Banana Raisin Bread

I was hesitant to use these photos as they aren't the most flattering shots, but the recipe was so good that I had to make a post. Given my recent experiences with Recipezaar, I wasn't too confident about this one being heralded as the "Best Banana Bread."



Yet I was pleasantly surprised and have to agree that this is one of the best banana bread recipes. This has been my favorite thing to bake so far--easy to put together (read: very difficult to screw up, even for me) and didn't require a lot of ingredients. You can throw in whatever you want: raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, chopped apples...the possibilities!

Be careful not to over mix, largely because the recipe calls for the bananas to be crushed when you add them in. I followed a tip to let the mixture sit in the pan for about 20 minutes before baking and while I don't have a control loaf to compare it to, the bread came out very moist and full of banana flavor. I also sprinkled the top with cane sugar in hopes of a crumbly/textured topping, but most of it sank into the mixture.

Banana Raisin Bread
Recipe from here


1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 bananas, crushed
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and crushed bananas. Combine well.

2. In another bowl, sift together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla and mix until just combined.

3. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan. Allow mixture to sit in pan for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Bake at 350°F for 60 minutes.

5. When cool, wrap loaf tightly with plastic wrap to store or refrigerate.

Notes: I had to leave my loaf in the oven for an additional 8 minutes, so make sure you test the bread before removing it from the heat.

Lemon Bars

None of us were sure about what to make on Easter. My contribution was dessert. Carrot cake? No carrots. Hot cross buns? Except for the frosting on top, not enough sugar for us. We were sick of all the foil-wrapped Easter chocolates so I settled on lemon bars. They're bright and pastel and a break from chocolate. I selected this recipe because it had the highest reviews.



The base was like a giant shortbread cookie (yum). While it tasted great, I was disappointed by the filling's consistency. It was more gooey/liquid than I preferred, I expected something thicker and little more cake-like. Even though I was making it, I'm a huge germaphobe and was not big on hand mixing the dough. Nonetheless, they had a refreshing lemon flavor and an ample amount of crust. I made them yesterday and only about 10% of the tray remains.



If you're not a big fan of crust, then don't use all the crust mixture when you press it into the pan. Using all of it in a 9x13 resulted in a good centimeter of crust. In addition, if you're looking for a more lemon taste, add extra drops of lemon juice. They were very sweet, so you can lower the sugar in the filling to avoid going into hyperglycemia.

Lemon Bars
Recipe from here



Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened

Filling*
4 large eggs
2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. For the base, mix the butter into the flour and sugar. Mix with hands until it clings together. Press into 13x9x2-inch pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

2. For the filling, beat together eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Sift together flour and baking powder. Stir into egg mixture.

3. Pour filling over baked, cooled crust. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.

4. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.

*I suggest taking a small taste of the filling and adjusting the lemon juice/sugar as needed before you commit to pouring it over the crust. You don't have to add all the sugar that the recipe calls for.

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

What better way to start your day than with cinnamon sugar muffins? I have a few memories of waking up on the weekends to steaming blueberry ones topped with cane sugar that my mom made. They were so sweet and she always put extra pats of butter in mine. I'm not sure if she used a mix from a box, but I would still stuff my face with them today.



I saw this recipe on tastespotting and knew I had to try it when I saw the enticing photo. This was my first time baking muffins and they didn't turn out as nice as the original baker's; the tops failed to raise high enough to form crowns and I slightly overmixed the ingredients. I halved the recipe and the proportions seemed fine.

I didn't read the recipe carefully at the last step that called for dipping in butter, then dipping in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. I instead mixed the melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon together. Dipping them individually in the butter was messy and caused the butter to dribble onto the paper thingys, giving an oily appearance so I stuck to spreading the topping mixture with a knife.

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins
Recipe adapted from here



Muffins
2 cups flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tbsp. vegetable oil*
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line standard muffin pan with paper cups.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Do not over mix.

3. Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake for about 12-13** minutes. As soon as the muffins are done, remove from pan and place on a wire rack with a paper towel underneath.

4. While the muffins are baking, melt 1/2 stick of butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon with melted butter. Spread the topping mixture over each with a knife.

5. Sprinkle additional sugar and cinnamon as desired onto muffins.

Serves 20 muffins
*Add oil depending on how moist you want the muffins to be. I added halfway between the range and they turned out fine, texture-wise.
**The original recipe called for 12-15 minutes, but I only left mine in for 13 but the edges came out darker than I would have liked so adjust your time accordingly.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal raisin cookies--butter, eggs, white sugar, AND brown sugar. The bane of my existence. I was unable to resist their presence at the dining halls. They'd be sitting in trays in mass quantities, just begging to be eaten. I'd hide cookies in napkins to take back to the dorm, even after stuffing my face with a couple cookies after each lunch and dinner.

Long story short, 3 years and 25 pounds later combined with my family's subtle hints about my growing waistline were wake up calls that I needed to harness this cookie addiction.

The baking bug bit me last night at 4AM and oatmeal cookies were the only option. I'd deprived myself of these cookies for a long time and being back from Spring Break has meant that the healthy diet and self control has gone straight through the window.



A classic and simple recipe that should be part of every baker's repertoire, yet I still managed to mess up. I halved the recipe, but I'm not sure if that mattered too much because the proportions were still the same. I think the fatal error occurred when my impatience caused me to microwave the butter for too long and I ended up with liquid-y, not "softened" like the recipe called for. Next time I'll be more careful. The resulting cookies were chewy and had good flavor but were dangerously close to crossing into rubbery territory.



Fortunately, being at school means that I have access to a wide consumer base that I can distribute the cookies to even if they weren't my proudest creation. Sure, this may not help my reputation as a baker but you need to understand the mindset of the majority of people my age: Free food? Beggars can't be choosers!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Recipe from Quaker Oats lid

1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups oats(quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Servings: ABOUT 4 DOZEN

Oreo Truffles

I've lived at my apartment for about six months, and my ambitions of becoming a baking/cooking fiend faded away after classes and projects began to overwhelm me last semester. This semester I'm only on 12 credits, and the only excuse I have is that I have not been able to go to the grocery store to gather ingredients for all the recipes I have in my Favorite Places folder.

This recipe caught my eye because it only needed three ingredients and looked simple enough with four steps. The name, Oreo Truffles, may have played a part in getting my interest--who doesn't like Oreos? The website claimed it took only 30 minutes for prep time and I was undeterred by the fact that I would have to crush the Oreos manually.


Two hours later, I found myself in a messy kitchen full of particulate Oreo matter and burnt pans from trying to melt the chocolate bark on the stove. I ended up microwaving the bark to prevent the scorching/discoloration. The initial batch of truffles was uneven and patchy after my attempt at dipping them in the white chocolate. I let them dry and dipped them again or dripped chocolate to fill in the patches, and they came out in a much more appetizing form.


They were pretty popular at the party I brought them to, but they were kind of rich and creamy for me.

Oreo Truffles
Recipe from here.

1 package Oreo cookies (Use cookie including the cream center)
1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
1 package of white chocolate bark (about 24 oz.)

1. Finely crush 2 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later.

2. Crush 36 cookies in a large ziploc and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.

3. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.

4. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. Dust the tops with the 2 crushed cookies for decoration or add sprinkles of your choice.

5. Once dry, refrigerate and enjoy!

Makes about 36 truffles.