Banana Nut Muffins.....

  These are by far the biggest muffins I have ever made.  I am not sure why they rose so much?!?  I also had a lot of fun with this recipe as I was making it up as I went along.  I started with my recipe for banana bread.....as I had 5 much too ripe bananas sitting on my counter and was not in the mood to just peel and freeze.....perhaps because I already have a bag a frozen bananas in my freezer.....I didn't want to crowd them out!
  I also looked at a recipe for big beautiful muffins that was given to me by a friend of the Reed family from America's Test Kitchen....anything I have made from there has always turned out.....but I was looking for more of a risk.....so I peeked at the recipes but did not follow either of them!

As I was experimenting I was looking at the ratios in each recipe, which one calls for more of this....and none of that........do I beat the eggs first or just add them to the batter?  baking soda or baking powder as a leavening agent.....too much moisture, too little moisture....I felt like I literally was playing a game of 20 questions with myself the whole time.....but I think it worked!

Banana Nut Muffins
5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 scoops of vanilla protein powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
5 over ripe bananas (small)
2 snack packs of apple sauce
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts

First take all the dry ingredients and mix together in a big bowl.....with all these spices it will smell so darn good.  I chose the spices after literally opening too many jars in the spice cupboard and sniffing away, trying to figure out what might work well together!  Then in a smaller bowl thoroughly mix together the wet ingredients and the sugar.  Then make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly mix in the wet ingredients.  This does take a bit of elbow grease, I would not use an electric mixer.....also keep mixing before adding more milk....when I was mixing it I thought for sure it would be way too dry....this is not the case, just keep mixing.  Just when you think you are finished mixing, add the walnuts and stir until they are evenly distributed!

I let the batter sit in the fridge overnight.  I am beginning to do this more and more, not sure if it makes a difference, it was just how my schedule worked out that day.

I baked these for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  I first sprayed the pan with Pam (no sticking whatsoever)....the muffins actually kind of popped out of the pan.  They are packed with moisture and have a fine crust on the muffin top....of course the best part.....before placing them in the oven I smashed up some walnuts mixed with sugar and sprinkled on top of the batter....adding sugar to the muffins before baking always adds a nice crust on the top of the muffin!  Adding nuts was another new experiment!

Thinking about further experimentation by using apples and not bananas.....until next time!

Baking for the masses.....

6 batches of cookies, 5 batches of brownies, and 4 loaves of lemony goodness.....this is what has transpired after the administrative team at my school asked my to bake my whatnot off for this month's staff meeting.  I have to admit that this is not the first time that I have baked for the fabulous staff at school, but it was the first time I was asked to! 

The loaf that is lemony is the same recipe that is already posted on the blog so scroll down to get it for yourself.....I did make all 4 batches at the same time, in separate bowls of course and found that leaving the batter in the fridge while you are waiting for the loaf pan doesn't really change the end result....so this is good for when multiple loaves of lemony goodness are needed at once!  Just make sure you get all the seeds out!

 "Brownies" are also the same recipe that is already on the blog.....I went for the circular pan this time and of course ended up using more of the see's candy bars....I also used some milk chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips in order to get a mixture of chocolate flavors.....or it was all that I had!  In case you are interested you can still get your own see's milk chocolate candy bar for only $2.00......by supporting either the AcDec'ers......I suggest eating these chewy, chocolaty, fudge things with some hot coffee.....

Last but not least I went for some cookies.....the infamous chewy oatmeal ones......although a similar recipe for these is already on my other blog I changed things up a little bit and further experimented with this recipe.....so here she goes.....

This time I added a bit more molasses and substituted white sugar for brown sugar.....I really think it worked out well as adding more molasses increases the chewy factor but does not change the flavor too much.....for the cafe mocha AKA coffee and swirl chocolate chip cookies I added a pinch of cardamom!  I ended up rolling the dough in balls after I let it sit in the fridge overnight.  Not sure why but letting cookie dough rest is always best!

Hope you have enjoyed these sweet treats!

p.s. stay tuned for more!

Lemon Loaf & Fudge Brownie Bites....

I still cannot believe that I am even considering letting these two recipes out....they are not Donna Reed Originals....these puppies come from my great grandmother Agnes Bole....her daughter, my nanny Louise MacKay decided to re-write all of her mothers recipes in one place....the cursive is simply luxurious, I wish more students wrote in cursive....at any rate, great grandmother passed it down to her daughter and she passed it down to me....I am oh so grateful that I have this iconic representative of the kitchens of my maternal heritage....the other day when making a lemon loaf....it smelled so delicious, I wondered if this was the same smell that my great grandmother smelled when she would use the same recipe.......I wondered what her oven looked like, her kitchen floor.....she lived on a farm, so it's not completely unrealistic to think that she may indeed have even churned the butter herself...I also wondered what kind of shoes she was wearing....and most importantly.......I wonder what her apron looked like.....

Lemon Loaf
6 tbsp butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice

Cream butter and sugar together.  Beat in eggs and milk.  Add rind of lemon and mix thoroughly.  Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and blend into batter.  Spray a loaf pan with pam.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees......never put batter in a cold oven......bake for about an hour.  Mix together 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of sugar, pour over hot loaf.  This glaze crystallizes into the sweetest crust which is a subtle accompaniment to a dense lemony loaf.  Enjoy!


I guess I have to thank my 2011 AcDec'ers for this blog posting as they are the ones in which I was baking for.  Tonight was the first round of debates and I wanted to set the bar high so I baked some of my best in anticipation of their debating skills being of the highest quality.....I am looking forward to more debates and perhaps this shall be a new ritual where I bake for AcDec'ers and blog about it!  It has been some time since I have been on here, so thank you twenty-eleven AcDec'ers for inspiring me yet again.....

Brownies
I guess this technically is not exactly my great grandmothers recipe as you will find out I did slightly alter the recipe to fit my own personal agenda!

1/2 margarine
8 tbsp chocolate chips
1 see's milk chocolate candy bar
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

You want to start by melting the margarine and chocolates together on low in a small pan.  Yes you must use see's milk chocolate candy bars, this is really what makes them so dang tasty.....and as an added bonus by purchasing your see's milk chocolate candy bar you will be supporting the 27th year of academic excellence!

While the chocolate is melting mix the sugar, vanilla and eggs together.  Once chocolate has reached a silky smooth consistency (this can take anywhere from 15 - 20 minutes....it is not something you want to rush....I suggest listening to Billie Holiday whilst you are stirring the melting chocolate.....) once the chocolate magic mixture is ready to go add it to the sugar mixture.  Mix well.  Add flour and salt.  Blend well.  You will end up baking this in a 350 degree oven as well.....what makes these two recipes match so nicely is that you can have a batch of each going at the same time.  Yesterday I made 2 loaves of bread and 3 rounds of brownies.....for the brownies I made two batches in the mini-muffin tin (worked out nicely for the masses) the last batch was put in a circular pan all in one shot.  Trust me when it comes to mass baking and maximizing of time, the mini-muffin tin should not be your weapon of choice......Below are the infamous 3rd patch in which my husband will be taking to work......

Enjoy!

p.s. 15 minutes for mini-muffin tin
p.p.s. 33 minutes for circular tin

Mountain o' Meatballs...

Mike gets credit for discovering this recipe, although he has never made it, so I guess I get the credit this time.  This recipe makes 4.5 dozen meatballs!  It's simple enough, just one of those things that is rather time consuming and does take a little bit of patience as there is a lot of "resting" time for the meat.....I took advantage of this and simultaneously made a pizza!  With homemade crust of course, the best sauce at Safeway, some spinach, shredded mozzarella, and sliced onions.  Oh wait....back to the balls.....

I started by taking 2 packages of ground turkey (I buy them when they are at their cheapest 2 for $5) and I package of ground pork (this was just under $3)....here's what gives it all the delicious layers of flavors..
- 3 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp pepper, cayenne, cinnamon, & salt
- 1/2 tsp turmeric


  Two eggs work as a great binding agent.  I find it best to mix this up with your hands, which would make them smell awful nasty.....raw turkey and pork smell......I prefer to wear rubber gloves when I am working with meat in this manner....I also end up rolling them like a cookie after I scoop out a serving size, after letting the meat rest for an hour in the refrigerator.....I lightly grease a pan with extra virgin olive oil and when hot add meatballs.  When browned on one side, flip....this works well using two forks.....then continue cooking.....I usually let them get about 80% cooked and then take them off the heat.  The meat will continue to cook after it is off the heat.  I only go to 80% because I end up packing these up in ziploc bags and freezing them....then I take them out and defrost and warm in the oven.....I bet you were wondering when the baking part was coming in, after all this is a blog about baking! ......they are great in pasta, and topped with BBQ sauce is good too!  They really are the most versatile meatball I have had the pleasure of making....so go ahead and be creative with them......

Enjoy!

Banana Bread Avec Chocolate......

 
  If ever there were a recipe that has been worked and re-worked again, this would be it.  I think the first time I started playing around with a recipe, especially a baking recipe was with banana bread.  I have to say that I have finally settled on this recipe, but let's face it it is bound to change yet again.......but for this mornings envelope stuffing it shall remain in its current form!

What you need:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 unsweetened apple sauce (snack pack size)
4 egg whites
3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
chocolate chips

I myself prefer to start by blending the sugars together in a metal bowl, then mix in the apple sauce.  After briefly beating the egg whites with the vanilla in a separate bowl, add to the sugar mixture.  Then come the bananas - peel and place on a large plate.  Sprinkle some cinnamon on the bananas before smashing them with a fork.  This is a secret if you notice there is no mention of cinnamon in the recipe itself.....when bananas have reached a smooth consistency or you have gotten your daily frustrations out by beating the bananas, add to the batter.  Also at this time you can add the milk.  Mix thoroughly.  Then add all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips and stir, stir, stir.  I suggest using a spatula for the last few stirs as flour is bound to get trapped under all that beautiful banana bread batter.....then add the chocolate chips. The amount is your call, you can even leave them out, or add crushed nuts and more spices....this recipe is forgiving and was made to be played around with a little.....so go ahead and have some fun!

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1.23 hours or until a toothpick comes clean.  Enjoy!

SuperQuiz Cookies Perfected....

These cookies were originally inspired by a lunch time meeting for the 2011 Team One AcDec'ers.....as we continue to prepare for the state competition I have decided to alter them again....this batch will be enjoyed by team one as well as a group of educators who will be donating their time to provide feedback with speeches and interviews....here's hoping they are a hit!

SuperQuiz Cookies 
2 cups butter (at room temperature)
1.5 cups white sugar
1.5 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP molasses
3 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
chocolate chips (as many as desired)

   First you want to start by creaming the butter and sugars together.  Then you want to beat in the 4 eggs and vanilla.....the better quality the vanilla the better quality the cookie.....then add the molasses in and mix thoroughly.  Add in all dry ingredients at once (flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).  Mix well...the best thing to use a wooden spoon....it will take some time so be prepared to get a little elbow grease going!  Then finally add in the chocolate chips.  I always like to let the dough rest overnight before baking.....cool batter bakes better.....Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Enjoy with a glass of milk!

Baking for my fav peeps...

...or at least 9 of them as we are having a SQ lunch tomorrow!  I can not imagine a better way to spend a Friday lunch at school.....for real....I am this geeky.....


After a long thought out process I believe I have finally found my thesis....interestingly enough now that I have figured it out, it seems like it was already there, staring me down....

So, taking the advice from my Dad I had decided to bake some cookies and think about it....well that's exactly what I did and now I would like to introduce you the SuperQuiz Cookie...



First you want to get 2 cups of margarine warmed up to room temperature, then you add the sugar....oh so glorious sugar....1.5 cups of white and 1.5 cups of brown.....these are some serious calorie kicking cookies.....once creamed together add 4 eggs, 2 tsp of vanilla...and because I was making these cookies for my team one twenty-eleven AcDec'ers I used the vanilla in the glass jar.....if that isn't love I don't know what is.....also add in, here it is the secret to chewiness....2 TBSP of molasses...it really is a secret softener...I often use it in muffins when I go for the health nut variety and cut out all eggs and fat.....good thing because it all ends up in these darn cookies.....mix well......a fork will still do a good job for mixing.....then add the dry ingredients (3 cups of white flour, 2 cups of whole wheat flour....didn't see that one coming did you....1 tsp b.powder and 1.5 tsp of b.soda, 1 tsp salt).....keep mixing until the dough reaches a smooth slightly difficult to stir consistency......then add in the chocolate chips....I went for milk chocolate....be creative.....cranberry and white chocolate chips would work well.....or some nuts.....even adding cocoa powder would make some wicked cookies.....

Thanks for reading!