Nutella Banana Bread w/ Candied Ginger

With great expectations come great disappointment.  OK, that's dramatic and totally not true, but today they did.

I love banana bread.
I love Nutella.
I love candied ginger.

Therefore, all these things mixed together should be good right?  I know this logic does not always apply - you can't just take three good things and expect that they'll be great together, but this one should.  First of all, bananas and Nutella are a total no brainer.  Second, I love candied ginger added to baked goods.  It adds a little bite and interest.

I will say that the texture of the bread was really good.  It was moist and rose really nicely.  I'm pretty sure if I had just left out the candied ginger I would have really liked it.

On the other hand, CA said it was interesting, which made me think he didn't like it either.  However, when pressed he said he really liked it and it tasted really banana-ey and gingery (which is good???).  He also likes sardines so take his opinion with a grain of salt.

I had a small issue with the loaf sticking to the pan.... oops.  It's been a while since I dropped anything or burned it or made it ugly so it was about time this happened.

However, when I flipped over the bread you couldn't even tell. 

I really need to learn just to line every pan with parchment.  Then I would never have this problem.  Except that I'm totally irritated that I have to trim parchment paper to line pans.  I assume they make parchment paper for different pan shapes but how realistic is it that I buy them in the shapes and sizes of all my pans?  I am the most irritated that the parchment paper doesn't even fit my half sheet pan - it's just a little too wide which is dumb.

Anyway, if you're like CA and enjoy things that are banana-ey and gingery you can find the recipe for this bread at Yankee Kitchen Ninja.

Enjoy!
Julie

S'More Bars

Let's be clear that this is not a post about a S'More Bar (as in S'More Buffet) like we discussed last week.  This post is about S'More Bars (as in bar shaped cookie).

As happens pretty often, I had a bunch of leftovers from the S'More Bar... graham crackers and Hershey bars.  I also had some mini marshmallows in my cupboard.  Had they been big marshmallows I probably would have just made more S'Mores.  The minis were a curve ball and prompted me to go searching for a recipe for S'More bars. 

I found a lot of bars matching that description but most didn't strike my fancy.  They either had a cookie base that had some graham crackers ground up in it which would not have used up enough graham crackers to get them out of my pantry or they used marshmallow fluff instead of actual marshmallows which was not on the leftover list.

When I saw this recipe, I knew it was perfect.  I was very intrigued by the fact that graham crackers line the entire base of the bars.  I wondered what would happen to them when they got covered up with a mess of chocolate chip cookie dough and baked.  I thought they might get mushy - but that didn't happen.  They stayed crisp and formed perfect base for this tasty bar.

Of course this wouldn't be a S'More bar without marshmallows.  I took the liberty of adding a lot more marshmallows than the recipe called for.  I'm glad I did - the more marshmallowey the better.

Also topping these are broken up Hershey chocolate bars.  Because they're just pressed into the top of the dough you can still see the shape of the bar and the words "Hershey" printed on each one.  I love that!!

So, these are pretty awesome.  I really liked them as did my nephews and coworkers.  CA even said he liked them and he doesn't even really like S'Mores (I know!).  They definitely have that S'More flavor without the need for an open flame.  I think what makes the difference is that there is a little bit of cinnamon in the cookie batter - it really changes up the flavor and makes it more S'Morey....  I'm positive that's a word.

S'more Bars
Adapted from Life Made Simple


Ingredients
11 T Butter at room temperature
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 cups Mini Marshmallows (divided)
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
4 Hershey Bars, broken into squares
2 sleeves Graham Crackers


Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed (1-2 minutes).  Add the eggs one at a time to butter mixture, gently beating after each addition.  Add vanilla and mix.  Slowly add the flour mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined.  Add 1 1/4 cups of mini marshmallows and the chocolate chips to the mixture and mix by hand until incorporated.  Chill mixture in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.

Take graham crackers and lay them onto the prepared sheet pan.  They should cover the entire sheet and cookies should be tight and touching - break the crackers apart if necessary to cover the entire sheet.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and using a small cookie scoop or a spoon, place one ball of dough onto each cracker.  Use your hands to smoosh the dough down so it fills in the gaps (wetting your hands a bit helps it to not stick to your hands).

Place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove and press Hershey's bar pieces and the remaining 3/4 cups marshmallows into the top. Return the pan into the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until dough and marshmallows being to brown, making sure the dough is cooked through.  Remove from oven cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!
Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 47: Banana Muffins

So far in this cookbook we've made Corn Muffins, Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and Blueberry Muffins.  These Banana Muffins are definitely my favorite so far!  I've got three more varieties to go... Bran, Pumpkin & Carrot... so we'll see how they stand up over time (especially against my usual favorite, pumpkin).

Don't let the photo above mislead you, the actual muffin is made with 100% cake flour.  The all purpose flour is only for the streusel topping. 

The cake flour definitely helps these muffins be the lightest banana muffins I've ever made.  In his description of these muffins, Thomas also says that he uses less banana than most recipes which makes for a light and fluffy texture.  There's also a bit of creme fraiche mixed in which he says helps too (although I'm not sure how less than two tablespoons can make that much difference).

The rest of the ingredients in the muffins are standard... baking soda & powder, salt, butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.
The one thing I believe must be the part of any good muffins is streusel.  I'm convinced you should put some type of streusel on every single muffin.  Why wouldn't you?

This streusel is made from flour, sugar, walnuts, butter and salt.

I am generally a pecan person rather than a walnut person.  My family is kind of Southern and we lean towards pecans (Hello, Pecan Pie!).  I hardly ever have walnuts in the house and if a recipe calls for them, I just use pecans.  Despite this, you'll be proud to know I actually bought and used walnuts in this recipe.  No substitutions.

I can't say it was better with walnuts, it probably would have been just as good with pecans.  Honestly, any nuts in a streusel is good.

These muffins baked up perfectly!  They were light in texture, golden brown and had just enough banana flavor.  The streusel was key and quite delicious.

My sister and her family were visiting when I made these and they got gobbled up very quickly.  I had to set aside one for CA to make sure he got one!  He loved them too. 

Hands down, I think these are the best banana muffins I've ever made... and they're pretty too!

Enjoy!
Julie

Baking Bouchon - Recipe 46: TKOs

I've made a bunch of things with Oreos... biscotti, rice krispie treats, cupcakes... but I've never actually made homemade Oreo cookies.

Apparently, TKO stands for Thomas Keller Oreo - which is not disclosed in the cookbook, I found out online.  That was after I thought for about ten seconds that it stood for Technical Knock Out.  But that could fit too.

Unfortunately, I had a little issue with the filling in these cookies.

The filling is made from white chocolate, butter and heavy cream.  The chocolate and butter is melted, then combined with the cream and chilled in the refrigerator "for at least 4 hours, or up to 1 day, until completely chilled."

I ignored that and put it in the freezer for 2 hours.  I assure you it was completely chilled.  However, it was also completely runny.

CA says it was because I was impatient and didn't let it sit long enough.  I disagree.  I chilled it until it was cold which is what I was supposed to do.  So there.

I don't know what went wrong - either I measured something wrong, or the recipe is wrong or CA is right.  I really hope he's not right.

I went into recovery mode and started adding powdered sugar to the filling... a lot of powdered sugar... until the mixture thickened up.  It was still a little soft, but I figured it would end up OK.

The cookie part of this cookie sandwich was seriously amazing!

It's made from flour, A LOT of cocoa powder, baking soda, butter, salt and sugar.  The dough is chilled, rolled out and cut into circles.  I chose to make a bunch of little, Oreo sized Oreos instead of eight 3 inch cookies as the cookbook instructed.

Because of the large amount of cocoa powder and the relatively smaller amount of sugar in these cookies, they're really dark chocolatey and just plain awesome.  For these reasons, they're the perfect accompaniment to filling but I will admit that I ate quite a few without the filling and loved them!

When I sandwiched these, the filling was still a little bit too soft.  They smooshed more than I would have liked.  However, after sitting overnight the filling dried out enough that it was stiff enough to eat without it falling out one side.

I made these when my sweet nephews came to visit.  What kid doesn't like Oreo cookies, right?  These were no exception, they loved them!  I was a little worried because they aren't as sweet as packaged Oreos but they were happy regardless.

Oh look... another picture of the finished cookies.  Thank goodness I remembered to take pictures this time!

Enjoy!
Julie

Bourbon Pecan Crackles

This blog post is going to be sad... really, quite pathetic.  I did the worst possible job of documenting the making of these cookies (you don't even get to see what they look like baked) that I debated even posting them.  However, these cookies are darn good so I want you to know about them.

Rest assured that this is the end of my terrible documentation phase.  This is also the last of the baked goods I made while we had a ton of house guests.  The two things are definitely related.

Without any helpful photographs, I'll have to rely on my writing skills to describe these cookies to you.  Have you ever had a bourbon ball?  If not, go make these and come back.  Now that you've had a bourbon ball you know what a Bourbon Pecan Crackle tastes like.

CA loves bourbon so I knew these were the perfect thing to make for a reception honoring him and neither of us was disappointed.  They're really good!  They don't have quite as strong of a bourbon flavor as the bourbon balls, but enough so that you know it's there without being scared of a kid picking one up, getting drunk and passing out.

To make these guys you melt some chocolate.  Then you grind up a bunch of pecans in the food processor, mix those with flour, baking powder and salt.  Then you cream butter and brown sugar together, add eggs, vanilla and bourbon.  Then you mix all that stuff together and chill the dough.

The chilled dough gets rolled into balls and then rolled in granulated sugar and then again in powdered sugar.  When you cook them they get all crackled looking as the chocolatey dough breaks free from the powdered sugar.  You're just going to have to picture it.  Or you could go and look at the blog where I got this recipe from.  She did a much better photography job that I did.

These cookies are pretty awesome and I know I'll make them again.  I definitely think they will be perfect around the holidays... everyone needs more bourbon around the holidays.  My mom commented that they had a creamy texture.  I agree, but can't quite figure out why that would be.  Maybe it was the bourbon talking.

Full recipe credit goes to The View From Great Island.

Enjoy!
Julie

Lime Sugar Cookies

There are two things I love (well, there are a lot more than that but two that apply to this conversation).

1.  A chewy cookie
2.  A twist on a classic

This cookie is both and I loved it.

The basics of the cookie are very traditional sugar cookie business... flour, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla... the usual suspects.  However, these also get an extra zing from lime juice and zest and some toasted coconut.  Plus they're rolled in sugar before they're baked so you get that sparkly, slightly crunchy outside while the inside stays nice and soft.  I couldn't be happier with these little nuggets.

I made these for a reception along with a couple of other options (peanut butter blondies which you saw here a couple of days ago and bourbon pecan crackles which you get to see tomorrow) and the feedback was good.  I think people were surprised when they picked up what looks like a regular old sugar cookie and find it has the bright flavor of lime and a little bit of toasty coconut in it.  I think these are really perfect for a summery version of sugar cookies or if you're just looking for something to mix it up a little bit.

My photography skills are definitely not at their best lately.  I really need to step it up in this category because I feel like if the pictures don't look amazeballs you all will not believe me that the food is as good as it is.  Just trust me that these look and taste great, even if I can't be bothered to buy a giant camera, stage them on a pretty plate or even take a picture of them when they're lined up on a platter at the reception.

You can get the recipe at The Slow Roasted Italian.  I followed it exactly.

Enjoy!
Julie

Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

I obviously did something very wrong.  I don't know what I did, but it was very, very wrong.  I did, however, have the best of intentions.

Generally, breakfast food is pretty much a wheat fest.  Muffins, scones, breads, cereal... most of it has wheat in it.  Some of my recent house guests are off the wheat so I wanted them to have something tasty to eat for breakfast, other than just eggs.  Good intentions.

This bread is made entirely from almond flour, which I really love using.  It has great flavor that I think is more interesting that regular or gluten free flours.  Unfortunately, what I got was a soggy mess.


I was pretty embarrassed and, if I hadn't already disclosed that I was making lemon poppy seed bread for them, I would have just thrown it away and made no mention of its existence.  My guests were gracious and told me it was good and ate the whole thing, but they were just being nice.  This bread was a disaster.

The original recipe for this bread on Kitchen Belleicious looked so good!  You can hop over there and see what it should look like... which is like fluffy breakfast bread.  Mine was dense and wet.  There are a few reasons I've come up with that this happened.

1.  I frozen the batter.  Because there was a lot going on, I made all the batter and dough for all my baked goods the weekend before everyone arrived so I could just bake it all off.  Very efficient but it may have ruined this.
2.  I didn't put the glaze on it that the original recipe called for.  I don't know why not putting glaze on something would make it more soggy, but it's the only other change I can think of.
3.  Except that I didn't put in as many poppy seeds.  The recipe called for 8 tablespoons of poppy seeds which is a lot of poppy seeds - I didn't have that many so only put in 4 tablespoons... it was still really poppy seedy.
4.  I screwed up something else...

I will admit that the flavor of this is really good, it's just the wet texture I had a problem with.  I really want to try again and see if it comes out better because the pictures from the original post look so good!

Maybe you guys can try it and let me know.  That sounds easier.

Enjoy!
Julie