Lovin' From the Oven

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Banana Bread

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You either fall in the “love pumpkin” or “hate pumpkin” category. I never cared for it growing up (do any Asian households even eat pumpkin?!), but you can definitely count me in the first group now. Since one can of pumpkin is enough for two recipes, you bet that there will be more pumpkin coming your way.

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I baked these mini loaves and sent them to work with my DH. Thank goodness for co-workers! They’re the best at making more kitchen counter space. Since I’ve been working from home, I don’t have any co-workers to give these to. Sorry, DH. You’re just gonna have to take things to work for… forever. Hah.
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Pregnancy wise, I’m just over the half way mark! Can you believe it?! It seriously flew by. I’m 21 weeks tomorrow and finally starting to show. Every time I walk by my reflection, I have to do a double take because that baby bump throws me off. Is that really me? It’s crazy.

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We got this dish as a wedding present from one of our friends. It came straight from France and is the most beautiful plate in my cabinet! The colors and detail are a stunning presentation for this banana bread.

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Sprouts helped me kick off the pumpkin season with a wonderful package that they sent me. I went straight to the kitchen with a can full of pumpkin and turned it into this chocolate chip pumpkin banana bread. Yum! It’s the first pumpkin recipe for this year and it was a winner. Thank you Marla Meridith for the recipe!

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Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Banan Bread

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) room temperature
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 3 very ripe bananas
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips + 1/3 cup for topping
  • cinnamon/sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray a (8X4 or 9X5) loaf pan (I used 4 small pans).
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, pumpkin, banana, and vanilla.
  3. Gradually stir in the flour, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice until just combined.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and mix again.
  5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top with the extra 1/3 cup chocolate chips and cinnamon/sugar mix, if using.
  6. Bake uncovered for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (I baked my 4 small pans for 33 minutes)
https://lovintheoven.com/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-banana-bread/

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I woke up way too early this morning. 4:30 AM, to be exact. Actually, I don’t even have a day to sleep in this week. Womp womp, welcome to adulthood. I’m usually a morning person, but today was rough! I’m currently sipping on some decaf coffee hoping that’ll warm me in this freezing hospital.

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My DH went in for a microdiscectomy this morning and I’m killing time waiting for him to come out. He had a herniated disc that was causing him a lot of pain. Not only that, but it grew 50% in the last couple of months, which was extremely alarming to the doctor because of his age. IMG_4230

It’s a fairly minor surgery, but it’s still nerve wracking not knowing what’s going on. So let’s talk about cookies instead to put my mind at ease.

Here’s another chocolate chip recipe for you. I know I have a couple on my site, but I’m always up for trying new recipes. This one had a lot of reviews on All Recipes, so I thought I’d give it a try. IMG_4232

Although these cookies are good (not to mention they baked beautifully), it’s not as good as my favorite chocolate chip cookies. They can’t all be the winner.

From AllRecipes

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Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Cream together the butter and both sugars. Beat in the instant pudding mix. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
  3. Gradually mix in the flour and baking soda. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using.
  4. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
  5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
https://lovintheoven.com/award-winning-soft-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Coffee Ice Cream Float

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You guys know how much I love my Nespresso VertuoLine machine, right (and it’s on sale right now for $199!)? It makes coffee for me and espresso for my DH with the touch of a button. It’s just a tad too hot for me to drink coffee these days, so I decided to add a little spin and make it cold! It’s quite simple, really.IMG_7569   All you do is brew a cup, stick it in the fridge, and voi-la! You’re done! If you’re me, though, you know that’s not enough. Three scoops of ice cream should do it.IMG_7584

Yup, that’s good. Reallllllll good. IMG_7586

Mix it up with your straw and you’ll get that frothy goodness on top.IMG_7613There’s nine different coffee flavors and four different espresso flavors to choose from, so don’t let my flavor choice stop you. Mix it up with different coffee and ice cream flavors!

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Coffee Ice Cream Float

Ingredients

  • 1 Vanizio pod
  • 3 scoops of coffee chocolate chip ice cream

Directions

  1. Brew your vanizio pod in the Nespresso Vertuoline machine. Refrigerate your cup for at least an hour.
  2. Once the coffee is cold, remove from the fridge and put in the three scoops of ice cream.
  3. Enjoy!
https://lovintheoven.com/coffee-ice-cream-float/

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