Healthier Mini Banana Chocolate Chip Loaves

I make banana bread alot...seriously all the time. We just can't get enough of this quick bread. It's great for breakfast, afternoon snack, and dessert.This is a healthier version that uses apple sauce, just a little bit of butter, and a combination of white and whole wheat flour. These lovely mini loaves were moist, chocolaty, and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 T unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray mini loaf pan (8 cavity) with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large stand mixer bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar.  Add the eggs and beat until well combined.  Mix in the apple sauce, vanilla and mashed bananas until thick.

Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.  Add the mini chocolate chips and mix to incorporate.

Pour the batter into the mini loaf pan, filling each about 2/3 of the way (makes 8 mini loaves). Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.  Enjoy!

Adapted from Skinny Taste

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

 

This is a twist on my traditional banana bread recipe.  There are layers of cinnamon and sugar between layers of moist banana bread batter. It is finished with another layer of cinnamon and sugar that creates a crunchy topping when baked.  The smell of it baking will drive you crazy.  I hope that I can wait long enough for it to cool before eating a big slice.  My next project needs to be some homemade banana cinnamon rolls.  Can you imagine?

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

Cinnamon/Sugar Swirl Mixture:

1/3 cup sugar
2 T light brown sugar
1 T cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix just until combined. Add the mashed bananas and mix until incorporated.

Pour 1/3 banana bread batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of cinnamon/sugar swirl mixture over top.  Repeat two more times, ending with the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick tester comes out clean. Run a sharp knife around edges to loosen bread from sides of pan.  Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan, slice, and serve warm with butter.  Enjoy! 

Mini Banana Bread Loaves

I splurged on a new kitchen gadget for myself last week...a mini loaf pan.  I just love anything in individual serving size form.  Banana bread was obviously the first thing I planned to make.  I combined my recipe for banana bread and banana muffins to come up with this recipe.  They were moist and delicious, and my family loved them!

Ingredients:

3 bananas, smashed
1 banana, diced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a mini loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large stand mixer bowl, beat together the smashed bananas, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.  Add the melted butter and mix well.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix.  Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into the wet ingredients.  Turn mixer on just to combine. Carefully stir in the remaining diced banana with spoon or spatula.

Pour mini muffin loaves 3/4 of the way full into prepared pan.  You will have a little batter leftover.  I made a jumbo banana muffin also!  Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.  Enjoy!

Calzones Your Way

Calzones are a favorite quick to go meal from our local Italian restaurant.  We call in the order and hubby picks it up.  We get to pick our favorite toppings that are stuffed inside pizza crust.  A side of marinara for dipping completes it.  This is my first time making calzones at home.  It was just like making pizza and fun for the kids.  These would also be fun to make mini and serve as appetizers.

I used the recipe for pizza dough from The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook.  I added some extra seasonings and used a little whole wheat flour, and it turned out perfect.  This will be my new pizza dough recipe from now on.

Pizza Dough:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
4  cups all purpose flour (can also substitute 1/4 cup whole wheat for white flour)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for oiling bowl

In a small glass bowl, add the warm water and sprinkle in the yeast.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Add the sugar and stir. 

In a large stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add flour, salt, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Turn on low to mix in spices.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  Add the water/yeast mixture and mix on medium speed.  Let the mixer kneed the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Drizzle some olive oil into large glass or metal bowl and use your hand to rub all around bottom and sides.  Form the dough into a ball, add it to the oiled bowl, and turn to oil on all sides.  Cover with a damp kitchen towel or tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Sprinkle some corn meal onto a large pizza pan or baking sheet.

To make calzones, pinch off a piece of pizza dough and roll into a ball.  Spread flour on a work surface and roll dough out into a large circle, being careful not to roll too thin.  

Set out all your toppings, and let your family pile them up on their individual calzone.  Place toppings on 1/2 of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border. 

The toppings we used this time were:

mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese
pepperoni
canadian bacon
cooked Italian sausage
green peppers
red onions
jalapenos

Fold the empty side of pizza dough over the toppings.  Roll the edges up and pinch together to seal, using your fingers like you would for a pie crust.  Sprinkle top with Italian seasoning and garlic powder, if desired. 

Use a spatula to transfer to prepared baking sheet.  You can even use a paring knife to carve your initials into the top so they don't get mixed up.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.  Serve with a side of marinara for dipping.  Enjoy!

Easy Banana Bread

Today is the last weekday of Spring Break, so I wanted to make my girls a special breakfast.  This banana bread is Madison's favorite!  It's baking in the oven right now, and it smells so good.  This is a simple quick bread, and you can make any additions your family likes, i.e. pecans, walnuts, cranberries, raisins, chocolate chips, blueberries, strawberries, etc.  You can also replace the banana with pumpkin puree to make pumpkin bread.

This bread takes no time to assemble and less than an hour to bake.  It's best served warm with some butter on top. 

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until creamy.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix just until combined. Add the mashed bananas and mix until incorporated.

Pour banana bread batter into prepared loaf pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick tester comes out clean.  Serve warm with butter.  Enjoy!

Note:  This banana bread is very moist, so it's best to store it at room temperature in the loaf pan lightly covered with foil. 



Mini Monkey Bread

My kids slept late this morning, not realizing that I had snuck into their rooms late last night and turned off their annoying alarm clocks.  Our school district was the first to post school closings on the evening news!  Yea...snow day!  We rarely have winter storms, so when we do, the whole town shuts down.  So what this means is that my girls get a special breakfast, which are usually saved for only the weekend mornings.  I searched my bucket list breakfast recipes, and found one for Monkey Bread using store bought biscuits.  I could have this whipped  up in no time!

The original recipe on the Pillsbury site called for 2 cans of those huge Grands biscuits, and to cook it in a bundt pan.  I only had 2 cans of the regular size 10 count biscuits, and since I love individual portions, I decided to make them in a jumbo muffin tin.  I also added some diced Granny Smith apples and golden raisins between the layers and on top.  Then I drizzled them with a simple vanilla glaze while still warm.  They taste like a cinnamon roll/apple strudel doughnut.  My girls and I loved them!  They even asked if I would make them over and over again.  This recipe makes 4. 

Ingredients:

2 cans 10 count Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Optional: apples and raisins
2 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Vanilla Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a jumbo muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon zip lock bag.  Cut each biscuit in half, roll into a ball, and place in the bag.  Seal it and shake well to coat each ball.  Place a layer of the dough balls (about 4-5) in 4 muffin tins, add the apples and raisins (if using), then add another layer of dough balls on top.  Top with more apples and raisins.

In a small sauce pan over medium low heat, stir together the 2 T butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Cook for one minute while stirring.  Pour over each Monkey Bread.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown (keep an eye on them).  Place muffin tin on a wire rack and let cool for 3 minutes.  Invert onto a large platter.  Mix together vanilla glaze and drizzle over top.  Enjoy!
   

Linked up at:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Potluck Sunday
Sweets For Saturday

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving was a success!  Our family and friends joined us for a day full of fun, food, and Dallas Cowboys football. I love my family! Here's what we did...

The week before, my girls made some salt dough Christmas tree ornaments to give to our family and friends on Thanksgiving day. 

The menu was finalized, and only one item didn't make it to the table...the caramel apple pie.  We already had 3 desserts, which was plenty for 12 people.  

Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

Appetizers

Spinach Dip with Tortilla Chips

Chilled Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce

Cheese/Salami/Cracker Platter

Fruit Tray with Thanksgiving Fruit Dip

Dinner

Bill’s Famous Deep Fried Turkey

Honey Baked Spiral Ham

Country Dressing

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Turkey Gravy

Macaroni and Cheese

Green Bean Casserole

Vegetable & Tomato Tian

Sweet Potato Casserole

Cranberry Sauce

Dinner Rolls

Desserts

Caramel Apple Pie

Coconut Cream Pie

Maple Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

Fresh Whipped Cream And/Or Vanilla Ice Cream

 

The night before Thanksgiving, my oldest daughter helped me make all this good stuff:

Cranberry Mandarin Orange Sauce

Coconut Cream Pie

Maple Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Cheesecake (topped with caramel sauce later)

The dinner rolls were also prepared and put in the fridge to rise overnight. 

The tables were set

The Thanksgiving wreath I made earlier that day was on the front door to welcome our family and friends

And it's finally time for some shut eye before finishing up in the morning! ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzz

I woke up bright and early to finish preparing the rest of the side dishes for our big dinner.  The ladies in the family set up all the appetizers on the kitchen table. 

My girls were hungry and thirsty...they dug right in

The girls patiently waited at the front door for our family to arrive

Family arrived...

Bill fried up our turkey

Just look at this big moist Turkey with crispy skin!

While the ladies helped me finish up the rest of the meal. 

The girls are ready to eat

The food's hot and ready...amazingly so!

Bill's Fried Turkey

Honey Glazed Ham

Country Dressing

Mom's Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Casserole

Vegetable and Tomato Tian

Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Turkey Gravy

Bill's Pea Salad

After the big Turkey dinner, we were all stuffed. It was time to relax and enjoy some family fun time. Our girls put on a concert for us. Our Taylor wants to be the next Taylor Swift...

and Jordyn will be her backup musician...

while Madison watches with pride...

 

I'm so thankful for my family! I love them all so much!