Saturday, September 22, 2012

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Reeses Penaut Butter Cup Banana Bread

I have seen this idea on Pinterest for ages. It always sounded like the perfect combination. And making plain banana bread last week had me still in the mood for banana bread. So here we are. I used the same recipe from last week but adjusted to make peanut butter and peanut butter cup banana bread. 

This bread was great. Everyone seemed to like it more than me. I like peanut butter. And I do enjoy it with chocolate and dessert. But I don't like a lot of peanut butter in desserts. I can't do peanut butter frosting, something about it just doesn't sit right with me. I know its weird. 

Anyways next time I think I want to make a plain banana bread and mix in Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and no actual peanut butter in the batter. But this was still wonderful, I highly suggest you give it a go! 

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Butter melted 
1 Cup Sugar 
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
2 Eggs 
1 TSP Vanilla Extract 
1 1/2 Cup Flour 
1 TSP Baking Soda 
1/2 TSP Salt  
1/2 Cup Sour Cream 
3 Smashed Bananas 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9X5 loaf pan. 
2. Melt butter. In a large bowl mix together the butter and sugar. Add in peanut butter, mix until well combined. Then add eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. 
3. In a bowl mash bananas.  Fold in bananas and sour cream into the bread mixture. 
4. Pour into prepared pan. If you are a fatty like me slice butter thin and place on top of batter sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool.









Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Banana Bread







So there I was again, an abundance of over ripe banans sitting on the kitchen countertop. Banana bread would be made tomorrow I thought. The banana bread reciepe we use in our family is good, not great, but good. 


I set out to find a recipe with sour cream, because, well sour cream makes everything better. I found one that claimed to be the best and and it did include sour cream. So I went for it. And yes it was amazing. SOOO moist. If something is moist I am in love. Moist baked goods are the best. The moisture level and can make or break a recipe. 


Anyways, Yes I will make this every time I want banana bread. And I do look forward to making a peanut butter version, chocolate version, biscoff.. you get the point. :) Anyways this was a one bowl, five minute kind of recipe so get to it! 




Ingredients: 


1/ 2 Cup of Butter 
1 Cup of White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 TSP Vanilla Extract 
1 1/2 Cups Flour 
1 TSP Baking Soda
1/2 TSP Salt 
1/2 Cup of Sour Cream 
3 Very Ripe Bananas 


Optional: 
3 TBSP Butter
1/4 Cup White Sugar/Brown Sugar Mixed 


Directions: 


1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9X5 loaf pan. 
2. Melt butter. In a large bowl mix together the butter and sugar. Then add eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. 
3. In a bowl mash bananas.  Fold in bananas and sour cream into the bread mixture. 
4. Pour into prepared pan. If you are a fatty like me slice butter thin and place on top of batter sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool. Devour. 






Recipe adapted from: MrsWebersNeighborhood

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Rolo Pecan Caramel Chocolate Cake Bars

I have a thing for Turtle like desserts. I mean who wouldn't? Chocolate, Caramel and Pecans need I say more? I was at Target last night for no reason at all. I just felt like going. I already have enough trouble when I go to Target with a list, but going with no list and just for fun? That is dangerous people! Well I was in the candy section and the mini bags of candy( the bags with no wrappers on the candies of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Rolo's, Butterfingers..etc) you know! Well, they were on sale and I needed some excuse to buy 3 bags for $8. So I decided to bake as it is Sunday and I do work I could easily pawn off a tray of deliciousness! So here we are. 


These bars are delicious, I really enjoyed them. One co-worker suggested I send them off to the Rolo factory :) 




Ingredients: 
1 Box of Devil's Food Cake Mix 
1 Stick of Unsalted Butter
1 Large Egg
1 Bag of unwrapped Rolo's 
1 1/2 Cup of Chopped Pecan's
1/2 Chocolate Chip's 
3/4 Cup of Carmel ( Melt your own Caramels, use caramel ice cream topping) 




Directions: 


1. Preheat oven to 350F and wrap a 9X13 baking dish with foil and lightly butter. 
2. In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, room temperature butter and egg. Mix until well combined. Press into bottom of baking dish. 
3. Chop Rolo's in half and sprinkle on top of cake mixture. Sprinkle pecans, chocolate chips and pour caramel over it all. 
4. Bake for 23 minutes. Let cool completely. 







Sunday, July 29, 2012

Pretzel Crusted Brownies



I like brownies. I don't LOVE them. I LOVE cookies. I LOVE chocolate. But anyways I decided to go ahead and make some brownies! These were quite scrumptious. I really enjoyed the texture of the pretzel crust. It was a nice addition. And I threw in all kinds of mix-in's really just what I had in the cupboard you could really throw in whatever you want. 




Ingredients:
1 Box of Brownie Mix or Your Fav Brownie Recipe
3 Cups of Crushed Pretzels
1 Cup Butter Melted
1/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Chocolate Covered Toffee Chips
1/2 Cup Chopped Peanut Butter Cups


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to brownie recipe temp. Lightly grease a 9X13 pan.
2. In a large bowl mix together crushed pretzels, butter and sugar. Press into pan.
3. Make brownies according to box/recipe. Mix in chocolate chips, chocolate covered toffee bits, and peanut butter cups. (You can mix in whatever you like, this is just what I had on hand)
4. Bake according to brownie recipe.
5. Enjoy :)






recipe adapted from : Love From The Oven

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Banoffe Pie



Due to my English background I am very familiar with Banoffe Pie. It is amazing and my Auntie Marguerite always makes it! Maybe because we always request it! :) The other day we had a party for my sissy's birthday and Banoffee Pie made an appearance. Some of our friends were in shock about how good it was. Thus here I am spreading the word about how simply delicious this is! And it is simple to make. 


This truly is one of my favorite desserts. And you can easily tweak it to what you have on hand, bananas, berries, pineapple...the options are endless! Enjoy!! :) 


* I used 2 full cans of cooked condensed milk, which was a bit too much but I have adjusted the recipe appropriately 


Ingredients: 


1 1/2 Cups Gram Cracker/Digestive Biscuits crushed into crumbs 
1 Cup of Butter
1 1/2 Cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk  
2 Large Bananas 
1 1/4 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream 
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar 
1 TSP Vanilla Extract 
Milk Chocolate Bar for garnishing


Directions: 


1. Preheat oven to 300F. 
2. To caramelize condensed milk pour milk into a large baking dish ( 13X9, 12 X 2..etc) just make sure the dish fits in your large roast pan. Cover condensed milk with foil and place baking dish with condensed milk in roasting pan and fill pan with water. Bake for 2hrs until the right, beautiful caramel color. Let cool completely 
3. Turn oven up to 350F. In a small bowl mix together the graham cracker crumbs and butter, until well combined. Press into a 9 inch pie dish. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes. Let cool. 
4. Once crust and caramel cooled pour half of caramel over the crust and place sliced banana slices over the caramel and then top with the rest of the caramel. Chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. 
5. In bowl of an electric mixer combine heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. Whip on high until stiff peaks form. 
6. Top pie with fresh whipped cream.
Optional- Use a peeler on a chocolate bar to create curls for top of pie. 












Monday, July 16, 2012

Garlic Veggie Pasta

If I could eat one type of food for the rest of my life it would be Italian. Pasta, Bread, Cheese, Garlic, Tiramisu, Cannoli...the list goes on! I just LOVE it so much!! I love the creamy Alfredo sauce, a great meat sauce, and just a plain old garlic olive oil. 


The other night I wanted a quick, yummy, semi-healthy dinner. This is super easy to make. You can easily adjust to make a large batch or smaller single portions. You can also adjust the type of veggies you use based on what you already have in the house. Enjoy :) 




Ingredients: 


1 Cup of Cherry Tomatoes 
1 Cup of Chopped Asparagus 
1/2 Cup of Chopped Carrots
1 Cup of Broccoli 
1 Bag of Pasta 
1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
1/4 Cup Roasted Garlic 
Parmesan & Romano Cheese 


Directions: 


1. In a pot of boiling water cook the pasta according to directions on pasta bag/box. 
2. In a large saucepan saute broccoli, carrots and garlic in olive oil. After a few minutes add the asparagus. Three minutes later add the tomatoes. 
3. Once the veggies are sautéed add the cooked pasta. Sprinkle with as much or as little cheese as you would like. 
4. Enjoy :) 







Saturday, July 14, 2012

My healthy breakfast

Breakfast can be one of my favorite meals of the day. Basically because it can be an overload of sugar. Who doesn't love that? French Toast, Pancakes, Sausage dipped in maple syrup. Well most days I try to make breakfast my most "healthy" meal of the day. I find it easier to keep breakfast healthy then any other meal. Mostly breakfast I am by myself and I haven't had a chance to crave anything so usually I can keep myself to a healthy breakfast. Unless of course the chocolate covered pretzels, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Cookie Dough or anything else for that matter gives me a look in the fridge. Then all hell breaks loose!! :)

My current breakfast meal is Greek yogurt with almonds and fresh berries. I can't seem to get enough! I love that the Greek yogurt is thicker and has more protein. Don't get me wrong I don't do plain Greek yogurt. That is just wrong. I do vanilla and then load it up with whatever fresh berries I have in the fridge. 

At Trader Joe's you can get raw sliced almonds and they are the perfect topping to my yogurt and berries. It gives me the same kind of texture/crunch that granola would but without the added sugar. And everyone always says how great almonds are so its a win win! :)

Ingredients: 

3/4 Cup Greek Yogurt 
1 Handful of Blueberries 
1 Handful of Peaches 
Lots of Almonds 

Directions: 
1. Wash and dry your fruit. Set inside a bowl. pour yogurt over and sprinkle with as many almonds as you desire. Enjoy :) 






Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Biscoff Cupcakes


 The other day I was out at Trader Joe's on this whole healthy kick. My whole problem is that I tell myself that going to Trader Joe's is healthy, which it very well can be or the evil sugar devil comes and haunts me and I buy every item with sugar in it!! OR one of the workers tells me hey look at this chocolate stuffed french toast. How do you say no to chocolate stuffed french toast? The answer is YOU DON'T! 


Anyways I came across TJ Cookie Butter which I assumed was similar to Biscoff Spread. And yes it is, this smashed up cookie goodness is even easier for me to get my hands on. 


Today I needed some cupcakes and I looked in the cupboard and saw the Cookie butter. Just then I remembered of some Biscoff Cupcakes Jenny made over on Picky Palate. I looked up her recipe and went straight to baking. 


These little scrumptious cakes are amazing! So yummy!


Ingredients: 
Cupcakes: 
1 Cup AP Flour 
1 Cup Granulated Sugar 
1/2 TSP Salt 
1/2 TSP Baking Soda 
1/2 Cup Canola Oil 
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Biscoff Spread 
2 Large Eggs
2 TSP Pure Vanilla Extract 
Buttercream: 
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter at room temp. 
1/4 Cup Biscoff Spread 
4 Cups Powdered Sugar Sifted
2 Tablespoons milk


Directions: 


1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with liners. 
2. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt & baking soda. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine oil, sour cream, Biscoff spread, eggs and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients until all well combined. 
4. Scoop batter into cupcake liners until 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. 
5. Once cupcakes are cooled begin buttercream. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and Biscoff until creamy and smooth. About two minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes and enjoy :)







Recipe adapted from Picky Palate

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Sopapilla Cheeseake Bars






So I was on this whole healthy kick thing for like 2-3 weeks I was doing HerbaLife shakes in the AM and not stuffing my face/baking constantly. IT WAS HELL! I think deep down I am meant to be a fat rich person. Okay so the rich party might not happen as easily as the fat part, especially if I keep buying butter and sugar at this rate. Everyone always tells me it's going to catch up to me! Well, it hasn't yet ;) 


Anyways I ended that whole healthy phase and baked like a maniac for a good 2 weeks then this week I decided to stop. :( Sad day. So I went to the gym on Monday and ate pretty healthy. Ate healthy today and went on a walk. And then there was about 5 hours where I was doing everything I could to control myself from not baking. And then I find myself here  telling you all about my lack of self control.


Anyways..I have seen these on Pinterest for ages. Everyone seems to have made them. I decided to give em a whirl! I looked at a few recipes and they all were for 9X13 but I wanted to practice some control so I made some in a 8X8 pan! I just made up my own recipe as I went and it was great. But I don't think you can mess it up- you may just be more cinnamony or more sugary. :) 


I ate this right out of the pan when they were still hot. I hate when a recipe says wait until completely cool. UM no that is not physically possible for me. I loved them hot, my mother described them as a warm almost custardy-bread pudding like. They were yum. Then the bars sat in the fridge all night. They were so delicious cold as well. Either way they are amazing and take all of 2 minutes to prepare. 


Ingredients: 


1 8oz Can of Crescent Rolls
1 8oz Package Cream Cheese 
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 TBSP of Vanilla 
1/2 Cup of Butter
1 TSP Cinnamon 
1/3 Cup Sugar 


Directions: 


1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8X8 pan. 
2. Lay out half of the crescent rolls on the bottom of the pan. 
3. In a small bowl mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until well combined. Smooth over the top of the crescent rolls. 
4. Top the cream cheese mixture with rest of the crescent rolls. 
5. In a small bowl melt the butter and then add in the cinnamon and sugar. Pour over top layer of crescent rolls. 
6. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Serve warm or chilled. Both are delish! 









Monday, June 18, 2012

Not your average Brownies




A few months ago I received a wonderful cookbook in the mail! Ree Drumond's On the Frontier. Each recipe has TONS of pictures of step by step process! I LOVE!!! I tend to only purchase cook books that have pictures - it just doesn't seem right not being able to look at the recipe completed. 
This cookbook has tons of delicious recipes for anytime of the day! I saw this recipe and I had to make them!! 
In April for one of my best friends birthday I sent her some Dorothy Lane Brownies- because they are amazing :) These brownies are dupes for DL. 
Make these scrumptious little brownies asap! You will NOT regret it :) 



Ingredients: 
1 Box of Devils Food Cake Mix
1/3 Cup plus 1/2 Cup Evaporated Milk 
1/2 Cup Butter Melted
1 Cup Chopped Pecans (Optional) 
30 Unwrapped Caramels 
1 Bag of Chocolate Chips 
Powdered Sugar for dusting on top of Brownies 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 8X8 pan with foil and grease it. 
2. In a large bowl mix together the cake mix, 1/3 cup of evaporated milk, melted butter and the pecans. It will be nice and thick. 
3. Divide the dough in half and spread half into the bottom of your baking pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 
4. While the brownie base is baking in a medium saucepan over medium heat mix together the unwrapped caramels and the rest of the evaporated milk. Mix until nice and smooth, be careful not to burn. 
5. On a piece of wax paper take the rest of the brownie batter and form into the same size as the baking pan to lay on top. 
6. Once the brownie base has cooked for 8-10 minutes take it out and pour the melted caramel over it and then pour the chocolate chips on top and finish with the brownie layer. 
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature, dust with powdered sugar and then let set in fridge for a few hours. Enjoy :) 





Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks Food From My Frontier, Knock you Naked Brownies