black bottom banana bread

i've been trying to use up ingredients i have around the house, so i baked this black bottom banana bread. i had 3 bananas leftover from banana pancakes i made, and they were really really really ripe. almost rotton, but not yet. i also didn't have ovaltine, and since i was just using stuff i had around the house, i used this 3/8 cups of this chocolate caramel hot chocolate mix ryan bought me from disney world, and 1/8 cup of malted milk. i know, the way i'm describing this banana bread sounds so appealing, right? the end result is soo amazing. i love this recipe because it uses whole wheat flour and i love the flavor and texture of whole wheat, which is something i'm trying to use more of because i have a bag of it i need to finish before i move. also, the bananas, and yogurt make this whole wheat bread moist and not dry and all. ugh it's soo good i'm gonna eat it all.


1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup OVALTINE Rich Chocolate Mix
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Spray bottom of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

COMBINE whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

COMBINE bananas, sugar, butter, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl; stir well. Stir in flour mixture just until moistened. Remove 1 cup of batter and place into separate bowl along with Ovaltine; stir until combined.

SPOON Ovaltine mixture into prepared pan; top with remaining banana batter.

BAKE for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely. (Bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

pecan pie

*notice how the photos have been so much better since i found my camera and i haven't been using my cell phone camera?

I finally baked a pecan pie! i don't know what took me so long to bake one. it's not like i'm scared of pecan pie like i'm scared of yeast. i think it's because i almost never buy pecans, even though i love pecans. i finally got ryan to try a pecan and he said "eh not so bad". BUT he has still not eaten a piece of pie yet! 

i baked the pecan pie because i'm trying to use up everything in the kitchen since i'm moving soon, and i had everything to bake this. surprisingly it was very easy positioning the pecans on the pie, even though they weren't all halves they were mostly quarter pieces and smaller. this pie has less of a corn syrup flavor, that wasn't done on purpose. i didn't want to buy dark corn syrup since i already had a giant light corn syrup i almost never use and i had a jar of molasses melinda had given me when she moved. so there ya go 3/4 cup light syrup and 1/4 cup molasses = 1 cup dark corn syrup. also i used 2 jumbo eggs instead of 3 eggs and it congealed just fine.

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup of dark corn syrup

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup of butter (4 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

4 ounces of pecans, halved

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (either store-bought or homemade)

Directions

In a small saucepan melt the butter and cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine and stir the sugar, the syrup and the vinegar.

Add the melted butter and the beaten eggs. Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie crust.

Place the pecans on the top of the mixture and crust. Start on the edge and work your way inside.

Then take a fork and push down slightly on each pecan so it is in the mixture a bit.

Bake at 350 degrees F. until firm, which is about 1 hour.

bacon chive pancakes, rice pudding and a whole lot of brisket

we're planning on moving soon so i quit my job and now have plenty of time to cook. since i've been cooking so much, i keep forgetting to take pictures and updating this, which doesn't matter anyway, it's not like anyone but gillian reads this blog. some of the yummy things i've made are buttermilk pancakes with bacon and chives in them, a rice pudding dessert that is tasty but i keep forgetting to save room for and i'll explain why...it's all the briskets fault. ryan brought home a 5lb brisket the other day. he was going to cook it but had some work to do so i made it. it was my first time cooking brisket and i'm excited because it came out so good, i can't wait to see what it'll taste like when i'm more experienced. so i've been eating brisket everyday ever since, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. today i made brisket breakfast burritos, with bbq sauce, salsa and sour cream to garnish. holy crap that way yummy! i was so happy no one else was in the room when i was eating it because i'm sure i looked somewhere between a national geographic show, a hot dog eating contest, and the end of every epic meal time episode. basically, it was really messy and i was just shoveling the food into my mouth, and i'm sure i used up a whole roll of paper towels in the process. it was this clip of me eating a salami hero in the bronx zoo times 1000. it was so tasty i wish i could share with everyone, but instead i'm just going to ear it all my myself. btw here is the rice pudding recipe i used if you wanna make some dope ass rice pudding:


3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

green tea ice cream

i wanted to make green tea ice cream, and it was a last minute decision to serve that over brownies. it was a good decision. usually i bake my own brownies, but since this was last minute, i just grabbed a pre mixed box of brownies and baked them. now the green tea ice cream, was very easy to make and it was really tasty. the only problem was i should have went with my gut instinct and ignored one part of the recipe. the recipe said to whipped the heavy cream and fold it into the rest of the mixture, then freeze it according to your ice cream manufacturers directions. i've never heard of whipping cream and then putting it in an ice cream mixture, so i should have just put the heavy cream in without whipping it. what happened was the whipped cream froze in chunks in the ice cream mixture so it taste like frozen whipped cream instead of ice cream. i know that sounds good but the texture was all wrong, and the ice cream was chunky instead of smooth. so don't do that EVER when making ice cream. i think this recipe was trying to fuck with me.


2 egg yolk
2 tablespoon dry green tea
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 vanilla pod
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp boiling water

take green tea and soak in boiling water with the tbsp of sugar for 10-12 minutes.
in a saucepan put in the vanilla and milk and bring to a gentle boil, the pour this mixture over the tea. let stand 5-6 minutes.
beat the egg yolkd with the 1/4 cup sugar in a separate bowl, then strain the milk mixture into it.
transfer to a saucepan and gently heat until mixture is thick, stirring constantly. leave to cool. (whip the heavy cream and fold into the cooled tea mixture: WARNING IGNORE THAT COMPLETELY AND JUST ADD THE HEAVY CREAM TO THE COOLED TEA MIXTURE) then transfer to an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

fastest cinnamon buns take 2

i baked about an hour ago and had to write about these babies immediately. that's how good they were. i used this recipe before, and i put more love into it this time. fo realz, it says they're fast cinnamon buns because they don't have any yeast in them, but it took me like a half hour to roll out the dough just right (also because i suck at rolling dough) and trying to get the dough to form into a rectangle shape is a bitch. about 2/3 of the rolls are made w the cinnamon sugar mixture and 1/3 of the rolls with pecans added. i only cut 9 rolls instead of 12 because i wanted the rolls to be bigger. i added 4oz of cream cheese into the glaze mixture and added a little more milk so it was more of a frosting than a glaze. i think that's what made them so magical. ryan ate almost all of them already. i'm glad i made 3 with pecans so he won't eat them on me. pecans are like the garlic to his vampire.


3/4 cup cottage cheese (4% milk fat) (i used sour cream)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for rolling
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
For the filling:
3/4 oz. (1-1/2 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 cup (4 oz.) chopped pecans
For the glaze:
2-1/2 oz. (scant 2/3 cup) confectioners' sugar
2 to 3 Tbs. cold whole or low-fat milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
(i added 4 oz of cream cheese and more milk)
Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray. (i used a regular 9 inch round pie pan)

Make the dough:
In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (don’t overprocess). The dough will be soft and moist.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with floured hands 4 or 5 times until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12x15-inch rectangle.

Make the filling:
Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and pat gently into the surface. Sprinkle the nuts over the sugar mixture.

Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal, and leave the ends open.


With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan; they should fill the pan and touch slightly, but don’t worry if there are small gaps.


Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 28 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a spatula around the inside edge of the pan and remove the springform ring. Transfer the rolls to a serving plate.

Make the glaze:
In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tbs. milk, and vanilla to make a smooth glaze. It should have a thick but pourable consistency, so add up to 1 Tbs. more milk if necessary. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls. Let stand 15 minutes and serve.

fig newton sweet bread

i baked a loaf last week and ryan and i did not like it at all. gillian liked it, but she may have just been trying to be nice about it. it was a blueberry grits loaf. i love blueberry and grits and loaf, and the grits taste amazing before i baked it into a loaf, but i just was not feeling the results. so, i decided to bake another loaf. this time it's a fig newton sweet bread loaf. it is soooo good and def makes up for that last loaf. if you love fig newtons you HAVE got to try this. i never thought about baking a loaf with cookies in it. ok, maybe i THOUGHT about it, but i didn't think it would work. i know fig newtons are just fruit surrounded by a cookie layer, but maybe i can try other cookies in this loaf like oreos or chips ahoy. or those keebler fudge stripe cookies. mmm those fuckin keebler fudge stripe cookies...anyways this loaf is da bomb. even though there is only 2 tablespoons of butter in the swirl, the cake itself taste pretty buttery. dunno how that happened but butter = yummy.


1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients together. Put in a loaf pan.

Filling
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
10 Fig Newtons

Crumble together and swirl into the batter with a knife to marbleize. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour 45 minutes. (the recipe states to bake 1 hour 45 minutes but i think it actually meant 45-1 hour cuz i baked it for 1 hour and that was more than enough time)

chocolate chip olive oil mini muffins

this was my first time making mini muffins, and this recipe will definitely be used again, but in different variations. i really liked the cake part. it was sweet but not too sweet and because i know the secret ingredient, i could taste the olive oil slightly and that gave it a nice flavor. this recipe gave me exactly enough batter to make 24 mini muffins, which ryan and i ate all of them in only a couple of days.

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup flour

1/4 cup chocolate chips, if desired

1. Beat together the eggs and sugar with an electric beater until thin and pale. Add the olive oil, baking powder and salt and beat again until combined. If desired, add chocolate chips. 2. Fold in the flour and pour into a mini-muffin pan (or cake/loaf pan) sprayed with nonstick spray.3. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown (40 minutes for cake/load pan.)