  Pour into 9x9 greased baking dish and bake for 30-35 or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

I'm not usually one for adding carrots to my cakes as the texture is sometimes objectionable.  I must say, I was not at all bothered by the texture of the carrots in this dish.  With that being said, I'm thinking I may try this again sans carrots and chocolate chips, and instead with craisins and some other dried fruit.  I'll keep you posted!

In closing, please take a moment to remember the reason for this holiday weekend.  Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

photo source

Sauteed Bananas

Hello, hello!  So glad the weekend is finally here!  Troy and I spent the evening cleaning the house since tonight was our last free night before we head to San Francisco.  So excited!

After cleaning, I was craving something sweet.  Solution?  Sauteed Bananas.  Yum!

Ingredients:
Bananas, sliced
Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture
Reddi-Whip
Chocolate Chips
Olive Oil

Directions:
Lightly spritz olive oil into heated sautee pan.  Place sliced bananas in pan and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Sautee for 2-3 minutes.  Transfer to bowl and top with chocolate chips and Reddi-Whip.  Simple, yet delicious!

Coming soon: Slow Cooker Cream-Style Corn

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Banana "Ice Cream"

As I'm sure you've figured out, I love sweets!  But eating ice cream every.single.night is definitely not a healthy option.  How about this: frozen banana?  Ooooh yum!

Ingredients:
Bananas - that's it!

Directions:
Slice bananas into 1/2 inch to inch slices.  Freeze overnight.  Once frozen, put banana into a food processor to puree.  Serve in your favorite ice cream bowl.  For an extra special treat, top with Reddi-whip.  The texture reminds me a little of Dippin' Dots.  Love it!

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

We woke up to several inches of snow and cold this morning.  Who wants to get out in that?!  Not me!  I want to stay where its nice and warm and where I can cuddle up with this precious little guy.

 

To start off our day in, I made Oatmeal Banana Cookies inspired by The Burlap Bag's Two Ingredient Cookies.  I added a few extras ingredients and they turned out a winner!

 

Ingredients:

2 large bananas, mashed

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup chocolate chips

cinnamon-sugar mixture

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix mashed bananas, oats, vanilla and chocolate chips together until all ingredients are wet.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or grease a cookie sheet) and scoop mixture into individual cookies on sheet.  Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.

 

We made 12 cookies with our mixture. 

 

 



Banana Pancakes

We're always looking for creative breakfast ideas.  And who doesn't love pancakes?  I found a delicious banana pancake recipe from Iowa Girl Eats and knew we had to try it!

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Splenda
1 egg, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons melted butter, divided
1 cup milk
2 bananas, mashed to desired consistency
syrup

Directions:
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, and milk.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients then whisk until combined.  Fold in bananas.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Brush remaining melted butter, then pour 1/4 cup batter to form each pancake.  When bubbles appear all over the top, flip then cook until golden brown.  Repeat with remaining batter then serve with maple syrup.

 

 

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Oh, muffins, how we love thee.  Seriously.  They are T's favorite thing.  Ever.  Newest muffin recipe: Strawberry Banana Muffins from A Hint of Honey.  Yum, yum!

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced and diced
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and honey.  Set aside. 
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside. 
In a separate bowl, combine banana, egg, applesauce and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients to the dry until just moistened.  Fold in strawberry mixture. 
Spoon batter into lightly greased muffin tins.  Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. 
Makes 12 muffins.

Banana Bread Muffins

I love bananas.  But I don't love bananas once they start to become too ripe.  While fixing dinner tonight, I knew I had to get rid of the overripe bananas sitting on the counter, but I couldn't bring myself to just throw them away.  I searched through my recipe list and found 8 Weeks to a Better You's recipe for Banana Bread and thought I'd give it a try.  So.  Good.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
3 mashed overripe bananas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients together and fill greased muffin tins.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until inserted toothpick is clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Makes approximately 24 muffins.

The original recipe makes a loaf of bread, but I took the muffin route as we don't own a loaf pan.  I cut the cook time down quite a bit due to this.  I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  After reading a few reader comments on the original post, I was afraid they would be more on the bland side.  The honey gives a perfect amount of sweetness for this delicious muffin.  T's suggestion for future batches is to add chocolate or butterscotch chips.  I think he might be on to something!