Banana Bread French Toast

Another How Sweet It Is recipe, I just used a different banana bread than she did.

I love banana bread. Love it. It’s delicious and incredible. I also love french toast. A ton. Together? Awesome.

banana bread

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

french toast (about 6 slices of your bread)

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• butter for the pan

Slice banana bread to desired thickness. In a bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, cream and cinnamon, whisking until combined. Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat and brush with butter.  Dip each slice into the egg mixture for about 30 seconds to coat completely, then place on the buttered surface. Cook until golden and somewhat crispy, about 2 minutes per side. Serve with sliced bananas, and if you want, fresh whipped cream, syrup and a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs. I’d have loved to do that, but I didn’t have the stuff for it and was too lazy to shower and go to the store. For a drizzly chocolate, combine 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil in the microwave for about 45 seconds, mixing once during cooking time, until melty.

“Killa Chip Dough Nilla” Ice Cream

Ha, I only wish I could say I made up the name, but I didn’t. I took it from an ice cream place in Estes Park, Colorado. It was just vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip cookie dough and caramel, but I spruced it up a bit.

So I present to you cookie dough FLAVORED ice cream with cookie dough chunks, mini chocolate chips, and lots of caramel. (The base of the ice cream was based on a recipe by The Kitchy Kitchen.

First off, here’s how you make the cookie dough pieces:

5 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter until smooth. Stir in vanilla and milk. Mix in the flour until well blended. Shape into small melon balls, and freeze for 1-2 hours. When ready to add to ice cream, cut into fourths.

Here’s the rest:

• 1 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate, chips or chopped (I used mini chips)
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter pinch of salt
• Real caramel syrup

Directions: In a small sauce pan, melt the butter until it is a deep golden brown color.  There will be little brown bits at the bottom.  You don’t want it too burnt, so be careful and watch closely.  Add half and half and heat until scalding (not quite boiling). In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until pale and fluffy.  Take the half and half mixture off the heat, and add a little to the egg mixture while mixing.  This is called tempering the eggs:  introducing hot liquid a little at a time to eggs while stirring, as to not cook the eggs with the hot liquid.   Add a little more (just over half of the hot mixture total) and the healthy pinch of salt, then pour everything back into the sauce pan.  

Heat, stirring very often or constantly, until about 170 degrees, or until it coats a metal spoon.  As per Joy the Baker, “There’s a point after you’ve tempered the egg yolks, when you’re reheating the whole custard, stirring constantly, and you’ll test the concoction to see if it coats the back of a spoon.  Coat the back of the spoon with custard.  Run a finger down the center of the custard, and if a line remains separating the two custard halves, then your custard is thick enough.  170 degrees F is you have a nifty thermometer.”  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and chill.  Once the mixture is chilled, whisk in the additional 1 1/2 cups of milk and add it to your ice cream machine.  When it’s almost fully churned, (3-5 minutes left) add your chocolate chips and  a couple minutes later, your cookie dough pieces. At the last moment, scoop in lots and lots of caramel. Store ice cream in air tight container in your freezer.  Enjoy!

White Chocolate Triple Berry Swirl Cheesecake

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted! I’ve made quite a lot, but I haven’t posted any of it. Anyway, I figured I’d try to get a couple things up. This is not my first time making this cheesecake, and that’s because I absolutely love it. I made this for Father’s Day, and I’ll tell you my dad loves it even more than I do, somehow.

So here goes:

Ingredients:

• 1.5-2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs (just makes sure you have enough to cover the bottom of the pan)
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 12 oz frozen mixed berries (Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups white chocolate (I used baking squares)
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (I used 2 regular and one fat free)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 1 tbsp sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a saucepan, combine berries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds. This takes a bit of time and effort, but don’t get too frustrated, it’ll work out!
   
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler if you have one. I do, and it’s so handy), melt chopped white chocolate with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.
4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.
5. Wrap bottom of pan in foil and set spring form pan in a baking pan full of about 1 inch of water to prevent cracking. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Turn off oven and open door, let sit for one hour. Remove from oven, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining berry sauce.

Most Incredible Banana Cake Ever

I mean it. I love this cake. It takes a lot of prep/cooking time, but every time I make it, it’s entirely worth it. And it gets better every single day, so if you’re making it for an event, I suggest making it at least a day ahead, even though it’s fantastic eaten immediately as well. It’s basically just great all around. And because I adapted it quite a bit from the original recipe, it’s not too unhealthy, either.

Here goes.

• 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe (about 3 large)
• 2  teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose  flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (if you  don’t wanna use this, just use more of the all purpose)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
•  1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
  
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3  large eggs
• 2  teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups milk (skim or 1% is best if you’re cutting down on fat) with 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 275F
2. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with 2 tsp lemon juice; set aside.
4. In medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, and salt
5. In a large bowl, combine butter, applesauce, and sugar, beating until fluffy
6. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.
7. In a small bowl, combine milk and 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice. Let stand for about 2 minutes.
8. Add flour mixture and milk mixture alternately into bowl with butter mix.
9. Stir in the mashed banana mixture
10. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about an hour, until toothpick comes out clean. This baking time will vary from one oven to the next. In mine it took about
    1 hr and 15 minutes.
11. Immediately after removing from oven, place the cake in the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake really moist and awesome.

You might like to frost it with cream cheese frosting. It is good that way, but I honestly love it so much I have eaten it without anything on it for the most part. In the picture I drizzled a little chocolate on top too. Honestly though, it’s fantastic alone.

I also like it best when kept cold in the fridge, so I’d recommend storing it that way.

This is, without a doubt, my go-to cake.

picture and recipe idea via Cupcake Project

Raw Cookie Dough You Can Eat

Now the title is a bit misleading, because it would imply that there is any cookie dough I don’t eat. That is a lie. The raw eggs warning has never meant a thing to me. However, I was especially craving cookie dough tonight, so I thought I’d google a recipe that was specifically for eating raw, plus I wanted something with few ingredients that was simple.

That being said, I’m gaining weight as we speak. Yum.

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 3/4 C unsalted butter, melted
• 1 C packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C white sugar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 4 T milk
• Any add-in you want (I did dark chocolate chips)

All you have to do is mix all of these together in a bowl.  That’s it!

I actually halved this recipe, and it was PLENTY for me. It’s so good. I think it would be excellent mixed in my frozen yogurt, but unfortunately I’m out. However, eating it out of the bowl does just fine for me.

Homemade Oreos

Not quite as exciting as my last post, but I made these like 2 weeks ago for my roommate’s birthday. She was having a very stressful week so I whipped these up at 2 in the morning and left them wrapped on a plate outside her door so she had a not-so-healthy birthday breakfast :) She loves them, but they’re way too sweet for me!

Anyway, I thought I’d share.

Recipe:
(makes about 25-30 oreos)

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper (or foil)-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

6. To assemble the cookies, use a pastry bag to pipe about a teaspoon of cream on one cookie (or just spread with a knife, which is what I did). Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

Like I said, I think these are way too sugary. But my roommate LOVES them. We found this out last year when I tried making them and almost threw them out. She was very excited.

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Thanks to Beantown Baker,  I have discovered my new favorite “cupcakes.” They’re not really cupcakes so much, except that they’re made in a cupcake pan. It’s really just 24 miniature, fantastic cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients:

Rolls:

2 1/4 tsp. or 1 packet (1/4 oz./7 g) dry active yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

Dissolve the yeast and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar in the warm milk in a large bowl and let stand for about 10 minutes until foamy. (Your yeast will still be visible, and that’s okay).

 Stir in the eggs, butter, salt, and other 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add flour and mix until well blended and the dough forms a ball. This might get a little difficult, but just knead it until it’s pretty smooth. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about one hour).

After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (I like to double them up because these cinnamon rolls are so moist), and lightly spray over the top of them with cooking spray.

Roll dough into a 12x22 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter (according to the recipe…but I used about half that.) and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 24 rolls. (Roll long ways, so that you end up with a 22 inch long tube).

Place each roll in a cupcake liner. (It will probably be a tight fit). Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Let rolls cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz cream cheese at room temp
1/2 stick butter at room temp
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
Add vanilla extract.
Slowly add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

I didn’t make my frosting yet, because I’m taking them to my boyfriend this weekend and want it to be fresh. I did mix up a tiny bit of cream cheese and powdered sugar, though, just enough to put a little on one roll for me to eat. It really didn’t matter, it was still delicious.

Go. Run. Make these immediately.

I guarantee you that if you take these to your friends, you will be cherished forever.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Alright, these were just incredible. I found the recipe at Making Life Delicious, but I changed a few things here and there. Anyway here we go!

First—the brownie layer. Now the batter is especially tasty, so I recommend not having a taste until AFTER you’ve filled your pans so that you actually get some in the pan.

However, after coming out of the oven, they probably won’t look like your typical brownie. In fact, I was a bit worried. They were much lighter than I expected and the top seemed a little crispy while the insides were still quite soft, but that’s okay.

^They’ll look like that. Next, let those cool and make your peanut butter layer. Again, very tasty. WAY good enough to just eat straight out of the bowl. Resist. You’ll probably have some extra. Spread this on your cooled brownies. 

Now on to the chocolate layer. I used Hershey’s Dark Cocoa Powder in my frosting, and to be honest, I didn’t like it that much when I tasted it. But I was relieved to find it was much better combined with the other layers.

Finally, after about 2 and a half sticks of butter or so….the Reeses! I cut them up into halves or quarters or…whatever happened when I tried to cut a miniature Reeses. And just throw them all over the place.

And by this time you’ve put a lot of work into these brownies, so by all means, enjoy one yourself. They’re extremely messy but even more delicious. Have milk nearby.

Brownie Layer

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Peanut Butter Layer

• 1 cup peanut butter (not natural or old-fashioned)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk

Topping

• As many peanut butter cups as you want, I probably used about 25 mini Reeses cut up

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8x8 inch square pans. Melt butter and chocolate in a double-boiler (a pan suspended above (not touching) another pan which contains boiling water).

Stir until chocolate is melted. Then pour into bowl and beat in the sugar followed by the eggs, vanilla extract and kosher salt. Gradually add the flour and stir until combined. Spread the batter in the prepared pans. Bake about 22-25 minutes, but be sure not to overbake!

Next layer! Beat together the peanut butter and 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter in medium bowl. Then, beat in the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. The mixture should be very spreadable. If, for some reason, it isn’t, incorporate a little more milk. Spread over your brownies.

To make the chocolate frosting, beat together all of the ingredients in a bowl. When the frosting looks like frosting, spread it over the peanut butter layer. Finally, sprinkle with Reeses and enjoy!