Can't Stand the Heat...

... So I have been staying out of the kitchen.

With the crazy hot weather, I have not been doing much baking.  However, I did find a delicious (and super healthy) way to beat the heat while I was melting on the couch the other afternoon.  PB and B shake!

• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1 ripe banana, sliced
• 2 tbs peanut butter
• 2 tbs lite vanilla yogurt (i do this to make it a little thicker)

Put all ingredients into a blender and mix well.

I use this amazing shake as a meal replacement to go along with my workout plan and LOVE it.  It leaves you full while providing protein, unsaturated fat (the kind that is good for you!), and potassium.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

My husband requests "nana bread" almost every week.  I have tried multiple recipes in order to find the perfect banana bread, and this one is the winner.  It is moist and super banana-y, a hit every time.  Sometimes I add chocolate chips or walnuts, it's super easy and super delicious.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (I used 4 medium bananas)

Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly great a 9x5 inch loaf pan
In a  large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt
In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar
Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended
Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just enough to moisten
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan
Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean
Let bread cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack

Enjoy!

Baked Pickle Chips

Happy Friday!

I have a love-hate relationship with fried pickles... I love that they taste so good, but I hate the calories.  Today I tried my hand at a "lighter" baked version.  They turned out really nice, crispy on the outside and pickley goodness on the inside.  Pair with your favorite dipping sauce and you would never know they were baked.

For the Pickles:

• 1 jar pickle slices
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 panko bread crumbs (I used regular)

Turn oven broiler on high

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and flour

Add Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, and pepper

Mix well

Place bread crumbs in a shallow dish

Dunk each pickle slice into the egg mixture, then dredge it in the bread crumbs

Place coated pickles on a rack set above a baking sheet and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

Place pan in the middle rack of the oven

Broil for about 3 minutes on each side

I mixed sour cream and my favorite horseradish for a spicy dipping sauce.  This stuff is crazy hot - if you love a good horseradish, you should try this (Smart and Final).

Enjoy!

Baked Doughnuts

Having a break from school has turned me into even more of a baking addict.  There are so many recipes I have lined up to work through for the next few weeks!  Tonight, baked doughnuts were on the agenda, and I must say... they were DELICIOUS!

To make the Doughnuts

• 1 1/3 cups warm milk
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbs butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt

Place the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer
Stir in the yeast and sugar
Add the butter
Mix the eggs, flour, and salt
Beat the dough with the dough hook attachment for 2-3 minutes at medium speed
Adjust the dough texture by adding flour, a few tbs at a time, or more milk
The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth, but still slightly sticky.  DON'T OVER FLOUR
Knead the dough for a few minutes and then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size

Punch down the dough and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured counter
Using a doughnut cutter or a 2-3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circles in the dough (I improvised)
Carefully transfer the circles to a parchment and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter

Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the doughnuts rise again and bake, they don’t fill in the doughnut hole with the puffiness of the dough
Cover the tray with lightly greased plastic wrap

Let the doughnuts rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled

Bake in a 375 degree F oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 - 10 minutes
Start checking the doughnuts around minute 8
They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes
Top with your favorite toppings!  I used the same chocolate glaze from the cream puffs.

Enjoy!

Cream Puffs w/ Cinnabon Cream Cheese Frosting

Every now and then I get somewhat creative with what I bake - usually I combine multiple recipes in order to make something of my own.  My husband LOVES when I get those bursts of inspiration because he is my guinea pig as to which recipes to keep and which to continue to work on.

Last night I decided to try my hand at Cream Puffs, but since I didn't have any whipping cream for the filling, I used a cream cheese frosting.  I will include the recipe for the original filling; however, the "test group" liked the cream cheese frosting just as much.

To Make the Cream Puffs You Need:

• 5 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Generous 3/4 cup water
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C

Grease a large baking sheet

Sift the flour

Place the butter and water into a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted

Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and immediately add all of the flour, beating well until the mixture leaves the side of the saucepan and forms a ball

Let cool slightly

Beat in enough of the eggs to give the mixture a soft dropping consistency

Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch/1-cm plain tip and pope small balls onto the baking sheet

Bake for 25 minutes

Remove from the oven and pierce each ball with a skewer to let the steam escape

  

A Cream Puff is not complete without the filling, I used a cream cheese frosting for these because I was out of whipping cream - the original cream recipe can be found at the bottom of the page (both are equally deliscous!)

Beat together:

• 1 (3 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt

You can either fill the puffs with your pastry bag or cut them in half and fill.  The cream cheese is a bit dense, so I found cutting them in half worked better.

Since dough of the cream puffs is not very sweet, there is a dark chocolate sauce that can be made to drizzle on top.

To Make the Chocolate Sauce - You Will Need:

• 4 1/2 oz/125 g semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 2 heaping tbsp of butter
• 6 tbsp of water

To make the sauce

Place chocolate, butter, and water in a heatproof bowl
Set the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, and heat until smooth
Once the sauce is done and the cream puffs have been filled, pile the cream puffs into individual serving dishes or into a pyramid on a raised cake stand and pour the sauce over them.

In order to make the original cream filling, whip together:

• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3 tbsp superfine sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Enjoy!

Welcome!

I guess there really is a first time for everything.  From baking to blogging, I never thought I would take part in either.

Growing up, I would always "help" out in the kitchen - which, translates to licking the frosting off of the whisk; however, I was never able to create anything on my own.  This lack of ability lasted until I became a wife 1 year ago.

I am constantly looking for different ideas to try.  From breads to cookies, and everything in between - I make everything from scratch.  While I am not yet creating things completely from my own imagination, I am working on perfecting the classics.

Long story short, I figured this would be a great way to share what we enjoy in our home.  Something easy and delicious that will satisfy either a sweet tooth or a hunger pain.

Enjoy!