Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I have become a Pinterest Addict! It's nuts! Friends ask me to find stuff on there for them, Yes, it is THAT bad! 

So I ended up with a few extra ripe bananas today and am worn out from banana waffles, banana pancakes, and banana bread. I remembered a few weeks ago I pinned a banana cookie recipe.... PERFECT! 

This evening, I found my Pin, and have mixed up a batch of these! 


Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.  Place butter and sugars into a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low.  Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined.   Mix in banana.  Add flour and mix until just combined.  Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or cookie scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets spacing about 2 inches apart.  Bake cookies until golden brown and just set, about 12 to 13 minutes.


Here we go! 

Using my cookie scoop! I think I need to acquire a smaller one... these cookies are pretty large! 

They smell amazing!

They are very cakey - and certainly too big, 29 cookies was the whole batch... Whoopsie! :o)

Mini Brownie Bites

I found this idea through Pinterest and with my upcoming wedding and Dessert Bar to fill up... I had to try it.

It calls for your regular brownie mix - I did the 'cake like' recipe.

the only difference is the pinterest pin said to preheat to 325 degrees.

Once mixed, I placed a quart sized bag into a soup mug, and poured my batter in. This made it super easy to pipe my batter into the lightly greased mini muffin pans.

I cut a fairly small sized hole in the corner of the bag so I could easily control how much went in the pan, and filled up two pans. 

Probably because I baked both at the same time, it took about 12 minutes for mine to fully cook. (The tooth pick came out clean test)

They smell fantastic!!!!

Now came the tricky part.... getting them OUT of the pan.... I found that a plastic fork worked best... poke all around then swirl around (all with the fork) and it should pop out. 

I then used this recipe to make a half batch butter-cream frosting (tried to tint it blueish...) and tried some blue sprinkles on some... not sure what I think yet... but the half batch more than covered the full batch of brownie bites.

  all in all- success and will be made for the Dessert Bar at the wedding! :o)

Ranch Chicken

Ranch Chicken, Brown Rice, and Stir Fry'd  Fresh Snow Peas

I got to make a nice dinner last night for Adam and myself. I did Fresh home grown snow peas, ranch marinated chicken, and brown rice. Adam seemed to really enjoy it!

The Rice was according to the 10 minute - boil in the bag directions.

The Snow Peas, the ends were trimmed, they were washed well, and then drained. I 'stir fry'd them in a skillet with some soy sauce for 5 minutes or so or until they started to soften.

The Chicken, I diced the Chicken breast cutlets into small less than 1 inch pieces. I then threw them in a zipper bag with Extra Virgin Olive, Ranch Dressing Mix (the powder), Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper. I then sealed and massaged the bag to mix and incorporate the mixture and the chicken. I let this sit in the fridge for half an hour (I imagine any amount of time will do)  I then dumped all of the contents into the skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Stir and cook until done.

Plate and enjoy!

Flavor of the week: Creamy Raspberry

So this week's ice cream flavor - Raspberry.  It turned out VERY well. A perfect balance of the tartness of the raspberries, creams, and sugar. Very nice tang to it.

My modified version of the recipe:

Ingredients
   -24 ounces frozen raspberries
   -2 cups whipping cream
   -1 cup half-and-half cream
   -1 cup sugar
   -2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions: Place thawed raspberries in a food processor or blender; cover and process until puree consistency. pour puree into a fine strainer (wire mesh) over a bowl and stir until the puree strains through leaving the seeds behind. Next, combine all ingredients, and pour into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

Banana Ice Cream

So Adam got me the Ice cream maker attachment for my kitchen-aid mixer as a birthday present. So for my birthday we made Food Network's Alton Brown vanilla ice cream recipe for the family get together.


This week, I researched various types and flavors of ice cream to make for our next test batch. I ended up settling on Banana. Adam had gotten a banana milkshake a few weeks ago so I knew he'd like it.


It made up in the ice cream maker quickly, however took its time setting up in the freezer. However, it tastes amazing and was a wonderfully delicious idea!  :o)


This is the recipe I used:


Banana Ice Cream

2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup purée bananas
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

In a saucepan, combine the milk, cream, eggs, sugar and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Refrigerate the mixture until cool. Combine the cooled custard with the bananas, vanilla and nutmeg. Pour into freezer container. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Balls

So I got creative.... took the regular Kellogg recipe, added about 1/2 a cup of Peanut Butter, and mixed them up. I then (w/gloved hands) rolled small amounts into bite sized balls, and put on wax paper on a cookie sheet. I then stuck that in the freezer for about an hour. (I took this time to clean up a little) I then melted milk chocolate chips and dipped each halfway into the melted chocolate then set on a cookie rack that is covered in wax paper. Let cool, and store in the fridge.

Something to Try - Monkey Bread

When I was a kindergarten TA, one of my students brought me her version of Monkey Bread. Now, as a central PA resident, I knew of the Grange Fair Monkey Bread. So I was intrigued. So I asked for the recipe and tried it. I don't remember how it turned out... I remember there being a PILE of it. 

I came across this recipe today and thought.... I should try that again. So I am posting this and hope to try this soon... I plan to get the ingredients tonight on my grocery run!

Monkey Bread I    

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 35 Minutes  Ready In: 1 Hour

Servings: 15

"Refrigerated biscuits with cinnamon bake in a tube pan. My 7 year old daughter, Leah, loves her Monkey Bread. Enjoy!"

INGREDIENTS:

3 (12 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/2 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube/Bundt® pan.

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan. If using nuts and raisins, arrange them in and among the biscuit pieces as you go along.

3. In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! The bread just pulls apart.