Lovin' From the Oven

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

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Eeeeeep! I just needed a little motivation to get off my butt and start baking again and you guys did just that. Thanks for all the emails/comments that I’ve been getting recently! It shows that I still had visitors even though I didn’t update for a month. 🙁

I actually had a free night for once in my life and found the time to get the oven going. There were three overly ripe bananas hanging in my kitchen, so it wasn’t hard figuring out what to make. I adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com and halved it. I can’t rave about this recipe enough! It definitely deserves the 5 stars it got on allrecipe. The bread is so moist and flavorful. The chocolate chips accent the banana perfectly. You’ve gottta give this a shot, it’s so easy to make, too! I also used smaller loaf pans, so I kept my eye on the baking time and took it out about 5 minutes earlier than what the original recipe says. Lastly, I replaced the mayo with milk because 1. mayo’s gross (no offense), 2. I didn’t even have mayo on hand, and 3. it’s healthier! The original version of the recipe can be found HERE. My changes are as follows:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease loaf pans.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg, beating well. Stir in the milk and bananas. Stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Blend the flour mixture into the banana mixture; stir just enough to evenly combine. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool loaf in the pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake

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So with all my free time lately, I decided to re-watch Battlestar Galactica, starting with season 1. It’s just that good. Don’t judge me until you’ve seen it! It may be totally nerdy, but it’s amazing.

I went on my first beach trip of the summer yesterday and decided to bake some goods to take along in my “new” picnic basket. I’ve been hunting for a picnic basket for a year, but didn’t want to spend the 100 bucks on it (seriously, they’re THAT expensive for a good one!). I finally found one at a garage sale.. brand new with tags! The real bang is that I got it for 2 whole bucks! I guess the phrase “someone’s trash is another one’s treasure” really is true.

This coffee cake is perfect. It’s ridiculously moist and just delicious in every way. Everyone that tried it loved it and even came back for seconds. I got it from Cooking Dunkin Style and you can find the recipe HERE. I sprinkled some raw sugar on it afterwards, which is always a good idea to me 🙂 I also used cookie cutters to cut it into fun shapes.

  • 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup milk, I used 2%

Topping

  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 tbl butter

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2.) Mix flour, baking powder and salt on waxed paper.
3.) Cream softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, beat in the egg.
4.) Place blueberries in a small bowl, dust with a small amount of the flour mixture. Toss to coat.
5.) Add the remaining flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, mixing continually
6.) Gently fold blueberries into batter.
7.) For the topping, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon (Ginger if you wish) in a small bowl, cut in butter until crumbly.
8.) Spread batter into a greased 8 inch square baking dish.
9.) Sprinkle topping over batter.
10.) Bake for 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

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I know, I know.. another recipe from Dorie?! I just couldn’t help it. Her book is too good, how can you resist? I’ve always been intrigued of baking with sour cream… it always produces the moistest cakes! I would have never thought of using sour cream in baking; it just seems so contradictory. But who am I kidding, with all these bacon related desserts popping up, I’m really beginning to second guess myself.

This recipe was perfect (except that I pulled it out of the pan a little bit early and the top fell apart, hence no picture of the complete product). It was light, fluffy, moist, and flavorful. I loved how the sugar mixture hardened a bit and had a bit of a crunch. The nuts were a nice touch, but I would probably leave them out next time because I’m not that big of a fan of nuts. I would probably leave the chocolate pieces out, too, because I’m a simple kinda girl. It would actually taste like the cinnamon crumb coffee cake from Starbucks. Delish!

Now you must be wondering, “where’s the recipe”?! I’m sorry to say that I’m not posting this recipe because I’ve already posted one from her, and I really think you should buy her book! This recipe is found on page 182 of Baking: From my Home to Yours. Trust me, it’s really worth it. If there’s only one book you buy this year, make it this one!

I’ll be out for the next couple days since I’m getting my wisdom teeth pulled out tomorrow at 11AM. 🙁 I’m actually kind of nervous about being knocked out, since I have never been knocked out in my entire life. Any words of advice? My meals for the next couple of days will consist of yogurt and smoothies. Wonderful!

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