Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

As far as I'm concerned, the only way to eat a banana is with PEANUT BUTTER. Spoonful of peanut butter plus a bite of banana. Yum. So as I started to make banana muffins this morning it occurred to me that a dollop of peanut butter right in the middle could only make the muffins better.

A nice ripe banana is destined to become a muffin. These bananas are much too ripe for me to eat on their own. My favorite Banana Muffin recipe started out as a Banana Scotch Muffin recipe from a church cookbook. It caught my eye because it adds oats to the batter. I've changed it just a little bit.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

1 c all purpose flour
1 c quick cooking oats - you could use old-fashioned, but I'd use a little less
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c sugar
2 ripe bananas, broken into pieces
1/4 c low-fat vanilla yogurt -you could use plain, also
1/4 c milk -just go ahead and pour yourself a big glass while you're at it. You're going to need it with these muffins!
1 tsp good vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare your muffin tin with liners and spray with cooking spray.
Combine dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
Add in remaining ingredients. I don't mash the banana beforehand. The mixer breaks them up well enough and then there are little chunks of banana throughout my muffins. Mmmmmm...

Mix just until the ingredients are combined. Pour into your muffin tin. I like to use an ice cream scoop fill my muffin tin. It keeps them all about the same size. This recipe makes 12 good sized muffins.

Prepare the topping:
1/3 c peanut butter
1/4 c cream cheese - I used fat free
2 T powdered sugar
Mix until smooth. Put a BIG dollop in the middle of each muffin.
Bake at 350 for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.


Clayton watched them bake for approximately 10 of the 17 minutes ours were in the oven...

While Clayton loved them...

Levi wasn't quite so sure what I was feeding to him!

You'll notice that in the top picture some of the muffins don't have peanut butter filling, but a white filling. I wasn't 100% confident in how these would turn out - looking back, I just wasn't thinking clearly at all. So I did half of mine with a cream cheese and powdered sugar dollop. Those turned out okay. They were much better with the peanut butter. And as I write this I just had a delicious idea- I can't believe I didn't think of it before! Add in 1 c of mini chocolate chips to the batter. OR, even better, melt chocolate chips with a little bit of butter and spread on top. Oh my. Clearly, I made these too early this morning. Good thing we have more ripe bananas. I just might have to make another batch!

Fishing for Fun!

Today we had a "Fishing for Fun" birthday party. I'm so blessed to have our boys, that I just can't help but throw a big party to celebrate them! Our good friends, the Tolers, came to our house and boy, did we celebrate!

I made the boys a small (2 1/2 inch, 5 inch, and 7 inch) tiered cake. The top and bottom layers were Yogurt Sponge Cake and the middle layer was chocolate. The chocolate was a different recipe and it was kind of dry, so I won't post it or use it again. I made fondant figures of the boys fishing. The 3 is upside down because it kept falling off and it got later and later in the evening and last time I put it on it was upside down, didn't realize it at first and then it was stuck. Isn't that the way it goes! Nobody even noticed until we were looking at pictures. Ahhh... Clayton really loved that there was a miniature of him on the cake. I also made goldfish bowl cupcakes.

For party favors I made tackle boxes out of egg cartons. I spray painted them then decorated the top and inside and filled them with all kinds of gummy lures, stickers, tattoos and grow capsules. The kids loved them. We also sent home a container of gummy worms in dirt cake to go with the tackle boxes.

Not baking, I know...Clayton and I made fish out of paper plates and painted them. Then we hung them on our porch to look like they were swimming in water. They were so cute, I couldn't help but post them.

We had a great time at the party. The best part was spending the day with our friends!

Annika Angel

I just really quickly wanted to share this cake I did for my friend's daughter. Annika turned 1 last week. I made a vanilla yogurt dream cake with Bavarian Cream Swiss meringue buttercream. All of the decorations are in fondant. I made a "smash cake" just for Annika. It was a fun cake to make!

Flavor-licious

Promotion Cake

Giant Cupcake Cake

So lately, I've been pretty busy with cakes. These are two that I've recently done. I've gotten to try new techniques and new recipes with both of them! I love it! It's just too bad that I gave up sweets for Lent because I didn't really get to taste how delicious they were.

The Promotion Cake was done for my friend, Dawn's husband. (It was a pina colada cake with pineapple filling and coconut rum icing. The top tier was a chocolate covered espresso bean cake with whipped chocolate ganache filling and covered in chocolate ganache. Yum.) I got to try a new support system - well, new to me. It was really easy and did hold up really well. Dawn transported the cake stacked from my house to her house to the party venue and it stayed. Of course, as she was leaving, she did say, "Well, I'll be home in a hour and a half." Careful driving did certainly help.

The Cupcake Cake was for Liz, she works with Cyle. It was a lemonlicious cake with cream cheese icing. To make the liner, I painted the cake pan with Merckens candy melts and let them harden. It was so simple and turned out really cool. I wish I could take the credit for the idea, but found it online. Liz jokingly said the only things she doesn't like on cake are olives and ketchup. So Cyle asked if I would put an olive on top. Couldn't resist.

I've got one more cake to do for Easter and then I'll be packing up all of the supplies. I do plan on doing a few cakes while we're in Jackson...nothing calls for cake like graduations, birthdays and a wedding!

Killer Chocolate Cake

Just before Valentine's Day, Clayton asked to make a cake. I had some coffee left in the pot, so we went with chocolate. Could you tell?

The recipe made a lot, so I made a cake for Valentine's and another to throw in the freezer. Last weekend we cleaned out the freezer and I got to make this cake. It's totally leftovers - killer chocolate cake, raspberry cream filling with brown sugar Swiss Meringue buttercream, practice flowers and green leftover from I don't know what. I even used my last cake board.

I made this turtle cake for Cyle and Clayton for Valentine's Day. It's just layered with magic caramel (made from sweetened condensed milk) and pecans. It was yummy. Very yummy.

I really liked the cake recipe I used that day and it got raving reviews in Cyle's office.


Killer Chocolate Cake
This recipe is taken from Cake Central and was posted by dolcesunshine20 and the comments are hers.

This is a version of the ever popular Hershey's Chocolate Cake recipe. I was VERY skeptical when I used it for the first time. I didn't think there was any possible chance for the batter to turn out being so thin, but the trick is filling the pans just a little more than you normally would and lining it with parchment paper. It is sooo moist!!!

4 c. sugar
3 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. cocoa
3 t. baking soda
3 t. baking powder
2 t. salt
4 eggs
2 c. buttermilk*
1 c. oil
4 t. vanilla
2 c. of boiling water or very hot coffee**

*Instead of the buttermilk I have also used 1 c. whole milk & 1 c. of half 'n' half.

**When I'm using the coffee, I find that it changes the texture of my cake, making it more dense and heavy. If you are looking for a tender crumb, use water.

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; beat on low speed for 2 min.
3. Turn your mixer down to the stir speed and carefully add the hot coffee. Batter will be very thin. Pour into pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Sorry, I never time my cakes! Bad habit I know, but I just eye-ball them.

Valentine's Day Cookies

What better way to tell your Valentine "I Love You" than by baking him/her some cookies?

Sugar cookies are the perfect choice because of their versatility and blank canvas for decorating. If you'd like to get a little more creative you can add different flavors to your sugar cookies, as I've done in the picture above. There are I've Got the Hots for You Mexican Chocolate, You Spice Up My Life Brown Sugar Spice and You Brighten My Days Lemon Sage.

My favorite recipe for sugar cookies is a cream cheese sugar cookie. I've modified the recipe from Karens Cookies just slightly.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 c butter, softened
8 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt
3 3/4 c all-purpose flour

I like to soften my butter by letting it sit on the counter for a couple hours (or even a couple days). I like to soften cream cheese by unwrapping it and microwaving it for 30 seconds at 40%. If you have a powerful microwave, do less. It needs to be soft, but not runny.

Cream the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat well. Add in the egg and extracts. Beat well making sure everything is evenly incorporated. Add in the salt and flour and mix slowly until evenly combined.

Divide dough into thirds (I find this to be the easiest amount to work with). Place each third on a separate long piece of plastic wrap. Place another long sheet of plastic wrap on top and roll out to 1/4 in thickness. Okay, so this doesn't have to be exact, but you don't want them too thick. By rolling the dough out between plastic wrap you 1) don't have to worry about it sticking, 2) don't mix in any flour, 3) can make more cookies without changing the consistency of the dough, and 4) can put them in the fridge or freezer to chill all ready rolled out saving you time chilling and rolling. I know I can't be the only person that thinks it's harder to roll out chilled dough.

Chill the dough well. I usually put it in my freezer and then don't have to worry if I don't have time to cut and bake for the next week. Cut into the desired shapes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. Cool on cookie sheet for two minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

I've Got the Hots for You Mexican Chocolate
Decrease the flour to 3 1/4 c
Add in:
3/4 c cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp chili powder, more if you're adventurist

You Spice Up My Life Brown Sugar Spice
Replace sugar with 1 1/2 c unpacked brown sugar
Add in:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Penzeys Baking Spice or pumpkin pie spice

You Brighten My Days Lemon Sage
Add in with the extracts:
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
2 generous Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
These were particularly good with a lemon glaze...1 c powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Happy Baking!

Tres Leches Cupcakes

We went to a Mexican Dinner in early November and I was asked to bring dessert. I needed an easy, finger-food...Tres Leches Cupcakes. A yellow cake that is then doused with a mixture of three milks that makes them so moist and so good. I filled mine with a mango filling and topped them with a dulce de leche buttercream. When all was said and done, I don't recommend making the cake into cupcakes. They weren't able to absorb as much of the milk mixture and were dryer than a traditional tres leches cake. But the mango filling was muy delicioso! So this is the recipe I came up with...

Tres Leches Cake with Mango and Dulce de Leche Buttercream

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup lightly toasted flaked coconut
  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cream the butter and shortening until smooth. Add in the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add in egg yolks one at a time. Mix the vanilla with the buttermilk. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients with the buttermilk mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the eggwhites to the cake batter and mix just until combined.
Line a 9x13 pan with foil and grease well. Pour in cake batter and bake 30 minutes or until golden and just set.
Meanwhile, combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the coconut milk.
While the cake is still warm, with a skewer or toothpick, poke lots of holes in the cake and pour the milk mixture over it. Let set until cool and then refrigerate.

Mango Filling

• 2 c frozen mango
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 water
• 2 T corn starch
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and stir until thoroughly combined. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil. Boil for one minute and then remove from heat. Cool completely. Place mixture in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Dulce de Leche Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 1/2 c (approximately 5) egg whites
• 1 c brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 1/2 c softened butter

Using a stand mixer is the easiest way to make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I just put my sugar and egg whites in the mixing bowl of the mixer and place them over a pan of simmering water. I tend to need two hands to add in the butter...
In a double boiler, mix egg whites and brown sugar. Place over simmering water and cook until mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat and beat until stiff peaks form. While beating, add in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. At one point while adding in the butter, the mixture will appear to separate or look curdled. Don't worry! Just keep adding in the butter and keep mixing. It will come together to form a beautiful buttercream.

To assemble the cake: If you want, you can remove the chilled cake from the pan with the foil. For simplicity's sake, I just leave the cake in the pan. Top the cake with the mango filling and chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once chilled, top with the buttercream. If you arent' serving this cake right away, it does need to be refrigerated. Be sure to bring it to room temperature for serving. Enjoy!