Banana Muffins

Don't let those over-ripe bananas go to waste!

Okay, here it is... The banana muffins recipe! It's a basic banana bread recipe that I add a streusel topping to. I like making muffins instead of a loaf because they cook faster and evenly. By the way, this is a lot of batter - it made 30 muffins so use a big mixing bowl.

Muffin ingredients:
5 super ripe bananas
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Streusel ingredients:
1/4 cup butter at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Streusel directions:
- Using electric-mixer, beat butter until creamy. Mix in granulated and brown sugar.
- Add flour and cinnamon until well blended. Mix will be crumbly.
- Set aside

Muffin directions:
- Preheat oven to 315 degrees
- Mash bananas then mix in eggs. Using a electric-mixer, mix in vanilla, shortening, applesauce, granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Sift flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to batter. (I mixed it until it was super smooth)
- Fold in pecans/walnuts
- Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full of batter
- Sprinkle each cup with streusel, covering the entire top of muffin (I liked the ones that were totally covered, see picture below. The ones above were lightly sprinkled)

- Bake for 30-35 minutes. Insert toothpick to check for doneness (it should be clean when removed from middle of muffin)

Strawberry Tarts

Bite-size strawberry tarts served with chocolate dipped strawberries

I found the easiest fruit tart recipe ever from Paula Deen! I tested it on my cousins, and even though they weren't pretty the first time, they loved them. Instead using an assortment of fruit, I opted for strawberries with a strawberry glaze. I also made them bite-size by baking them in mini-cupcake lined (to give that tart pan crease effect) mini muffin pans. This recipe will make about 24 bite-size tarts or one regular tart.

Crust ingredients:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and sliced

Filling ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fresh strawberry slices

Strawberry glaze ingredients:
2 tbs and 2 tsp white sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon strawberry flavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- For crust: Combine crust ingredients in a food processor (I used my mixer) until it forms a dough. Press the dough into a tart pan or into lined mini-muffin pans. Bake until light golden brown (For mini, I baked for about 8-10 minutes). Set aside to cool.
- For filling: Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over cooled crust (I piped it in). Top with strawberry slices.

- For glaze: Combine ingredients and boil for one minute then remove from heat. I painted the glaze onto my strawberry slices. If you make a large tart, you can also toss the strawberries in the glaze then place on the tart.

All packed up for Sheila's baby shower!
Tip: Save your plastic containers for transporting goodies. This one was from Costco's bbq ribs



Enjoy!

Apple Turnovers

I made Apple Turnovers with crescent roll dough which turned out yummy, warm and comforting. It also made the house smell so good =)
BUT, here is an early disclaimer: I threw this all together so there aren't any real measurements. BUT, I honestly don't think you can mess this up. Cinnamon and sugar complement the apple so well that you just can't go wrong!


Crescent roll dough is awesome and versatile. I'm sure many of you have used it to make pigs-in-a-blanket, wrapping little smokies or vienna sausages with crescent roll dough for appetizers. Some of you probably even add cheese to make it fancy, haha! But have you ever tried to use it for dessert? I did that this evening, and it turned out sooooo good! It's already got me thinking about what else I can make with this amazing stuff.

Ingredients:
(I'm giving you the ingredients I used this evening, but you can change it up depending on the size of your apple(s) and taste)

• 8 oz. can refrigerated crescent rolls (I used reduced fat. You gotta reduce it where you can!)
  
• 1 medium fuji apple diced
  
• little less than a 1/4C sugar
  
• ground cinnamon (start with a little and work more in to taste. Sorry, I wasn't measuring)
  
• 1 tbsp flour
  
• 1 tbsp butter

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  
• Mix diced apple, sugar, cinnamon and flour in a bowl
  
• In a small pan, melt butter under low to medium heat; Add apple mixture and saute until apples are tender (You can skip this and add the mixture directly to your dough, but I like my apples a bit more tender. The dough bakes pretty quickly, and I didn't want to burn the dough waiting for my apples to have the right consistency. Again, it all depends on your taste); Remove from heat
  
• Separate the crescent roll dough into 8 triangles; Fill each triangle with about a tablespoon of the apple mixture and fold the dough over to create a smaller triangle; Keep at least an inch of space between each turnover
  
• Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown

While they were baking, I made a quick glaze with powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract which you can find in the Raspberry Thumbprints. I did scale it down since this would need much glaze.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

One of my favoritest cakes is carrot, but being pressed for time, I haven't had the opportunity to bake one from scratch. I found this recipe from Duncan Hines using their Decadent Carrot Cake mix to satisfy my carrot cake craving. It's a carrot cake cookie that was more like a muffin top (even better!). I topped it with a simple cream cheese frosting recipe from Martha Stewart. And let me tell you, the frosting alone is eat-from-the-spoon deelish!

The great thing about the mix is that it includes dehydrated carrot shreds and raisins. Since I dislike raisins, I removed them before hydrating the carrots. It was an interesting dough that was more like a very thick batter. A small cookie scoop would come in very handy since it's also a very sticky dough.

Carrot Cake Cookie
Ingredients:

• 1 box Duncan Hines Classic Carrot Decadent Cake Mix
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
  
• 1 cup hot tap water (used to hydrate carrots and raisins)
  
• 1 cup oatmeal
  
• 1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°
  
• Hydrate the carrots and raisins in 1 cup hot tap water; Allow to hydrate for a minimum of 5 minutes; Drain and squeeze out excess water.
  
  
• Beat butter and cake mix, add the two eggs; Add drained carrots and raisins to batter; Mix in the 1 cup of oatmeal and nuts
  
  
• Spoon heaping teaspoons of batter onto lightly greased cookie sheets; Press batter out slightly with back of spoon(cookies do not spread)
  
  
• Bake for 12 minutes at 350°
  
• Cool on cookie sheets and then transfer to wire rack and allow to cool completely
  
• Frost cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
  
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you ever had the pleasure of eating an Oatmeal Chipper cookie from Paradise Bakery? It was my sweet indulgence when I worked at the Great Mall while going to SJSU. I haven't found a recipe that comes close (they must put some secret ingredient in there!), but here's one that still satisfies the sweet tooth. And you can claim it's healthy since there's oatmeal in there!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
  
• 1 cup sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  

Directions:

• Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat in eggs and vanilla
  
• Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture.
• Stir in oats and chocolate chips
  
• Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 11-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

I found that these cookies tasted even better the more they sat. Days later, they were super tastier than when I baked them =). This dough also made about 48 cookies - it was a lot of dough!

I now understand why people pay just a smidge more for the bigger mixer. I had to mix the oatmeal and chips in by hand because it was too much dough for my mixer. But lookie here! I had one of my little helpers in cow pj's to ease the burden!

Dirty Snowballs

My niece Bianca gave me this easy-peazy boxed cake mix cookie recipe. She was right when she raved about how pretty they looked with their cracked topping, but she didn't push how super scrumptious they would be! The first dozen I baked were gone from the cooling rack immediately! Ben's mom and grandmother each had two and loved them. Reese said they tasted like brownie cookies... mmmmmmmm

Ingredients:
- Box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil's Food Cake Mix
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- Small bowl of sugar (to roll cookie dough in)

Directions:
* You will not be following box instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Pour cake mix, oil, vanilla extract and eggs into mixing bowl. Mix until dough forms

- Shape dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar. Place dough on ungreased cookie sheet (I line all my cookie sheets with parchment paper)

- Bake for 8-10 minutes (I baked some smaller portions since they were disappearing, which took 8 minutes).
- Allow to cool, but my family ate them before they could =)

Enjoy with a glass of milk!

Pretzel Turtles

OH EM GEE! Ben's cousin Margie introduced me to this delectable sweet treat on Christmas. I can't believe how easy they are to make. I just love the sweet/salty combination. I brought some to the Yamat Christmas celebration, and some family members couldn't place the chewiness of the caramel - but what a winner!

Ingredients:
- package of rolos
- package of small pretzels
- package of pecan halves

Directions:
- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- unwrap rolos
- place pretzels on parchment or foil lined cookie sheet
- place a rolo on top of each pretzel
- bake for 2-3 minutes or until rolo is soft (but not totally melted)
- remove from oven and gently press a pecan half on top of each rolo
- allow to cool and set

It's crazy how divine these are! Another easy crowd pleaser!

Raspberry Thumbprints

I decided to try this recipe to bring to the Mendaros Christmas Celebration. My sister-in-law ended up eating a bunch of them after they cooled! It's such a simple butter cookie recipe but super fabulous!

It was titled "Raspberry Ribbons" since they are made to be long finger shaped cookies, but I found that it was easier to make them into individual cookies versus shaping and cutting the dough.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam

Glaze Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup confectioners'sugar
- 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
- Roll dough into 1" balls and line on baking sheet about 1 to 1.5 inches apart. Press your thumb in the center of each cookie creating a well. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and fill depressions with jam. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes. Place on colling racks.
- In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients until smooth. Add additional evaporated milk to thin glaze as needed. Drizzle over warm cookies. (I actually divided the glaze ingredients in half).

I guarantee that they will disappear!

Cake Bites

Photo by Ben's cousin Jasmine G.

Merry Christmas! My gift to you is my favoritest "almost home-made" super easy decadent and fabulous looking cake bites!

It's exactly just that, a cake bite. A pefectly sized tasty morsel of cake, frosting, and candy coating. It's the lazy version of Bakerella's cake pops.

Ingredients:
- Box cake mix (and ingredients as directed)
- Cannister of vanilla frosting
- Packages of chocolate and vanilla Wilton candy melts (can be found at Michael's Craft store and Joanne Fabrics) or Almond Bark (can be found in baking aisle)
- Sprinkles

Directions:
- Bake cake as directed. Once cake is cool, crumble cake until fine.
- Mix about 1/3 to 1/2 of the frosting until the cake has a doughlike consistence (start with less rather than more since some cakes are more moist than others)
- Form "cake dough" into 1" balls and place on wax paper lined tray. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Melt candy melts as directed (I usually do it by microwavie - ultimate laziness)
- Dip balls into melted candy and make sure that it is thoroughly covered. Tap off excess and place on wax paper to set.
- If using sprinkles, add them right after dipping so that they stick on.
- Drizzle vanilla candy melts on the plain ones (I place a few vanilla candy melt pellets in a plastic ziplock, melt in the microwave, cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag, and drizzle over the cake bite in a zig-zag pattern).




Cakepop variation:
- Dip lollipop stick tip in melted chocolate then insert into cakeball
- Gently dip and roll cakepop in melted chocolate, tap off excess
- If adding sprinkles, add immediately
- Place cakepop on plastic wrapped styrofoam to set

My favorite cake/candy melt combinations are chocolate devils food cake with milk chocolate candy melts and lemon cake with vanilla candy melts.

This is such an easy and fun process, and the results are pretty. I'm so craving a chocolate one with a cup of coffee now... ;)

Scotch Kisses

I found this online in my search for a recipe for See's Scotch Kisses. The consistency of my caramel didn't turn out well because I was missing a candy thermometer which has significantly higher temperatures markings than your typical meat thermometer. Candy making is a science! Sugar consistency changes at diffrent temperatures hence the need for a candy/sugar thermometer.

The caramel taste was still divine! I really enjoyed the flavor of the nutmeg in the caramel, but Ben and the kids didn't care for it saying that it was "too spicy." I will definitely attempt this recipe again as well as homemade marshmallows next time! mmmmmmmmm

Vanilla Nutmeg Caramels
Ingredients:
1 cup golden syrup
2 cups sugar
3/8 tsp fine sea salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 TBSP plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened

Directions:
- Combine the golden syrup, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash the sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. Uncover the pan and wash down the sides once more.
- Attach the candy thermometer to the pan, without letting it touch the bottom of the pan, and cook, uncovered (without stirring) until the mixture reaches 305°F.
- Meanwhile, combine the cream and nutmeg in a small saucepan and heat until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the cream hot.
- When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F, turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Gradually stir in the hot cream; it will bubble up and steam dramatically, so be careful. Turn the burner back on and adjust it so that the mixture boils energetically but not violently. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, to about 245°F. Then cook, stirring constantly, to 260°F for soft, chewy caramels or 265°F; for firmer chewy caramels.

Scotch Kisses
Directions:
- Cut wax paper into 4×4″ squares.
- Using a pair of clean scissors, cut marshmallows into 1/2″-1″ pieces
- Using a spoon, scoop about a tablespoon of caramel. Place in the top-center of the wax paper.
- Spread the caramel on the wax paper, so it is flattened and reaches from almost the top of the wax paper to between a third and half of the way down. There should be at least an inch of uncovered paper on each side of the caramel.
- Place a piece of marshmallow in the center of the caramel.
- Tightly roll the paper toward you, so the caramel surrounds the marshmallow.
When the paper is completely rolled up, twist each end tightly right next to the caramel (but not too tightly, or the paper will tear).
- Wrapping took a while to get the hang of without the caramel coming out. Definitely a sticky process!

T-Day Treats

I am not a good cook, but my baking skills make up for it! My contribution for this Thanksgiving will be a buffet of sweets which will include one of my all time favorite desserts for the holidays, Pumpkin Crunch Cake*. It's easy and super delicious! I'll admit that it's not the most visually pleasing of my treats, but once someone is brave enough to try it, the word spreads of its yummy goodness, and it disappears! I swear! Unfortunately, I have no pictures at this time but will post after T-Day.

Ingredients:
- (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
- 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt 1
- package yellow cake mix 1 cup chopped pecans (I substitute walnuts since they're less expensive)
- 1 cup margarine, melted 1 (I love butter so I use unsalted sweet cream butter instead)
- container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
- Lightly grease one 9x13 inch baking pan
- In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix well, and spread into the prepared pan
- Sprinkle cake mix over the top of the pumpkin mixture, and pat down
- Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over the cake mix, then drizzle with melted margarine (The drizzle covers the whole top, so it's basically covered in butter)
- Bake for 60 to 80 minutes, or until done
- Top with whipped topping when ready to serve.


*Recipe shared by allrecipes.com