Using up some brown bananas

Note: I didn't have my camera ready for a real pic, so I borrowed this one . Sadly my photography skills are not this good

A friend asked me for a good banana recipe idea today, and I realized I had a few over-ripe bananas on my counter too. What better way to use them up than bake them into bread? Thanks for the inspiration!

A few recipe notes:
- Always use over-ripe (mostly brown bananas)
- 1 cup = 2-3 bananas. If you don't have quite enough you can supplement with unsweetened applesauce
- Cardamom is a wonderful spice that adds a special touch to the recipe. It's expensive and can be omitted, but after I bought it I started adding it to all banana, zucchini, and apple recipes and it makes a big difference.
- The recipe calls for sour cream, I actually substituted plain fat free greek yougurt
- You can add 1 cup mini chocolate chips or wild Maine blueberries (Wyman's frozen), or even a bag of mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups to jazz it up.You can also spice it up with 1/2 c peanut butter or chopped nuts

I learned a trick about a year ago: when making sweet breads (i.e. banana or zucchini), prepare the pan with grease and cinnamon sugar instead of flour. It prevents sticking and gives it a tasty and slightly crunchy crust.

Ok, getting to the point....

Sour Cream Banana Bread


1/4 c butter, softened to room temperature
1 c sugar
1 c mashed banana
1 c sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom


Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in bananas, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, about 1/3 at a time, and mix thoroughly. Stir in add-ins (chips, nuts, berries, etc) if desired.
Pour into a loaf pan prepared with grease and cinnamon sugar (2 tbsp sugar : 1/4tsp cinnamon)
Bake at 350 for 1 hour, cool completely.
*Wrap tightly in saran wrap and aluminum foil, wait 24 hours to eat. Trust me, its worth it.

Almond Joy Cupcakes - and Truffles

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there! I thought up the idea for these cupcakes a few months ago, but they're too involved to just make on a whim. Since my mom loves chocolate and coconut, Mothers Day seemed like the perfect time to give them a try. They came out quite good, the only critique I have is they were a bit dense for a cupcake. The recipe below reflects increasing the butter by 1/4 c, which should help. I had a lot of confection left over from each step, so I started a "scrap bowl" and turned them into a separate dessert. They aren't quite cake balls because if the amount of ganache that went into them, so I'm calling them truffles.

Almond Joy Cupcakes  

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 c butter, softened to room temp

1 1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

1/2 c sour cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3.5 oz (1/2 bag) sweetened coconut

Filling

1 c high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips*
1 c heavy cream

Frosting

1/2 c butter, softened to room temp

3 c confectioners sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

2-6 tbsp milk

Topping

3.5 oz (1/2 bag) sweetened coconut

1/2 c slivered almonds

To make cupcakes, cream butter and sugar very well in a large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, include sour cream and vanilla with last egg. Do not over mix. In a small bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, about 1/3 at a time. Fold in coconut. Divide batter evenly into lined cupcake tins, filling each about 2/3- 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven at 300 for 30-35 mins until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely for several hours or overnight.
You can toast the topping while the oven is still hot. Spread coconut and almonds on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 for 20 mins, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden brown. 


While the cupcakes are baking, make ganache. Heat cream over medium-low heat until just boiling, then remove from heat. *If using regular size chips, microwave them for 30 seconds on meduim power. If using mini chips use at room temperature. Pour the cream over the chips, let stand for 1-2 mins. Whisk smooth. Cool in the refrigerator several hours or overnight until solid. Place in a small bowl, beat with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Spoon into a pastry bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut. 


Spoon out a 1/2-1" hole in each cupcake. Put the pieces in the scrap bowl for later.

 

 Pipe ganache into each cupcake, then smooth with a knife so the top of the filling is flush with the top of the cake. Squeeze the leftovers into the scrap bowl. 

                      

 




Cream together the confectioners sugar, butter, and vanilla for the frosting. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time to reach desired consistency. Gently frost cupcakes, being careful not to mix the frosting and ganache. I found making the frosting just a little thinner than normal helped keep it neat and smooth.










Gently roll each cupcake in the toasted coconut/almonds to coat evenly.We found the cupcakes tasted better the next day, try to resist eating them right away!








Add the leftover frosting and topping to the scrap bowl. Mix well to combine, chill 2-3 hrs then roll into 1" balls and freeze. Melt more chocolate to dip the balls into, allow to chocolate to harden and enjoy. Store in the fridge.

Carrot Cake Muffins

Nurses' Week continues...I failed to think things through (shocking!), so here I am baking a second night in a row. We each had to bring something for the nurses' breakfast, I took the healthy route and went with carrot muffins. Ok, so maybe they aren't strictly healthy, but with 2 fruits and 1 vegetable they can't be all bad can they? This is my mom's recipe so I'll give credit where credit is due. No matter what I do mine never come out as good as hers, so I made some minor adjustments to keep myself from expecting them to be exactly the same. 

Carrot Muffins

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 c oil
2 c sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 - 8oz can crushed pineapple
2 c shredded carrot
1 1/3 c shredded coconut

Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cardamom in a small bowl.
Beat oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Gradually add dry mixture, blend just until combined.
Stir in pineapple (including juice), carrot, and coconut.
Divide evenly into lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20 mins until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

*To make cake: bake in 9x13 pan for 50-60 mins

I didn't frost them this time, but here's my favorite frosting anyway:

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 - 3oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 c confectioners sugar

Blend cream cheese, milk, and vanilla until well mixed
Gradually blend in confectioners sugar, beat until light and fluffy
Spread over cooled muffins

Surprise Fudge

Happy Nurses' Week! By popular demand I made my "surprise" fudge to show my appreciation for all the great ladies I work with. When I saw a recipe for avocado fudge on AllRecipes last year, I was too curious not to try it. I make it a rule not to tell people the secret ingredient until they've tasted it, you all will have to take my word for it. It's delicious!
Note: This reflects 1/2 the original recipe. The whole thing makes WAY too much.

Surprise Fudge 

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1/4 c melted butter
1/4 Baileys
1 c unsweetened cocoa
3 c confectioners sugar
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1/4 c white chocolate chips, melted

Puree the avocado and butter in blender or with immersion blender. Be sure to blend very well, it should be uniform color and texture:

Place mixture in saucepan over low heat. Add Baileys and cocoa powder, stir until very well mixed.
Stir in sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing completely after each addition.
Add melted chocolates, remove from heat as soon as mixed.
Pour in an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. cool completely. Cut into squares.