Chocolate Banana Cake

Chocolate Banana Cake

     Well it's finally summer and I can finally do some baking and cooking. I had been so busy with work that I just didn't have much time to blog. I really didn't get the chance to try a whole lot of new things, but now that it's summer I can hopefully try some more recipes. I do have a few new recipes that I tried these past couple months to share with you.

     Today I'm going to share this super moist Chocolate Banana cake. Of course I had several bananas that had gotten bad so I just had to find something to make with them. I just hate to throw them out and banana bread gets a little old too. I was also in the mood for chocolate and this cake fit the bill.

     The original recipe was for an 8X8 pan, but that would never last in my house so I simply doubled the original recipe and made a 9X13 pan instead. I also had to replace the applesauce with oil, because believe it or not I had no plain applesauce on hand. I usually keep those small individual servings on hand for baking, but all I had was cinnamon flavor and cranberry flavored, so oil is a great substitute for applesauce.

    There is no need for frosting on this cake. Chocolate chips are added to the top when baking and of course to the batter its self. This cake could easily be brought on a picnic or taken to a family reunion or potluck. I know you will not have any left to bring home if you take this to any occasion.

Chocolate Banana Cake
4 very ripe bananas
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup Canola oil
1/3 Cup water
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 salt
1 1/3 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray.
Peel your bananas and beat with your mixer until smooth. Add sugars, oil, water and vinegar and mix thoroughly.
Stir in flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Fold in 2/3 cup of chocolate chips. Pour batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle 2/3 cup of chocolate chips on top.
Bake for 33-37 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool and then slice and serve.

Adapted from www.momontimeout.com


    

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

     Last night I needed a little bit of therapy. You see, things are just falling apart around me. It seems every day it's something new. And just when I think " O.K., I can deal with this," I get hit with another thing.

     Well last night I was pretty much at my breaking point and it was time for therapy!

     Now I could have gone out and done some retail therapy, but I'm on a strict budget. I don't buy it unless I need it. I'm trying to live a minimalistic life. I feel like people on a whole have too much stuff. I just don't want to be one of those people with too much stuff. In fact, even though I would love to go buy some more fabric to sew with or even some new cake decorating stuff, I am refraining from going to the store to spend money. I have save quite a chunk of change already. Yeah!

     My other type of therapy would be to do some sewing, but I did that the night before. I finished a quilt and sewed a cozy bowl. I still have stuff to finish up, but I just wasn't in the mood.

     So my last choice was baking. I needed something with chocolate in it. After all chocolate is what I go to when I've had a tough day and boy these last few weeks have been that and more. After perusing my pinterest cupcake board I found the perfect treat to make.

     I give you the

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKE!!!!!! 

     Not only does it have chocolate it has peanut butter. And the icing on the cupcake has a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup on it.

     Now I had a little trouble with the frosting on this one. It started out super stiff, so I added milk. Well, too much milk, so I had to add some more powdered sugar to stiffen it up some. After a little messing around I got it back to the right consistency and it was perfect.

     So if you're have a tough day, week or month give these little cupcakes a try. I guarantee you'll feel a little better....at least while you're eating it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 Cup sour milk*
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting
1/3 Cup peanut butter
4 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
1/4 Cup milk
2 teaspoon vanilla
24 mini Reese's Peanut Butter cup

Instructions for cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl mix sugar, canola, eggs and vanilla until the mixture is smooth. Alternately add the flour/cocoa mixture with the sour milk. Be careful not to over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Using an ice cream scoop, add the batter to the muffin tins and bake the cupcakes for 23-27 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Instructions for Frosting
1.Unwrap 24 peanut butter cups and place in a bowl and set aside. Beat the peanut butter in a bowl of a stand mixer until lightened, about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Drop the speed to low, and begin adding half the powdered sugar, a little at a time. Add the vanilla, and slowly stream in the milk. Add the remaining powdered sugar.
2. Once all the powdered sugar has been added, increased the speed back to medium-high, and beat 1-2 minutes.
3. Using a M1 tip and a disposable bag frost your cooled cupcake. Decorate with a mini peanut butter cup.

*To make sour milk, place 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar into a measuring cup. Fill the remaining 8oz cup with milk. Stir together, then allow to sit for 5 minutes before using.

Recipe adapted from Tramplingrose.com

Baked Vanilla Donuts

Baked Vanilla Donuts

     Today I thought I'd try this recipe that I found in the Sunday paper a few weeks ago. It is suppose to be a healthier donut. Really? Is there such a thing? I guess just putting the word healthier in front of it makes people think they are really not doing something that is too bad.

      Me? I say you have to do everything with balance. I don't say that I can't have something, because if I did it would just make me want it more. I just try not to over indulge.  I like my sweets, especially for breakfast, so I just let myself have a little. It's all about self control, right?

     I like donuts and I didn't want to hassle with deep frying them, but with these new donut pans all you do is bake them for about 15 minutes. How easy is that and that way you avoid the grease and they are not as fattening. This recipe also uses almond milk in it which is suppose to be very good for a person. So I guess you can say you are eating a better donut then what you would buy at the bakery and they are easy to make too!

     When I made the glaze for the donuts I used lemon extract. That lemon flavor was so wonderful. it just made it feel a little like spring. I also sprinkled them with non pareils to make them look pretty.

     I could have eaten a half a dozen, but remember it's all about self control. Besides I had to save some for family members that were not home this morning. I think they are going to love them and you will too!

Baked Vanilla Donuts
2 eggs
4 T butter, melted
1 t vanilla extract
2/3 C sugar
2 C all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 C almond milk

     Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 six-cup donut pans with cooking spray. In a bowl beat eggs for 1 minute on medium. Add butter, vanilla, and sugar and beat until smooth. Mix in flour, salt and baking powder. Add milk and stir until smooth. Spoon batter into the donut pans. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until light brown. Remove donuts from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Glaze and top donuts as desired. Makes 1 dozen.
Glaze
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 t vanilla extract or lemon extract
4 T milk
Stir together. Drizzle over cooled donuts.

Recipe adapted from Parade Magazine