Vegan Banana Bread

I had some rotting bananas (I don't know how that happened because I love them), and my brother was around.  Unfortunately for my recipe collection, he won't eat any animal product.  I'm sure he's much healthier than myself and everyone around us, but...I don't have a lot of eggless breads, so if I want to share my calories....and I do, but I also want to enjoy some banana bread, I have to get creative.  I found this recipe via hellyeahitsvegan and it was DELICIOUS.  I made one substitute (regular flour instead of wheat), but seriously, yum.  If everything tasted this good I too could be vegan, but you know....there's cheese and I can't uncheese right now.
Regardless, it doesn't hurt to cut out some dairy and eggs every once in awhile...or share calories with the skinny people of the world.  Vegan or not, this ones a keeper.

Vegan Banana Bread

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Ingredients:  1/2 c. plain unsweetened vegan milk (I used soy, but there are also different almond milks etc out there), 1/2 t. apple cider vinegar, 1/2 c. vegan butter (like earth balance)-softened, 1 c. light brown sugar, 3 very ripe bananas (mashed), 1 t. vanilla, 2 c. flour, 1 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. baking soda, 1/4 t. nutmeg, 1/4 t. salt, 3/4 c. walnuts (chopped)
Instructions:  
1.  Heat over to 350.  Grease a 9 inch pan.
2.  Stir together milk and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside for a few minutes.
3.  Cream together vegan butter and sugar.  Add bananas, vanilla, milk and beat.
4.  Sift in all dry ingredients (except nuts) into the banana mix.  Stir until everything is just moist.
5.  Fold in nuts.  Cook for 45 inutes.  Cook for 10 minutes, pull out and slide a knife along the sides to make sure it doesn't stick as it cools.

Banana Bread....Straight From the Freezer

 My quest in the culinary world is finding things you can freeze.  I don't know why.  I guess I'm fascinated by freezing fresh things that :gasp: don't taste like they were frozen when you were ready to use them.  I've known for years that those busy, browning bananas make a mean banana bread, in fact-we wait for this, but....it seems like I buy bananas when I'm trying to eat a little healthier, and I want banana bread when....well, I'm not.
So...when the banana's go bad, I usually toss them, or if I want bread, I have to buy bananas and try to be patient....what's that?  I'll work on that in my 40's.

But....alas, smarter people that I cross my path.  Someone told me that you can take your bananas that are ready to be born into a bread and freeze them at this stage until you are ready for them.  What?  Just smell those browning bananas and make sure they don't smell rotten, if they still smell sweet, peel them, stick them in a bag, mash them and freeze them.  3 bananas=2 cups (which is what most recipes call for).  When you are ready to use them, just run them under some warm water and you are ready to go.  This will last 6+ months in your freezer.  Most diets don't last more than three months, so it's a win.

Banana Sour Cream Muffins

I needed a muffin (or bread) recipe for a meeting a few months back, and got this one from a friend.  I do believe this is my absolute favorite banana bread muffin of all time.  That's saying a lot b/c....I've had a few pieces of banana bread in my life.  So....try.  this.  one!

Banana Sour Cream Muffins

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Ingredients: 1/4 c. sugar, 1 t. cinnamon, 3/4 c. butter(at room temp), 3 c. sugar, 3 eggs, 6 very ripe bananas, 16 oz of sour cream, 2 t. vanilla, 2 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. salt, 3 t. baking soda, 4 1/2 c. flour, 1 c. walnuts (chopped-optional)
Instructions: 
1.  Grease 4 bread pans, or fill 36 muffin tins with liners.
2.  Mix 1/4 c. sugar and 1 t. cinnamon.  If you are baking bread, sprinkle this into the pans.  If you are making muffins, set aside.
3.  Cream together the butter, 3 c. sugar, eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon.
4.  Mix in salt, baking soda, and flour.
5.  Stir in nuts.  Pour into pans or muffin tins.
6.  If you are making muffins, sprinkle your sugar/cinnamon  mix from step 2 onto the batter in the cups.
7.  Bake at 300 1 hour for bread/check at 35 minutes for muffins.  Toothpick should come out clean.  

Banana Oat Bread in a Jar

 My friend Nicole and I went shopping awhile back, and I noticed her gravitating towards some of the mixes to try out....I too am a fan of the dried mixes at craft stores.  When her birthday rolled around, I decided to try my hand at a mix for her (found this on theyummylife)....so....without further ado....here's a gift in a jar idea...a fun one for holidays!

Banana Oat Bread In a Jar

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Ingredients:  1/2 c. flour, 1 T. plus 1 teas. dry buttermilk powder, 1 t. baking soda, 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, 1/2 c. oa bran, 3/4 c. old fashioned rolled oats, 3/4 c. chopped walnuts (divided-1/2 c.  goes in the mix 1/4 cup for the top)

Instructions: In a 1 quart mason jar add the following ingredients in this order:

Layer 1:  Whisk together white flour, buttermilk powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon

Layer 2:  Brown sugar

Layer 3: Whole wheat flour

Layer 4:  Oat Bran

Layer 5: Rolled oats

Layer 6 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Layer 7 1/4 cup walnuts wrapped in plastic

Gift Tag Instructions:

1.   Pour mix in large bowl; stir with fork, breaking up any clumps.
2  In a bowl mix 2 eggs, 1/3 c. water, 2 T. oil, ½ c. applesauce, 1 t.
vanilla, 1½ c. mashed ripe banana (3-4 bananas).
3.  Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
4.  Pour int a loaf pan coated with spray.  Sprinkle nuts on top.
5.  Bake at 350 50-60 minutes.  Cool for 20 minutes before removing the bread from the pan.

Healthy Banana Muffins

I went on a quest last summer to find recipes that didn't use enriched flour.  I'm not to the point yet that I can eliminate it from my diet, but....it's not a bad idea to reduce it at least!  I discovered a ton of really disgusting recipes, but....there were a few good ones along the way.  Granted, you aren't gonna be like-oh my gosh, is this a banana nut muffin or a cupcake?  But this is a good one.  Add a little light butter and I really couldn't tell much of a difference on these guys.

Healthy Banana Muffins

Ingredients:  1 c. plain low fat greek yogurt, 2 eggs, 1/2 c. honey, 2 t. baking powder, 1 t. baking soda, 2 T ground flax seed, 1 t. vanilla, 2 very ripe bananas
Instructions:  Spray muffin tins (12 total).  Grind oats in the food processor.  Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.  You can add nuts or dark chocolate chips to your muffins for a kick.  Divide batter and bake for 18 minutes at 400 degrees.

Camping: Banana Boats

I saw this recipe last summer here.  I love smores, but there are only so many evenings you can toss a smore on the fire and call it dessert.  There are only so many evenings because I usually eat all the marshmallows before the second evening, not because they ever get old or anything like that.  I thought this was such a clever dessert idea.  You can bake these over an open fire, a grill, or in the oven. 
These are so easy to make.  Slice a banana in half, leaving the bottom peal together so it can be a bowl later. 

 Stuff the innards with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, coconut...whatever floats your banana boat. 

 Fold over the top, and pop this is a heat source...if you live in Texas, the inside of your car might be the hottest point in the afternoon. 

Consume.  Repeat.

July 4th: Watermelon Frosties

I found the recipe for watermelon frosties here.
You can make two large slushy drinks with these, OR you can fill little lime halfs for an after dinner dessert.  This makes about 20 lime halves.  I love this recipe because so much of it is natural.  I also love it because I always have soooo much watermelon left over, and in doing this, I realized you can actually freeze watermelon and drink it later.  I know, the saying is 'As American as Apple Pie'....but watermelon is actually the treat that accompanies me most frequently on a July 4th picnic....I guess maybe America doesn't have exclusive rights to the watermelon?  (As if we own the apple pie, but don't tell the Apple Pie Quote lovers that...)
OK...I think that covers my thoughts on fruit related patriotism for the moment.  Here's the recipe for Watermelon Frosties
Ingredients:

2 1/4 c. frozen watermelon cubes, 1 1/2 c. water, 2 T. maple syrup, 1 lime squeezed (this is where some of my halves came in, I used the rest for key lime pie).  1 1/2 frozen banana (do NOT leave it in the peel, this was a pain  to get off, just chop it up and freeze it).
\Instructions:  Blend the ingredients.  I then scoop out as much of the innards of the lime, topped with chocolate chips for seeds, and placed these in the freezer until I served. 

Banana Bites

 I've heard of chocolate dipped bananas, I've even tried them out before, but I decided to make these in bitesize, and I think this is my favorite version yet because there is a perfect banana/chocolate ratio. 

 These were really easy to make.  I cute a banana in half. 

 I used the large side of a melon baller to put out three balls from each halve of the banana. 

 After each ball was pulled out, I sliced off the flesh to pull out the next ball.

 I melted up some chocolate (1 minute at 30 second intervals, stir and repeat).  And then I dipped each banana into the chocolate. 

I placed these in the freezer on wax paper to let the chocolate harden.  These would also be good on ice cream sundaes.
Linking To:  Marvelous Mess  CRAFT DIY Home Sweet Home Running with Glitter  Keeping it Simple Sew Can Do Dittle Dattle CraftOManiac This Week's Cravings Between Naps on the Porch Cherished Bliss Tip Junkie Reasons to Skip Housework Blackberry Vine Handmade Tuesday Tempt My Tummy Sugar Bee

Banana Pudding In-A-Jar

I was planning on making jarred banana pudding for Carla's Cowgirl baby shower (via a great tip from Taylor), but when asked, Carla said she wanted cobbler....so....she got cobbler in-a-jar instead.
I had these cute little jars, and I knew they'd someday see their lifelong jar-dream fulfilled. I used them awhile back for cake-in-a-jar (sources sited here). I wanted to get them pumped up and make sure they could handle pudding paradise.
Recently, I went to an outdoor concert, and I said I'd bring the dessert....this dessert-in-a-jar turned out to be the perfect picnic playmates, and would be fun for July 4th picnics as well. You can jar them individually, and eat them individually....and you don't have to bring serving utensils, just eating utensils, assuming you aren't into digging into pudding with your fingers...and that's not the sort of thing I do....publicly.

I also had this great recipe I ate last Christmas at my friend's Christmas luncheon. I've always like banana pudding, but after eating her version of the good stuff....I love it. She shared the recipe with me, and thus....I'm passing it on....in hopes someone will make it for me...tomorrow....b/c mine is all gone, and this just makes me want it all over again!
BANANA PUDDING

Ingredients:
1 large box of vanilla pudding (6 oz) (You can also use banana pudding, but I like the vanilla!)
2 c. of cold milk
1 8 oz container of cool whip (plus more for topping if you want to create a top layer of whipped topping)
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 box of vanilla wafers
4-5 bananas, sliced
Instructions:
Mix pudding and milk as instructed, and then add sweetened condensed milk, and cool whip.
Half ingredients, and create layers of wafers, then sliced bananas, then pudding. Repeat. Top with cool whip. Chill overnight.
My friend made this in a really pretty clear dish, I just took the layering instructions, and miniaturized it for my jars.
P.s. I'm going to count this as a milk, and a fruit on my food pyramid today.
Linking To: Lady Behind the Curtain  Blackberry Vine Dittle Dattle Running with Glitter Craft O Manic Keeping it Simple Lady Bug Blessings Tues Time Out Sugar Bee Tempt My Tummy HOH Fireflies and Jellybeans Paisley Passions Trendy

Hummingbird Cupcakes

 I made these for Easter, and they were de-licious.  I thought they'd also be a cute cupcake to share for Mother's Day....and then a few months later, I finally got around to posting!  Regardless, these are probably one of the tasties cupcakes I've ever accidentally made.  Accidentally because I ended up totally altering the fruite combos inside these cakes, but it was so good, I'd be afraid to try it any other way. 

Hummingbird Cupcake Ingredients

Mix 3 c. flour, 2 c. sugar, 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. salt, 1 1/2 c. veg oil, 3 eggs, 20 oz can of crushed (drained) pineapples, 2 mashed (very ripe) bananas, 1 c. chopped walnuts. 

*you can add just 8 oz of pineapple, and 2 c. of bananas as the original recipe from all recipes called for, but the extra pineapple made this really moist, and it also yielded 36 full cupcakes instead of 24. 

Bake at 350 for 18 minutes.  (If you choose to make a cake, it takes two round pans, and the baking time is closer to an hour). 

Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat 4 oz butter, 4 oz of cream cheese, 2 c. powder sugar, 1 t. vanilla. 

I iced the cupcakes, piling up more on the edges, and leaving a smoother center.  Reserve about 1/2 c.

Next I toasted up some flaked coconut.  I spread out a thin layer on a pan. 

I put it in the 350 oven for about 5 minutes, but I did stir it around about half way through, the edges browned quickest. 

I dipped the cupcakes.  :Pause:  Have you ever smelled baking coconut flakes?  If so, can you bottle this scent up and send it to me....or send me a few thousands pounds of flakes so I can smell it forever?:

As for the birds, I saw this idea on Martha Stewart, the Granddiva of many a cute idea.   Dye your remaining cream cheese icing blue and orange.  I just snipped a quarter inch of the corner of a ziplock and piped on my birds.  I repeated with a much smaller snip for the beaks, and then I melted chocolate and dabbed on eyes with a toothpick. 

 I took a strange picture of a cluster of birds with an orange glow. 

I pulled out my favorite elastic shorts...and got down to hummingbird eating business.  Think suped up banana bread. 

Linking To:  Crafty Soiree Paisley Passions Tatortots and Jello Funky Junk Sweets for Saturday

Banana Pops

No rocket science involved in this recipe, or effort, or skill, or multiple ingredients. It's summer, and it shows....everywhere, including my blog today. Tomorrow I'll get back to glue sticks, and solving the problem of world peace (or lack there of), and political unity, but today...today I laze.
I love banana fudgecicles. I never eat them, even though they sell them where I work. I've never bought one at work. I don't know why. I just don't get them at work, but I know I can, which makes it OK. Except now I can't. AND because I won't be able to purchase the pops I never purchase anyway for at least two and a half months, all the sudden, that's a problem. I've looked for these at the store, though they are made by a pretty well-known ice cream company, and I just can't find them! I decided recently to search for a recipe online. I liked the way they turned out. They aren't as 'soft' as the fudge cycles are, but the flavor was good. Because I have restraint :insert laughter: I decided not to buy one of those 'popsicle' freezer thingies. I had two boxes of dixie cups in my pantry I recently discovered. I can't explain why I have these. I don't think I've used a dixie cup since I was five, but they came in handy for these.

I mixed it up, and they filled up four of these dixie cups. It was great b/c I could just peal the paper off the sides.

The Recipe:
1 banana, mashed (I might add a second one next time)
3 T banana pudding mix (you'll have left over so you can double the recipe easily)
1 C. Milk
Mix, pour until containers, and freeze.

Mardi Gras: Crepes

I've wanted to try my hand at making crepes since I was introduced to these in Paris.  I understand there are a lot of ways to fill a crepe, but THE appropriate way is to slather them with nutella, bananas, and a sprinkling of powdered sugar...or, if you aren't snowed in for the fourth day and you can actually make it to the store-try whipped cream. 
What I didn't know is how easy these actually are to make. 
I found this book on vacation last summer.  I love cookbooks, and I've started collecting these from the places I visit, sometimes I look for church cookbooks in local antique stores, sometimes I buy them at the visitors center (in this case).  I still collect ornaments as well, but I think a cookbook says a lot about a place.  This cookbook comes from (The Bridges of) Madison County. 

The contributor said that crepes are a traditional breakfast on Fat Tuesday.  In years gone by Lent meant no eggs, fat, meat or dairy products (my how times have changed) and so houses tried to get rid of their 'extras' on fat Tuesday via pancakes, or in this case, the French pancake=the crepe. 

Crepe Recipe

*makes 20

Mix:  4 eggs, 1 c. flour, 1/2 c. milk, 1/2 c. water, 1/2 t. salt, 1 T. melted butter, 2 t. sugar, 1 t. vanilla. 

Heat a non-stick skillet  on medium heat (I played around with butter, it's not necessary).  Add just enough batter to fill the bottom of the pan (less than 1/4 of a cup, these are really thin).  Tilt the pan until the bottom is completely covered with batter. 

The sides will start to curl up with a minute or two.  Flip.

Add your favorite toppings. 

Roll, and enjoy.  The good news is, I'm not Catholic, I just play one on my blog when the mood strikes, so I can enjoy these tomorrow...and the next day, and the next day....and the next day.  I am, however, Baptist, so you can fill in the blanks for all the things I won't be indulging in as I eat my crepe.