Banana Crumb Muffins

I love being a "foodie" and I am really enjoying getting into the persona. Last night, Justin and I had a quick Dairy Queen run. I got a simple vanilla ice cream cone that was dipped in chocolate. As I was eating it, I realized just how long it had been since I had a simple ice cream cone that I actually ate without a spoon! Ice Cream Shoppes have changed so much-- offering such different things--like Cold Stones (i.e., the ice cream cookie I had last week, and funnel cake!), that sometimes it's nice to enjoy ice cream the old fashion way. I got the hubby a root beer float-- another classic :) After having a late nice ice cream run-- Justin, the hubby and I enjoyed a game night. Justin and the hubby were adorable as they enjoyed a fun night of Mario Kart as Ninja and I just watched.

On a totally different topic: growing up I always had home cooked meals (yes, I love my mommy) even though my mom was a working mom. What she would do is spend either a Saturday or Sunday cooking--ALL day. Well, she has inspired me :) Now that I am married--and hope one day to have children-- I want to be able to provide home cooked meals everyday (and yes--that includes those lovely left over days). But going to school full time and having such a hectic schedule makes it difficult. So, I stole a piece from my mom's book- and decided to cook ALL day today! Well not technically all day-- I cooked all day and stopped when the sun went down because I photograph all my food with natural lighting. And well there is no point cooking if I cannot blog about it, right?! ;)

I really need to start learning other things to make for the hubby's breakfast other than muffins, but until then, for this week his breakfast is banana muffins with a brown sugar-cinnamon streusel (crumb). These muffins came out really well! They looked and smelled amazing-- and since the hubby is the taste tester- he said it tasted awesome and he really enjoyed the crumb:) He said these muffins tasted like banana bread topped with a sweet, crunchy topping.

BANANA CRUMB MUFFINS

Adapted from Lovin' the Oven

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 375F Degrees

FOR THE MUFFINS

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

3 large bananas, sliced into medallions

3/4 c. sugar

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c. butter, melted 

FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING

3 tsbp. all purpose flour

1/3 packed brown sugar, light

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. butter, softened

DIRECTIONS

For the Muffins:

Set up by lining muffin trays with liners or grease each muffin well. Then in a medium bowl whisk together flour and baking soda- set aside. In the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix bananas starting on low speed until slightly mashed and then increase speed to thoroughly mash bananas- until "liquidy." Then add sugar, egg, and melted butter and combine well. Next slowly stir in dry ingredients until just well incorporated. Evenly distribute batter among 11 muffin wells, filling 2/3 of the way full. 

For the Crumble:

Whisk together flour, brown sugar and cinnamon  Then cut butter into mixture (I cut the butter into the mixture and then used my fingers to combine well)- until the mixture resembles a corn meal or sand like texture. Completely cover each muffin with crumble. Bake for 18-20 minutes- until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy,

Chika

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

This was just too funny not to share. I think I was summed up nicely in this e-card :) Hahaha...do not get me wrong. The hubby and I would LOVE to have kids someday. But for right now we have Ninja, our baby-- and I cannot lie- I think he is pretty darn awesome. I mean, isn't it obvious. I post about him way too often ;) I stumbled upon this e-card in my addicted scrolling through of Pinterest. 

The hubby and I moved into our first place together, a cute little two-bedroom apartment, back in September! And I still have not decorated it. Now that I have time to search for color palates and designs- I think I have settled on two that I like. I really like the coral and gold palate for the guest bedroom, because I am not sure how much the hubby would like coming home to a master bedroom that in "pink" (yes, coral, but to hubby pink :). For the master bedroom I was thinking of the grey and yellow color palate with antique designs. I am still debating about this because the master bath's color palate is the same- and I am not sure if that is too matchy matchy. Make sense? I really like the "hotel white"" look but let's be honest- with Ninja that is just not happening!

And although I have furniture for the living room- I am thinking of going with a light peacock theme since its become very sentimental for the hubby and I since the wedding. Just accents- like throw pillows and wall art. And just maybe, a decorative chair. We shall see. Also my kitchen is tiny-- so I might get some bookshelves to increase my storage. Any suggestions?! I would LOVE to hear them. 

Well- for Christmas Eve, I just had to make something in the spirit of the holidays and one of the desserts that come to mind are sweet breads. And for me I thought of banana bread. :) 

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BANANA 

Adapted from Cookies & Cups

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven 350F Degrees

4 very ripe bananas, cut into pieces

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/4 c. melted butter

1 egg

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sat

1/2 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. peanut butter chips

DIRECTIONS

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine bananas, peanut butter, butter, egg, and sugars. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Combine with wet ingredients. There will be chunks-- do not over mix-- until just incorporate. Then add chocolate and peanut butter chips. Again, do not over stir.

Grease bread loaf pan (8x4) with shortening. Spread batter evening in pan and bake for 1 hour or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Note: After an hour, the toothpick did not come out clean, but do not bake for additional time. Instead, let it sit in the hot loaf pan-- and it will continue cooking. Otherwise, you will overcook and burn the edges of the loaf. 

Enjoy,

Chika 

Stephanie Cookies

Before I begin- I realized that I never shared anything about my friends in the "About Me" section of this blog. I actually have two best friends, Paulina and Stephanie, who I have been friends with since I was 14 years old (or for the past 12 years). They are like sisters to me and I could not imagine my life without them. With that tangent, I have one more- Paulina recently got engaged (and I realized that I never shared the news)!

Stephanie recently visited my blog and asked that I make something with banana and chocolate becuase she really enjoys that combination (hence the name). One day on Pinterest I saw a recipe for banana and nutella cookies and thought I would try them out for Stephanie. I am not a huge fan of banana in food (though I do enjoy some banana bread). These cookies were similar to cicular pieces of banana bread than cookies. The hubster who liked banana really enjoyed them, and so I thought my reservations are probably due to the fact that they "banana-ey." But be forwarned- on the many things made by For the Love of Dessert- I am not sure this is topping the list.

Fun Fact: baking at room temperature. Some recipes will out right state that ingredients must be at room temperature but most recipes do not. So why room temperature. Well remember when I gave a tip about creaming butter and sugar? Well the creaming process, or sugar aerating the butter cannot occur if the butter is not a room tempertuare. This will allow the mixture to become porous so when adding baking soda/powder, it can fills these pours, helping the baked good to be light and fluffy. In addition, you want your wet ingredients (eggs/milk, etc) to be at room temperature because if they are not, the butter will form little "pellets" and when you bake your goods, they will end up having tons of tiny little holey pockets. Lesson for today- have all your ingredients at room temperature.

STEPHANIE COOKIES: BANANA NUTELLA COOKIES

Adapted from Chef in Training

INGREDIENTS

Preheat oven to 400F Degrees

1 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

1 egg

2 large mashed ripe bananas

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. corn starch

1 3/4 c. oats

1/2 c. Nutella

DIRECTIONS

Cream together shortening and sugar (letting cream for about 6-8 minutes). Add egg- beat until well incorporated and then add mashed bananas. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and corn starch. Combine with wet mixture, until just incorporated. Then add oats. Once mixed- "knife or cut" nutella into batter creating swirls of Nutella throughout. I wanted Nutlla throughout my cookies so I mixed it it completely, but for aesthetics- knifing the Nutella into the batter would be better. Scoop 1 inch round cookies (I use a cookie scoop) onto lined baking sheet and cooking for 8-10 minutes (*I found 8 minutes to be the best).

Cutting the Nutella into the batter would be easiest by cutting half of the nutella into the top layer, then scooping cookies and baking. Then cutting the Nutella into the second half of the batter and scooping out the cookie once more. I suggest this because cutting the nutella (and seeing swirls) will only be evident for the top layer of the batter and less pronounced for the bottom layer, so doing this twice- will ensure nice swirls throughout.

Enjoy,

Chika