Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Posted by: Maggie

These ugly muffins aren't going to win any beauty pageants.

They're kind of flat. They're brown and bumpy. They're not covered in colorful frosting and pretty sprinkles like their more attractive cousin, the cupcake.

But...they're damn good. They don't need to be pretty because they have personality. They're super moist, with banana flavored batter and chunks of banana and loads of delicious chocolate chips. I shoved two of them in my mouth this morning, and promptly put the rest in the freezer because I really don't want to be forklifted from my apartment someday as a result of eating too many baked goods.

Make these the next time you have a couple overripe bananas sitting around. Your home will smell heavenly and if you live in an apartment building like me your neighbors will be jealous. I get some kind of perverse satisfaction out of making my neighbors jealous with delicious food smells. They probably don't even notice, but I like to pretend they do.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 overripe bananas
1/2 cup light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used half milk chocolate and half semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and line a muffin tin with 12 liners.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, roughly mash one of the bananas so that it's still slightly chunky and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar and the other banana on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, egg, and vanilla, and mix well. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, mixing only until just combined. Fold in the mashed up banana and chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, and give the pan a good thwack on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in muffin tin for 3 minutes, and then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.

Printer-friendly
Source: adapted from Tyler Florence via Food Network

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Posted by: Annie

These cookies almost didn't happen. Almost two weeks ago, I purchased a giant wholesale sized bag of Hershey Kisses from Costco with the intent of being a nice teacher and having candy in my classroom. Well, this bag never made it to school. It started in my room, and then Scott and I would put it on the coffee table to munch on while we were watching television. And then, you know, a handful would be thrown into my purse, and before I knew it, the bag was dwindling in size and I was falling into a Hershey Kiss induced coma.

I decided I needed to do something "productive" with my giant bag of Hershey Kisses, and peanut butter blossoms immediately came to mind. So, to any readers out there considering making these cookies, my advice would be to buy a normal-sized bag of Hershey Kisses, or else accept that you will be finding little silver wrappers in your car, purse, and bed (ahem), for weeks to come.

Here's what you'll need:

48 Hershey Kisses
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Unwrap your Hershey Kisses.

In a large mixing bowl, combine shortening and peanut butter. Mix well.

Next, add both sugars to the shortening/peanut butter mixture and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry mixture into the peanut butter mixture and mix well.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.  Remove from the oven, and immediately place a Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie. Place on wire rack to cool.

Printer-friendly
Source: Hershey's

Pumpkin Bread

Posted by: Maggie

Uhhh...we're almost two weeks into September, and I haven't posted a pumpkin recipe yet.

That's just not right.

Annie shared a recipe last fall for pumpkin apple bread, but I still wanted to post the pumpkin bread recipe that we both grew up eating.  I call this my mom's recipe, but she may have gotten it from a cookbook or magazine somewhere back in the day.  Despite living 215 miles away from my mom now, I almost felt like I was back in her kitchen when I had a slice this morning for breakfast.

For those readers who haven't been around for long, here are some of our past pumpkin recipes in case you're looking for fall baking inspiration:

Pumpkin Butterscotch Blondies
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies (best. thing. ever.)
Pumpkin Pie Bars
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Looking through those past posts made me realize how much my photography has improved over the past year. Granted, it's still nothing to write home about, especially compared to my food photography idols (Joy the Baker, and My Baking Addiction in case you're wondering.) Definitely an improvement though. Hurray for natural light!

Here's what you'll need:

2/3 cup shortening (I know...don't yell at me anti-shortening people of the world!)
2 2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup raisins (I used golden raisins because they're what I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottoms only of two 9" loaf pans. Mix shortening and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs, pumpkin, and water.  In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Gradually beat dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Gently fold in nuts and raisins. Divide batter evenly between two pans, and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 45 minutes to an hour before removing from pans. Cool completely on a rack before slicing.

Printer-friendly