Serving Up {Cookies}: Frosted Banana Cookies

Oh my goodness.  I cannot believe that after all this time of blogging these cookies have not been posted.  I have seriously let you down and I offer my sincere apologies!  But the flip side is that once you taste these cookies I know that you will forgive me :)

I love baked banana goods and these little gems taste just like sweet nuggets of banana bread. Which would be good in and of itself, but then we add the frosting!!!  It is a browned sugar frosting and it's deliriously yummy, not to mention it pairs perfectly with the banana flavor.  Who knew?  This may just be your newest favorite frosting!

One Year Ago: Shredded Sweet Pork
                        Cilantro Lime Rice

FROSTED BANANA COOKIES     
(recipe from Kelli S.)
printable version

1 1/2 cups shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. banana extract
4 bananas, mashed
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add eggs, flavorings and bananas; mix well. Add flour, soda and salt. Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Brown Sugar Icing:
6 Tbs. brown sugar
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbs. cream (or canned milk)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add powdered sugar until you reach a desired consistency.

Serving Up {Muffins}: Banana Crunch Muffins

I really ought to turn this post over to my 11 year-old daughter to write because this is her recipe.  That's right.  I have officially handed off the Sunday morning muffins to her and we are both a bit giddy with the arrangement.


I think it is pretty great because...

• I get to take a hot shower while she is slaving over the muffins.
• I don't have to mediate the disagreement over the flavor of muffins.
• She is just so stinkin' cute!

She thinks it is pretty great because...

• she gets to choose what flavor of muffins to make, which means we are eating cupcake-like muffins every week :)  
• she gets to choose what flavor of muffins to make, which means extra "media time" because she has to search for muffin recipes on the internet.
• she gets to choose what flavor of muffins to make, which means she has control that her brothers do not.

This recipe has been our favorite that she has made so far.  I love all things banana (which I know I have said more than once on this blog) but it has a crunchy cinnamon topping that really makes the end product.  So pull out some ripe bananas and find yourself your own 11 year-old to do some yummy baking for you today!

BANANA CRUNCH MUFFINS     Pin It
printable version

1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3 bananas, mashed
¾ cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
⅓ cup butter, melted
⅓ cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. flour
⅛ tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs. butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin liners.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 ½ cup flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 Tbs. flour, and cinnamon. Cut in 1 Tbs. butter until crumbly. Sprinkle cinnamon topping over the top of the muffin batter in the muffin tin.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until they test done with a toothpick.

Serving Up {Cake}: Frosted Banana Bars

Last week I declared my love of all things banana with a recipe for Coconut Banana Muffins.  In staying true to the promise of never ending banana recipes I am sharing this yummy recipe for Frosted Banana Bars - delicious!

Last weekend we hosted a BBQ at our home for a group of adults from church and we had about 50 people in attendance.  Everybody was supposed to bring either a salad or a dessert and I was told that I didn't need to provide either since I was providing the home.  But my husband was aware of one attendee that was celebrating his birthday that night and asked that I make a "cake".  I knew exactly what cake I was going to make until the day of the BBQ when my husband informed me that the cake couldn't be chocolate.  While this recipe isn't truly a "cake", it became my back up (non-chocolate) plan.  I'm so glad that it did.  I love this recipe and only wish I had more reason to host large crowds so that I could make all of my favorite desserts, eat my one deliciously large piece and then be ensured that the rest would be eaten by others and not remain in my own fridge for me to feel obligated to eat!

FROSTED BANANA BARS     
printable version

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mashed banana (approx 3)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 10x15 jelly roll pan. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time and then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt and add to the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another bowl beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Frost cooled bars and enjoy!

Serving Up {Muffins}: Coconut Banana Muffins

I really ought to dedicate a weeks worth of posts just to bananas!  I love banana bread, banana cookies, banana cake, banana bars, banana pancakes, banana muffins and even banana pudding.  Trust me, I have recipes for them all and never tire of any of them.  Stay tuned for more banana recipes to come (hopefully) soon!

In the meantime, this recipe for Coconut Banana Muffins will have to hold you over.  It's a recipe from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) who may just be my very favorite Food Network cook ever - though I hope I don't ever have to actually pick just one.  Her original recipe was for a Banana Crunch muffin and called for nuts and granola.  My adaption of her recipe basically dropped the "crunch" (for the sake of the kids!) and I replaced the butter with coconut oil.  We enjoy muffins each Sunday morning at our house and I frequently add coconut oil and raw coconut to our muffins to boost their nutrition.  This recipe just conveniently started with those ingredients.  These muffins are divine - super moist and the perfect balance of banana to coconut.  A bit of the tropics with each bite!

COCONUT BANANA MUFFINS     

(recipe adapted from The Barefoot Contessa)

printable version

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup coconut oil
2  eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.
Fold the diced bananas and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

Serving Up {Pudding}: Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

This is a recipe that I got from my sister-in-law long before I saw a variation of it from Paula Deen.  But trust me, my sister-in-law and Paula Deen are both sources that I trust completely when it comes to recipes for just about anything!  Take my word for it!

What I want to know is why I never thought of adding sweetened condensed milk, and cream cheese for that matter, to my pudding before.  It's brilliant!  Seriously you could skip the cookies and the bananas altogether and just serve the most delightfully delicious pudding you've ever imagined.  But the cookies are cute and the bananas are healthy (hee hee) so go ahead and keep them along for the ride.

NOT YO' MAMA'S BANANA PUDDING     

(recipe from Neesha W.)

printable version

2 bags shortbread cookies (Lorna Dune)

6 bananas, sliced

2 cups milk

1 5-ounce box vanilla instant pudding

1 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 12-ounce cool whip topping

Line a 9x13 pan with one bag of cookies and layer the sliced bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding and blend well.

In another bowl blend the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth.  Add the pudding and then fold in the whipped topping until all are combined.

Pour the pudding mixture over the cookies and bananas.  Top with remaining cookies.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serving Up {Breakfast}: Chunky Monkey Pancakes

I admit that we eat breakfast foods at our house frequently for dinner.  I love breakfast foods, but at times it's hard to find time in the hectic morning routine to try out new (often complicated) breakfast recipes. That and, well let's admit it, kids like breakfast foods. Try out a new dinner entree and everyone complains! Try out a new pancake variation and they line up with plates in hand.

This recipe was truly stumbled upon in error. I had made a menu list for three weeks out and bought all the ingredients. In my hurry to prepare dinner one night I glanced at my list and saw "Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Waffles" written.  But somehow between reading the menu and getting to my computer to find the recipe it had become "Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes". I didn't even realize my mistake until halfway through making the pancakes when I couldn't figure out why I had bought chunky peanut butter when the recipe I was making didn't even call for chunky peanut butter. (The waffles do call for for chunky peanut butter and can be found here).  It turned out to be a lucky error for us because these were really good. Make that REEAALLYY good!

CHUNKY MONKEY PANCAKES     Pin It

{Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Syrup}
(Recipe from Our Best Bites)
printable version

1 1/2 cup flour
3 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (buy the real stuff - SO much better)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. canola oil
1 egg
2 small-med ripe bananas
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (or regular chips roughly chopped)
Cooking Spray or butter for pan

1 C maple syrup
1/2 C peanut butter

Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until moistened and combined. Place bananas in a bowl and roughly mash with a fork. Fold into batter. Add the chocolate chips and stir.

For syrup, heat peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add maple syrup and gently whisk to combine. Heat in the microwave for another 30 seconds, whisk, and then set aside.

Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet to medium heat. Coat pan with little butter and then pour on pancake batter. Wait until bubbles form and edges are set and then flip.

Reheat syrup if necessary and pour over warm pancakes.

Serving Up {Bread}: Grandma's Banana Bread

When I set out to start blogging my many recipes, I really wanted to remember the history behind some of my recipes.  This is one such recipe.  This is my grandmother's recipe for banana bread.  I don't have any one specific memory associated with my grandmother and this bread, but something about knowing it was her recipe has made this a cherished possession of mine.  She passed away shortly after I married and as I began my married life, I wished that I had thought to get more of her recipes.  It's a sad thought to think that those are lost forever.  So here is an encouragement to call up a family member and ask them for a recipe for something that they make that you love.  It's a little piece of them that you will have forever.

Onto the recipe.  I really like anything banana - bread, muffins, cakes, cookies.  I have recipes for them all.  Of all the recipes I've made, this is the only one that I have ever come across that has you dissolve baking soda in hot water before adding it to the ingredients.  I failed chemistry (okay, I got a B) so I have no idea what that step does, but for as moist as this banana bread is, I have never dared to do it any way other than directed.  Let me know if you agree. 

GRANDMA'S BANANA BREAD     Pin It

(recipe from Grandma Wright)
printable version

1/3 cup shortening (I use butter, but the shortening was my grandma!)
1 cup sugar (I frequently reduce it by 1/3 cup with no noticeable difference)
1 egg
3 bananas, well ripened and mashed
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1/3 cup boiling water

Cream butter and sugar together until well mixed.  Add egg and banana and continue to mix.  Add flour and salt and mix until well combined.  Add the soda dissolved in boiling water LAST.  Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour - test it with a toothpick at 55 minutes.
Cool completely and store in the fridge.