I Went Bananas When I Spoke to You on the Telephone

Last summer, my really good friend Kara moved wayyyy up north to Michigan and lived in an ice cube for a year. She came back to visit in early June and remembered that she liked the south. Two months later, she moved back and is enrolled to go to school this fall and everything.



In other news, I have been on a banana kick lately - eating them with different meals and as snacks, slathered in peanut butter. Keeping this in mind, I went to the store and bought a bag of Ready-to-use bananas for cheap and set to making some banana nut bread. This was good timing for me as Kara was due back in town that very night and bread is always a good gift.



To tie everything together, I made two loaves of Banana-Walnut bread and now I have to find a way to use up the other eight, extremely ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter. Most likely, I will just be making more bread and muffins later on in the week.



I used my standby banana bread recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook that I've been baking out of since I was a kid. In the middle of making this, I realized that cinnamon wasn't listed as an ingredient, which I found quite odd. It's my favorite spice, so I just added it in and the bread tastes delicious as usual.



Banana Nut Bread
Makes 2 loaves

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 to 4 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vinegar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and move oven rack so that tops of pans will be in the center of the oven. Grease 2 loaf pans, 8-inch for taller loaves and 9-inch for shorter ones or grease one 9-inch loaf pan and six muffin cups. Toast nuts if using.

Mix sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat in eggs until well blended. Add the bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix until completely combined.

Then, stir in flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, just until moistened. Fold in nuts, and pour into pans.

Bake for about 45 minutes (for 9-inch pans); I'm not sure how long 8-inch pans would take, so make sure to check at 30 minutes, and be ready to allow for more time.

Cool completely before slicing. To store, wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 4 days or refrigerate for up to 10 days.

Nothing Too Exciting

I made oatmeal-pecan cookies for my grandpa and they weren't that great. I guess that's what I get for straying from my tried-and-true oatmeal cookie recipe.



I won't be making this exact recipe again; it will have to gain something...like charisma. They just didn't have much character to them, honestly. They weren't bad, just boring.



Oatmeal-Pecan Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup chocolate or butterscotch chips
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat butter and both sugars with an electric mixer in a large bowl on medium until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

On low speed, gradually add flour, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt until completely blended. Stir in oats, pecans, and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden.

Snicker Delight

My boyfriend (Andrew/gb) is allergic to milk, so I often have the challenge of trying out new recipes that are dairy-free. Luckily, he can have milk as long as it is baked into something, so that broadens my baking horizons a little bit. I have recently just been substituting soy milk in icings as well and will probably be more soy-dependent in the future.



Anyway, he really enjoys sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, especially his mom's recipe. As I didn't have much experience with cookies that aren't chock-full of nuts and chocolate and such, I've been searching endlessly for a recipe for superb snickerdoodles.



I'm assuming I found the recipe a while ago, because it was just randomly saved onto my computer; if I remember correctly, I found it on a forum somewhere after I had googled "Snickerdoodles" in hopes of finally finding that one recipe. I didn't remember ever having made them, so I decided the other day that I should bake him some cookies.



These were rewarding; they weren't as magnificent as his mother's, but they were pretty darn good. Andrew was pumped about them and promptly devoured three or so when I gave them to him. I added some vanilla to the recipe because it seemed a little to utilitarian to be considered as whimsical as Snickerdoodles should be. I thought about adding a little bit of cream of tartar because I have never actually seen a Snickerdoodle recipe without, but in the end I decided to give it a whirl and they turned out just fine.



Snickerdoodles
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl (I recommend using a fork to combine these more thoroughly). Shape dough into 1 3/4-inch balls; roll in cinnamon -sugar mixture. Space 3 inches apart on greased baking sheets; press each ball down gently with three fingers.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Supercalichocalicious

One of the gifts that I received for my birthday was a book of cookie recipes (Cookies by Jill Snider). It is my favorite kind of cookbook - filled with pictures and alterations and easy-to-read instructions. Plus, lots of the cookies seem to include nuts and oatmeal, both of which I really enjoy in cookies.



The other day, I really had a cookie itch and as I rarely get those and have thousands of books filled with cookie recipes, I decided to finally put one to use. So I went through Cookies and finally settled on a cookie that I already had all the ingredients for onhand and that sounded like they would be quite tasty.



I settled on Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, for obvious reasons. What else can you ask for in a cookie? There are only two things I would change about this recipe if I made it again: I would use extra peanuts and old-fashioned oatmeal.



Speaking of peanut butter, my grandma gave me this really cool device for measuring peanut butter, crisco, and other sticky things that are not particularly enjoyable to clean out of measuring cups. I highly recommend it, but I don't know what it's called.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs'
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate-covered peanuts, chopped (I substituted 1 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and 2/3 cup chopped unsalted peanuts)
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix.

On low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. With a wooden spoon, stir in oats, chocolate (and) peanuts, and cereal.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about two inches apart on cookie sheet. Press flat with a fork dipped in flour (I forgot to do this on the first batch and the second batch, I just pressed it down with my fingers; honestly, I preferred the ones that weren't pressed flat.)

Bake in preheated oven for 11 to 13 minutes or until crisp and golden. Cool for 5 minutes on sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Welcome Home, Coconut!

As I mentioned in my previous post, my grandfather finally came home from being in the hospital for three months on July 9th. So last Saturday, we had a small "Welcome Home" dinner for him and I was able to make him the Coconut Cream pie that I had promised to make back in May when he planned to come home.



I had only made this pie once before as a gift for my boss's mother and I never really received a reply on whether it was any good or not. However, I had tried a little bit of the filling as I was making it and it was delicious, so I decided that the recipe would be good enough for us. I think my favorite part of the recipe was the cream of coconut, which I had never heard of before. Thankfully, my mom knew exactly what it was and helped me find it. If your local Wal-Mart doesn't carry it along with other mixers, you can find it in a Spanish foods section of supermarkets or in a Supermercado.



Because my grandpa currently has steroid-induced diabetes, he was only able to have a small piece. My piece was notably larger and I was extremely full just halfway through it; the pie was much more filling that I would have expected. The freshly-whipped cream on top balances the extreme sweetness of the pie filling, so I definitely wouldn't recommend adding sugar to your whipping cream.



Also, you need to pay attention to the amount of time needed to beat certain combinations; they are crucial to the texture and outcome of this pie.



Easy Coconut Cream Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie

1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup cream of coconut (like Coco Lopez)
1 (3.4-ounce) package cheesecake instant pudding mix
1 cup frozen sweetened flaked coconut, thawed
1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 cup whipping cream
Sweetened flaked coconut, for garnish

If making the crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees; stir together first 3 ingredients; press mixture evenly in bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes, and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat cream cheese and cream of coconut at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add pudding mix, beating until blended. Stir in coconut; fold in whipped topping. Spread cheese mixture evenly into prepared crust; cover and chill 2 hours or until set.

Toast coconut to be used for garnish until light golden-brown in spots. Beat whipping cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, and spread evenly over top of pie. Garnish with toasted coconut and store by covering with Saran wrap and placing in the refrigerator. Eat within a day of making.

Birthday Cake: Sheeit

As many (or few of you) may or may not know, I work at a coffee shop named Iron Horse (IHCC) in the old downtown district of Rogers. July 10th was IHCC's 10th year in business and our boss decided we would give out free cake in celebration; so I volunteered to make a vanilla sheet cake.



The same day I made this cake, my grandpa had also returned home after three months in the hospital, so the decorating was a little rushed, and I ended up getting the colors of the diamonds out of order. (The diamonds are usually red-blue-yellow-green and say "IHCC" inside of them.) I'm told this did not affect the taste.

I had a doctor's appointment on the morning of the tenth after which I went grocery shopping. When I finally had a chance to go by the shop at 4 to get my slice of free cake, it was all gone. Oh well.



I used a basic vanilla buttercream frosting recipe that I found on the Food Network website; it was the first time I had used it and I was really impressed by the simplicity and deliciousness of it. I will definitely be using it again for cupcakes and the like. Just as a note, I did a double recipe, using one recipe as the white frosting and dividing the other half into fourths and coloring them.

Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Makes enough to ice 13x9 sheet

3 cups (or more) confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

If you want to color the frosting, add the food dye one drop at a time, stirring thoroughly between each drop. Be sure not to use too much dye, as this can lead to an unpleasant taste and colored tongue.