Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (eggless)

Our new pooch

Oh man, it's been awhile since my last post. I haven't really been cooking that much new stuff recently... been focused a little bit more on other big life changes. We adopted a dog! With that big change - I'm sure you will see some homemade doggie treats in an upcoming blog post or two - if you have a good recipe, feel free to send it my way! Would love to test it out.

With that said, I had bought some bananas that I didn't end up eating and decided it was time to tackle the banana bread again... dun dun DUN! As always, I never have any eggs in my house - no one eats them so why buy them! It also means that I'm always cooking without eggs or making some neat substitues. This recipe is delicious. No jokes. It is good. It is fantastic. It turned a non-banana bread eater into a banana bread lover.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (eggless with oatmeal)
1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas - medium size
• 1/4 cup of melted butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 1/3 cup of white AP flour
• 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Chocolate chips - as many as you want, I used around 1/4 of a 12oz bag

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 400degreesF
2. Plop your bananas into a bowl and mash them up really well. 
3. Add in the remaining ingredients and mixed it all together.
4. Grease your loaf pan with a little cooking spray - I also usually line the pan with tin foil and spray that too, it makes it easier to get the loaf out of the pan. 
5. Turn down the heat on the oven to 350degreesF
6. Pour in the mix and bake for 50 minutes. The mix will NOT fill up the pan, BUT the bread will rise a little so don't worry! 
7. After around 45 to 50 min, do the toothpick test - if it comes out clean take out the loaf and let it rest for 20 minutes before removing from the pan. 
8. Enjoy!

Apple Picking, Apple Sauce, Apple Crisp and Piggies!

A little late in the season, but better late than never! I was able to hit up Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, MA for a little apple-picking trip with my good friend Rach (giving her a little plug here since she's a yoga teacher and I'm always trying to recruit her a few more clients... check out her website.) The trip was uneventful except that for the piggies!

Aren't they cute?

ANYWAYS... after returning home, it was time to get down to business. Having a full bag of apples, I decided on 3 recipes. 1. Apple Crisp, 2. Apple Bread, 3. Apple Sauce. This post will include the recipes for the Apple Sauce and the Apple Crisp. I'll do a post later this week with the apple bread recipe.

I also have to say I finally purchased an immersion blender and I'm pretty excited about it!!! Would love to hear from you on any good recipes you may have using the immersion blender.

APPLE SAUCE
# of apples determines the serving - I'd say about 2-3 good sized apples equals about a meals worth of apple sauce

Ingredients:

• Apples - peeled and cut up into large chunks, or quarters is fine
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional - you could also use honey)

Steps:

1. In a sauce pan, add the apples, cider and spices
2. Heat till the apples start to breakdown, and become mushy
3. Use your immersion blender to cream a little (depending on the consistency you want)
4. Let cool a bit and eat!

APPLE CRISP
This recipe is a bit watery - next time I'm going to add a bit of flour to the apples before putting the topping on - to help with the juicy-ness.

• 5-6 Large apples (I used macoun's)
• 1 stick of very cold butter
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• Lemon juice to coat apples so they don't turn while prepping

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350degrees
2. Slice the apples thinly and cover with a pinch of the cinnamon and the white sugar.
3. Apples tend to shrink when cooked, meaning they get mushy and sink into the vessel you're prepping them in so lay them in the pan (I used a deep pyrex bowl) so there aren't any spaces. 
4. Mix together the remaining dry ingredients and dice in the butter. The cooler it is the better since it will spread more evenly throughout the topping mixture. I diced it up then used my hands to smush it together. It should be a bit grainy feeling when done - a little dry and not like a dough at all. 
5. Spread the topping around over the apples.
6. Bake for 30 minutes - or until the topping is hard to the touch and you see the juices bubbling.
7. Let is cool for about 15-20 minutes before serving since the juices from the apples will be hot.

It's almost apple season!

I had a beautiful photo or two on my phone of a fantastic apple pie I made this weekend and was going to share... Alas, my phone has decided that it no longer wants to be in this world and took a long nose dive from my bag to the floor and did not survive. The photos went along with it. I do have one that I've popped on facebook so hopefully that will get the drooling started a little bit.

But let's take a moment to talk about one of my most favorite foods in the world - pie. I've tried so many ways to make the perfect apple pie. Some come out too juicy, some too dry, some too over baked and some are just plain bad.

I'd love to know some of your tips and tricks to making the perfect apple pie. I like mine juicy and moist on the inside, usually made with a mix of apples (honey crisp and cortlands are tasty) with a good cinnamon flavor. This time I tried to make a roux and then add the sugar and spices. It was ok... not enough butter.

I had 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1/2 cup sugar, a good share of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and nutmeg, 4 cortlands and 2 honeycrisp apples.

The best tip I received when making a pie was from Bea Viera, to line crust for the first hour of baking with aluminum foil so it doesn't burn. Then remove it for the last 10 minutes or so.

Feel free to post a comment and share some of your great pie-baking and making tips! Doesn't have to be apple pie either. :-)

Chocolate Explosion Cupcakes

Poof! You've just experienced the chocolate explosion cupcake. Made from chocolate cake recipe mixed with chocolate pudding. It's glorious. Fills any chocolate craving you may have. We had a craving. So cupcakes. AND we got skull cupcake holders. I know, you're super duper jealous. Neener neener.

I do have to come clean, I didn't make the frosting. I hate making frosting so I bought the chocolate fudge kind. But honestly - the cupcakes don't need it. I like a really moist light cake, none of that dense dry crap.  These are just that, very moist, very light that they almost fall apart in your hand.

Chocolate Explosion Cupcakes
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package of instant chocolate pudding - made with 1 1/4 cup cold milk
3/4 cup water
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces melted unsweetened  baking chocolate

Mix it all together - yeah, I know you're porbably not supposed to do it that way but I did. Mix it really good and then pour it into fantastic cupcake holders. Pop that into a 350 degree oven for about 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Once they pop out of the oven - they will fall a little bit - that's ok. Make sure you let them cool before you frost.

This is what is gonna happen when you make these cupcakes - all you'll have left over is a bunch of empty skull wrappers.

Homemade Oreos

I did it. I made them. Yep. Sure Did. They were tasty but if I didn't have the patience of a 5 year old kid they could have been better. Oh well. Next time. Right? But maybe you can learn from my experience... needless to say, I'm not a baker but these were pretty easy.

I saw in Fine Cooking that they had posted Joanne Chang's (from Flour Bakery in Boston) recipe here... so I knowing there was a snow storm, I was motivated to bake. I've been taking photos with my phone as I've been cooking - it's much faster and easier but I warn you the photos aren't as delicious looking - so the steps photos are from the phone but the final product photos are not.

Here we go.



Oreo Cookies - from Joanne Chang
Recipe from Fine Cooking

For the cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks/228 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup (200 grams) semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 cups (210 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (90 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp.baking soda

For the vanilla cream filling

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1-2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs. milk
• Pinch of kosher salt

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Got all my ingredients ready to go!!!!

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and granulated sugar until well combined. Whisk in the vanilla and chocolate. Add the egg and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.

In another medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda until well mixed.

Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. The dough will start to seem too floury, and you will find it easiest to switch to mixing it with your hands until it comes together. It will have the consistency of Play-Doh. Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 1 hour to firm up.

YUM... yeah, I stuck my finger there while I was mixing it all together. Wouldn't you? It just looks so tasty!

Transfer the dough to a 15-inch square sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Using your hands, shape the dough into a rough log about 10 inches long and 2-1/2 inches in diameter. Place the log at the edge of the sheet of parchment paper, and roll the parchment around the log. With the log fully encased in parchment, roll it into a smoother log, keeping it at 2-1/2 inches in diameter.

NOTE: I did this but I shorten the time frames and you probably shouldn't do that. The harder the dough is (or colder) the easier it is to work with. I promise. When I make these again, I'm going to make a smaller log - thinner - so the cookies are smaller as well. More cookie to frosting ratio that way. :-)

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until firm. The log may settle and sink a bit in the fridge, so reroll it every 15 minutes or so to maintain a nice round log, if you like. If not, your cookies will be more oblong than round, which is not a bad thing taste-wise, though they won’t look like the famous packaged cookie. (At this point, the dough log can be well wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month. If the dough is frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding.)

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter it.

Cut the dough log into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place the slices about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Check them frequently after 16 or 17 minutes, poking them in the middle. As soon as they feel firm to the touch, remove them from the oven. You can’t judge by color because they start out black. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack to warm or room temperature. They don’t have to cool completely before you fill them, but you can’t fill them while they are hot.

While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a handheld mixer), beat the butter on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until completely smooth and soft. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat until the mixture is perfectly smooth. Add the milk and salt and again beat until smooth. It will look like white spackle and feel about the same—like putty. You can also mix this frosting by hand. Make sure the butter is very soft, and use your hands to mix and knead the confectioners’ sugar into the butter. You should have about 1 cup. (The filling can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Bring to room temperature before using.)

Scoop about 1 rounded tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, bottom side down, then press the cookies together to spread the filling toward the edges. Repeat until all of the cookies are filled.

THEN EAT!

Banana Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Banana Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread