Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

We go through bananas like gangbusters in this house. Lola loves them and so do Matt and I. However, every now and then I'll buy a few too many and we can't eat them all before they get too ripe. Not that I mind because it just gives me a great excuse to make banana bread!

I had some overripe bananas the other day but instead of making banana bread, I decided to make some cupcakes with an homage to banana bread. Keeping that in mind, of course I used cream cheese frosting on the cupcakes!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes: 18 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 overripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting:
16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Make the cupcakes:

• In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer on medium, cream together the butter and sugar. Whip until light and fluffy.
• Mash the bananas with a fork. Add them to the butter mixture along with the vanilla, egg, and milk. Mix until combined. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Gently fold the flour mixture and the chocolate chips into the butter mixture.
• In a cupcake pan prepared with cupcake liners, fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with batter.
• Bake at 350° F for 20 - 25 minutes.
• Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting:

• In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer on medium, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar.
• Add the vanilla and continue to whip on high for about 2 - 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

This made a little bit too much frosting for the amount of cupcakes that I had. But I, uh, took care of that problem... haha

Also note, this recipe, along with all banana bread recipes, really come out better if you use overripe bananas. That way they're nice and soft and their sugars are well developed. Here are the bananas I used for this recipe:

Crepes with Brie & Raspberry

Brie is such a wonderful cheese. It's soft, slightly pungent, and wonderfully melty. One of my favorite party foods is Brie en croute - topped with fruit jam or compote, covered with puff pastry, and baked. The sweet fruit pairs so well with the stinky cheese - and like any good cheese, it does smell like stinky feet haha! Anyhow, I thought I would make a variation of this little appetizer by combining it with one of my other loves: crepes!

If you don't like raspberry, you could use apricot, strawberry, blackberry, or any other kind of jam.

Crepes with Brie & Raspberry
Makes: 8 crepes

2 cups milk
6 tbsp butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
raspberry jam
brie

• In a small saucepan, combine the milk and butter. Heat over medium until the butter has melted but the milk is not boiling. Remove from the heat.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt. Whisk until pale and fluffy.
• In a slow, steady stream, carefully pour the hot milk into the eggs whisking constantly. Once you've added about half of the milk, you can just go ahead and dump the rest in and whisk to combine. - This process is called "tempering" where you slowly bring up the temperature of the eggs to prevent them from cooking from the hot liquid.
• Now add the flour; whisk until smooth.

• Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Once the pan is very hot, add a small piece of butter to the pan; the butter should brown immediately.
• With a ladle, add some batter to the hot pan, immediately swirl the pan around so the batter spreads to all of the edges.
• Allow the crepe to cook for about one minute until it is dark brown and cooked in the center. Flip the crepe and brown it on the other side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Slice the brie into thin slices. The rind is edible so don't worry about cutting that off, just leave it on.

• Take each crepe and spread about 2 tsp of jam down the center, then place a slice of brie on top of the jam. Roll up the crepe, tucking in the ends like a burrito.
• Transfer the crepes to a lightly greased glass baking dish.
• Bake at 375° F for 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool for 2 minutes then serve.

You can make one heck of a grilled cheese with the left-over brie. Just throw some apple slices in there. Yum!

Lola is my little Art Director ;-)

Fudge Sundae Cookies

If you couldn't already tell, I love thumbprint cookies. The base is a delicious butter cookie. From there you can roll the dough in chopped nuts, coconuts, toffee bits, etc. Then you make a little indent with your thumb and fill it with anything delicious like melted chocolate, nutella, fruit jam, lemon curd, the possibilities are endless!

For my Fudge Sundae Cookies, I rolled them in sliced almonds then topped them with chocolate and a cherry. The perfect hot fudge sundae in a cookie!

Fudge Sundae Cookies
Makes: 18 cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
18 maraschino cherries
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
1 egg, beaten
3 oz (1/2 cup) semi-sweet chocolate
1 tbsp unsalted butter

• Sift together the flour and salt. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip together the butter and sugar on medium for about two minutes until light and fluffy.
• Mix in the vanilla on slow speed until combined.
• Add the flour mixture in three additions until completely combined. The dough should be the texture of bread crumbs.

• Scoop out two tablespoons of cookie dough, about the size of a golf ball. Roll the dough into a ball.
• Roll the ball in the beaten egg, then in the almonds until it is completely coated.
• Place the cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper then firmly place your thumb into the center of the ball and make an indent.
• Repeat until the baking sheet is full. You will likely need to make two batches.
• Bake at 350° F for 16 - 18 minutes until the cookies are slightly browned and firm.
• Let cool for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
• Melt the chocolate and butter together. You can do this either in the microwave or in a bowl over some boiling water. Just be sure not to overheat the chocolate. You don't want it to seize up (turn dry and crumbly).
• Place about a teaspoon of the chocolate mixture in the thumbprint of each cookie. Then top each cookie with a cherry.

Roasted Garlic & Italian Herb Chicken

I had some left-over roasted garlic compound butter from my Broccoli with Roasted Garlic Butter so I decided to put it to use in this chicken dish! The result was really great and it was a super fast meal. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Roasted Garlic & Italian Herb Chicken
Makes: 4 servings

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
1 tbsp roasted garlic butter, melted
1 egg, beaten

• Cut each piece of chicken in half length-wise so that you have four thin pieces of chicken.
• Mix together the panko, parmesan, Italian seasoning, and salt. Then mix in the melted butter. Set aside.
• Dip each piece of chicken in the beaten egg, then the panko mixture.
• Place the chicken on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes until completely cooked and no longer pink.
• Serve with pasta.

I made a pasta side dish with the remaining butter. It paired really well with the chicken. You can make this while the chicken is baking.

1/2 lb penne or other tube pasta
2 tbsp roasted garlic butter
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried parsley (or 2 tsp fresh)
2 tbsp parmesan cheese

• Cook the pasta until al dente, about 11 - 12 minutes. Make sure to salt the water well.
• While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a saute pan. Once the butter is bubbling, add the pepper flakes then remove from the heat.
• Strain the pasta then add it to the garlic butter. Add the parsley and parmesan and toss until the pasta is coated.

Stove-Top Potatoes Au Gratin

This is another recipe that my sister-in-law, Erica has graced us with. She had us over for dinner a few weeks ago and made some amazing pork chops with asparagus and these amazing potatoes as sides. She made them with red potatoes which are great because you can leave the skin on. I love this because, not only does it cut down on prep time, there are a lot of great nutrients in potato skins.

Stove-Top Potatoes Au Gratin
Makes: 6 Servings

6 medium red potatoes
1 tsp or cube of chicken bouillon
1/4 cup butter (or Smart Balance)
1/2 cup sour cream (I used a reduced fat one)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

  

• Cut the potatoes into a 1" dice.
• Cover the potatoes in cold water, add the bouillon, cover, and heat over medium high heat.
• Once the water is boiling, take off the lid and continue to cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.
• Strain the potatoes then place then back into the pan. Stir in the butter and sour cream but don't mash!
• Then stir in the cheese until completely melted. Serve!

Broccoli with Roasted Garlic Butter

Anyone who says they don't like vegetables probably isn't cooking them right. I wouldn't like vegetables either if all I was doing was steaming them and then slapping some butter on when they're done. Just like any other part of your meal, you've got to add flavor. There are two ways to add flavor to your vegetables:

1. Cooking method - grilled, braised, roasted, sauteed, etc.
2. Flavorings - compound butter, various herbs and spices, cheese sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc.

This doesn't mean that your vegetable dish has to be complicated or time consuming. Use the rest of your meal to be your guide on how to cook the vegetable. Are you grilling burgers or chicken? Throw your veggies on the grill too. Are you baking chicken? Throw your veggies on a baking sheet and roast them along side the chicken. Are you pan grilling some steaks? Throw your veggies into the same pan after you've removed the steaks and saute them, flavoring the veggies with all the yummy browned bits at the bottom of the pan.

Tonight, I decided to make it really simple. I steamed some broccoli. But I didn't just top it with plain old butter; I used roasted garlic butter to add more depth of flavor. I happened to already have the garlic butter hanging around - which is always a good idea to have some compound butter in your freezer - but I'll tell you how to make it and you can freeze the left-overs!

Broccoli with Roasted Garlic Butter
Makes: 4 servings

4 large heads of broccoli
1 whole head of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

• First, make the roasted garlic. Cut just the very top off the head of garlic exposing some of the cloves, place the garlic on a piece of tin foil, then drizzle the olive oil over the top. Close up the tin foil.
• Bake at 400° F for 30 - 40 minutes until the garlic is nice and deep golden brown but not burned. Tip: you can do this in a toaster oven to conserve energy since we're only making one.
• Remove the garlic from the oven and allow to cool.
• Once cool, squeeze the head of garlic so that the cloves come out of the skin (almost like a tube of toothpaste). Place the garlic into a food processor.
• Puree the garlic until smooth.
• Add the butter to the garlic and continue to puree until completely combined. Note: if you're using a butter substitute like Smart Balance or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, do not soften it, just place it right into the food processor cold.
• Now steam the broccoli. Clean the broccoli and cut it into individual florets.
• Place the broccoli into a steamer basket over boiling water and steam for about 2 - 3 minutes until cooked al dente. If you don't have a steamer basket, you can steam this in the microwave by placing the broccoli in a microwave safe bowl with 2 tbsp of water at the bottom. Cover the bowl with microwave safe plastic wrap and cook on high for about 2 - 3 minutes. Or you could even get the kind that comes in a steamer bag!
• Toss the broccoli with about 1 tbsp of the roasted garlic butter and serve.
• If you want to go really crazy you could even sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese. But I was pretty much at my calorie limit for the day so I had to be a good doobie.

That wasn't so hard was it? Now eat your damn veggies!!!

Mexican Sweethearts

Time for another Cupboard Cleaner!

Growing up, my dad used to make us a treat called Mexican Sweethearts. I have no idea if this is actually a traditional Mexican dish - and I have my doubts considering this is the same man who convinced my sister and I that tofu was Chinese bacon... ha! Anyways, Mexican Sweethearts are a great way to use up left-over flour tortillas. There always seem to be a few stragglers after making tacos, enchiladas, etc.

Mexican Sweethearts
Makes: 6 sweethearts

6 flour tortillas (any size)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
butter or margarine

  

• Mix together the cinnamon and sugar, set aside.
• Heat up a non-stick skillet over medium-medium high heat.
• Once the pan is very hot, place one of the tortillas in the dry pan.
• Cook for about 5 - 10 seconds on each side until they puff up and brown.
• Remove from heat and spread butter on the tortilla so that it melts.
• Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the tortilla, then roll it up like a cigar.

This recipe is so simple but your kids will love it and it will clear out all of those extra tortillas hanging out in your cupboard!

Coconut Lime Thumbprints

We've been getting some snow here in the Carolinas. We only got a little dusting today but it's supposed to start again overnight and give us about 3" - 5". Everybody run for your lives!!! haha

Anyhow, I thought these coconut lime cookies were a good way to put everyone in the mood for summer. I keep telling myself, "only one more month then spring starts!"

Coconut Lime Thumbprints
Yield: About 18 cookies

Cookies:
2 sticks butter, ice cold
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks, whites reserved
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sweetened coconut

Lime Curd:
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup lime juice

Make the cookie dough:

• Cut the butter into small cubes.
• Blend the sugar, flour, salt, and butter in a food processor until the mixture is the texture of cornmeal and it sticks together when you squeeze it in your hand.
• Whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla (reserve the whites for later). Mix into the flour mixture. The dough will be extremely dry and crumbly. That's what you want.
• Line a dinner plate with plastic wrap. Dump the dough out onto the plastic wrap then form into a disk. Cover the dough with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• While the dough is refrigerating, make the lime curd.

Make the lime curd:

• Whisk the eggs, egg yolk, salt, and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the lime juice.
• Transfer the mixture so a heavy bottomed sauce pan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly.
• After about 7 -10 minutes, the lime curd should thicken so that it coats the back of a spoon - about the same texture as pudding. You want to make sure that you're stirring constantly, otherwise the curd will turn out lumpy.
• Once the curd is thickened, remove from heat and transfer to a glass bowl. Immediately top the curd with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on top.
• Cool the lime curd in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
• While the lime curd is cooling, bake the cookies.

Bake the cookies:

• Using a spoon, "cut out" about 2 tablespoons of dough from your disk. Squeeze it between your hand to form it into a ball. It should be about the size of a golf ball.
• Roll the ball in the reserved egg whites. I found it was easier for me to just place the ball in the bowl of egg whites then brush it with a pastry brush.
• Then roll the dough ball in the coconut flakes.
• Place the ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

 

• Press your thumb into the ball of dough so that it flattens slightly and you leave an indentation in the cookie (that's your well for the lime curd!). I found that the dough crumbled a little bit when I pressed it with my thumb, so I had to kind of work with it to reshape it into a circle. Don't be afraid if they're not perfect circles, it gives them character!
• Bake at 350° F for 20 - 25 minutes.

Assemble:

• Allow the cookies to cool.
• Top with a small spoonful of lime curd. This gets a little messy so you want to wait until you're ready to serve the cookies before completing this step.

Compound Butter

We had some friends over this weekend to celebrate Labor Day. As one last hurrah of the summer, we decided to go all out with a steak and shrimp dinner on the grill. I marinated some zucchini and summer squash in my garlic herb marinade recipe from this post. Then I skewered some shrimp and sprinkled it with a little Cajun seasoning. For the steak, I like to keep that simple. I just sprinkled some salt and pepper on them and grilled them until medium. Then I put a garlic chive compound butter on the hot steaks as soon as they came off the grill. The butter melts with all the yummy herbs and combines with the juice from the steak to create a wonderful plate sauce that's just begging to be sopped up by a piece of crusty bread.

Compound butter is just butter that has yummy stuff added to it. You soften the butter at room temperature for about an hour. Then add whatever flavorings you like by mashing them into the softened butter with a fork. Here are a few examples of flavor combinations and what you might use them for:

• Honey and cinnamon - breads, grilled or baked fruits (especially peaches!)
• Garlic and chives - vegetables, chicken, fish, steak
• Bleu cheese, bacon, and chives or scallions - chicken, steak, breads
• Orange zest and cardamom - breads, chicken, grilled or baked fruits
• Lime zest, garlic, and cayenne - fish, chicken

This is definitely not an exhaustive list. But it's a great place to start!

Once you have mixed the butter with the herbs and spices, spoon the butter into a ziploc bag. Then snip off one corner of the bag and pipe out little portion sizes on to wax paper. If you're really against wasting a bag, you can just spoon the mixture onto the wax paper and smooth it out with the back of the spoon. Refrigerate the butter until used. Freeze any leftovers for later use.

Keeping compound butter in the freezer makes for a really easy weeknight meal. You can pick up some fresh fish on your way home from work. Broil the fish then melt some compound butter on top as soon as it comes out of the oven. Use the same compound butter to saute some red potatoes and green beans. Easy and delicious!

Lemon Butter Cookies

Can I just say that I love Pinterest? I get some pretty awesome ideas from there! The only bad part about it is that every time I get a good idea now, Matt asks, "did you get that idea from Pinterest?" No! I'm capable of original thought, ok?!

Today is not one of those days haha. This is a recipe I unashamedly stole from Pinterest and it turned out so yummy that I had to share it with you. For the recipe, I'll direct you to the original blog where this came from 80 Breakfasts: Lemon Butter Cookies. My blog is just for fun, but I know some people rely on traffic to make money from their blogs so that's why I'm routing you to the source.

Anyhow, as you can see, mine didn't come out as awesome looking as the original. But, I'm sure they tasted just as good! hehe 

I think I'm suffering from Pinterest Stress ha!

On a side note... I didn't have fleur de sel (which is essentially a fancy kind of salt, and really expensive!) so I just used 1/2 tsp of table salt. Fleur de sel is a large flake salt like kosher salt, so that's why I used half as much of the regular table salt.