Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I've basically been sick with bronchitis and sinus crud for the better part of a week. I got some mandatories done at work today, and decided to head home early to crash and sleep. I pretty much sacked out for 4.5 hours with a brief awakening to the neighbor mowing his yard. It's just what I needed to try and nip this crud in the bud. 

Whenever I'm sick, I always crave the comfort types of food that I grew up with. Things I remember from my childhood that my Mom would make when the weather turned cold, or warm. Or, if I or one of the many siblings were feeling sick. I love banana bread. So I decided to break out my Mom's recipe of banana bread and doctor it up a little bit with some peanut butter. The house couldn't smell any better with bananas and peanut butter baking away 

Dan's Peanut-Butter Banana Bread

4 medium bananas, very ripe

3 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar 

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder 

3/4 cup chopped walnuts 

6 tablespoons peanut butter, partly melted 

Directions:

Grease and flour one 8X4 (or larger) loaf pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Peel bananas and place in large mixing bowl. I always use my KitchenAid. Mash bananas on slow setting with paddle attachment. Add eggs, sugar, oil & vanilla and mix until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Once blended add to banana mixture. Mix until blended, but don't over mix. Add chopped not and mix briefly. Don't over mix. Pour into prepared pan. Place 6 tablespoons os partly melted peanut butter on top in big dollops. Swirl in a random pattern until peanut butter is incorporated and swirled into prepared dough. 

Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until knife or toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn loaf out onto wire rack to cool completely. 

Very much looking forward to enjoying this later tonight with Holly, as we enjoy a commitment free Friday evening, commitment free weekend for that matter, and fight this sickness. Oscar is on the mend and back to his self, time for Mom & Dad to nip this in the bud as well. 

Old Fashioned Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Bars

This past weekend, Holly was in the mood for something made out of peanut butter. So I looked at a few recipes and decided to make some good old fashioned oatmeal-peanut butter bars. The recipes I looked at called for a chocolate ganache layer. One even called or a peanut butter ganache layer in addition to the chocolate layer. Honestly, that seemed a little labor intensive to me, so I simplified the execution. After the bars were made and baked, I simply spread on some creamy peanut butter over the warm bars. Once solidified that basically was what I was looking for. Then I frosted the entire pan with a batch of chocolate frosting. These turned out great. The nice thing in making a large batch of these bars, is that we ended up sharing them with neighbors and friends. 

Dan's Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Bars:

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cup peanut butter

2 cups oatmeal (not quick)

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Cream the softened butter and the sugars together until light & fluffy. Add the vanilla, eggs, and 1 cup of the peanut butter and combine. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix together. Spread prepared dough on a greased jelly roll pan (18x13x1). 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. While hot spread 1 cup peanut butter on top. Cool so that the peanut butter has become slightly solid again. You can place these in the fridge so they set up faster. Spread a batch of chocolate frosting on top and cut into bars.

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/4 cup buttermilk or milk

2 tsp vanilla 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/3 cup (5 tablespoons) dutch processed cocoa 

2-3+ cups of powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients with a mixer until smooth, light & fluffy. Spread on top of bars.

Moist Carrot Cake

I was in the mood to make a from scratch carrot cake for Easter dinner. So I perused my cook books and came up with a version of cake based on a Barefoot Contessa carrot cake recipe and a Gourmet Magazine carrot cake recipe. I don't like raisins or dried fruit in carrot cake, so naturally it was a no brainer to leave that out. This is loaded with fresh grated carrots, as well as a bite of lemon juice and buttermilk to give it a nice tang. I omitted the heavy cream and the sour cream to lighten this up. Lots of chopped nuts are in the batter, and I plan on making a coconut cream cheese frosting when I put this together on one of my cake plates.



Lots of fresh grated carrots.



Using my Kitchen Aid to mix it all up.



Getting ready to bake it off.

Dan's Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 extra-large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
3 cups grated carrots
Zest & juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Beat the sugar, oil, lemon juice & zest, buttermilk and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots and nuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Divide batter among prepared cake pans. I typically use three 6" cake pans. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350°F and cook for a further 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Frost with your favorite cream cheese or buttercream frosting.

Seattle Snowmageddon Cinnamon rolls

When the snow arrives, and it frigid cold outside, nothing is better than tried & true comfort food. After a partial day in the office yesterday due to unexpected inclement weather for Seattle city, I came home and made a batch of cinnamon rolls for Holly & I to enjoy while we watched the snow and freezing rain ice pellets ravage the region.



Dan's Cinnamon Rolls

2 1/4 cups warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk, sifted
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup granulated sugar or honey
1 tablespoon salt
6-7 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar, or more as needed
2 teaspoons cinnamon, or more as needed
1/2 cup butter, melted or softened

Bloom yeast in warm water for 15 minutes. Add vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, dry milk, sugar, salt and 3 cups of flower. Mix in mixer until sticky and combined. Continue to add flour until most is incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky. Continue mixing and adding flour until it pulls away from side of mixer. Liberally coat in more oil and allow to raise in a warm place until triple in size.

With flour on your hands punch dough out and turn onto floured surface. Shape into a rectangle. Spread butter, then sugar than cinnamon. Roll up jelly roll style and cut. Place in liberally buttered baking dish and allow to proof until double in size. Bake 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, and add your favorite frosting or glaze.

Dan's Cinnamon Roll Glaze

1/4 C milk
Splash of fresh lemon juice
Zest of half a lemon
1 tsp vanilla
2+ C powdered sugar

Combine milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Slowly whisk in powdered sugar to desired constancy. Spread on warm cinnamon rolls. NOTE: The photo above is a half batch of the dough. A half batch will yield you 12-15 rolls depending on the size. And I use a buttered 11X17 pan for mine, not a cookie sheet.

Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Buttercream

This past weekend was Holly's Birthday. I really wanted to make her a diner style birthday cake. Big flavor, with multiple layers. And on an impressive cake stand. I had fun perusing a few recipes and came up with with something that I felt was moist and not overly dry for the cake after some adjusting. And some tasty peppermint buttercream with the addition of cream cheese. It turned out well.



Dan's Moist Chocolate Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
2 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup + 2 Tbsp water
1 cup + 2 Tbsp canola oil
5 large or 4 extra large/jumbo eggs
¾ cup water
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp espresso powder

Directions for cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cocoa & espresso powder. Next, add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of water and 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Mix for 1 minute. Then add eggs, 3/4 cup of water, vanilla. Mix 5-6 minutes with a whisk, 3-4 minutes with a hand mixer, or 2 minutes with a KitchenAid mixer.

Pour into three prepared 10" cake pans, bake at 350°F for 25-35 minutes (adjust for convection); test by placing and removing a toothpick through the center at 25 minutes. When toothpick comes out clean, loosen from and invert onto a wire cooling rack. Let cakes cool completely on the racks. Wrap in foil, and put in the freezer until firm. I find it easiest to frost a frozen cake.

Dan's Peppermint Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

1 pound (4 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
3 boxes (1 pound each) powdered sugar
1 TBS pure peppermint extract
Pink or Red food coloring

Directions for frosting:

This part is a little harder as it is really done to taste. Cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add 2.5 to three boxes of powdered sugar until you get desire consistency. Thin with milk as necessary or add more powdered sugar. Add food coloring to get to desired shade of pink. Add extract to desired flavor. Frost frozen cakes. Once frosted, allow frozen cake to that to room temperate for a few hours.

Bacony-Chocolate Yumminess...!

For my birthday I took a much needed "comp" day at stayed home and cooked up a bunch of savory and sweet treats to share with my friends. For one of the desserts, I made these Cooks Illustrated devils food cupcakes. I then made a batch of my salted caramel butter cream frosting. That recipe is also on our blog under a separate "Recipes-Desserts" post, and topped them all off with some crispy bacon. They were pretty tasty if I do say so myself...



Cook's Illustrated Devils Food Cupcakes

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/3 cup (1 ounce) Dutch-processed cocoa
¾ cup hot coffee
¾ cup (4 1/8 ounces) bread flour
¾ cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup sour cream
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-size muffin pan (cups have ½-cup capacity) with baking-cup liners. Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl. Pour hot coffee over mixture and whisk until smooth. Set in refrigerator to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, sour cream and vanilla into cooled chocolate-cocoa mixture until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

3. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until cupcakes are set and just firm to touch, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before frosting, about 1 hour.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes

I'll admit it, I love salt over sweet. I'll take salty chips on occasion over treats most any day of the week. However, when it comes to caramel, I could polish off a batch of homemade caramel myself! We had friends over for dinner and I was craving chocolate cake with either chocolate frosting or salted caramel icing. After perusing a few recipes I took inspiration from a Southern Living recipe, coupled with a Bon Appetit recipe and adjusted and came up with my own rendition. End result, a much better salted caramel butter cream product. Less meringue tasting, not too intensely salty; just the right amount. And a huge bonus in my book, it didn't dirty every known dish in our kitchen...!



Making a quick caramel with sugar, salt and water. Cooking it undisturbed until it got to the desired amber color.



One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is my infrared digital thermometer. Holly picked this up for me several years ago. When I started taking up candy making at home, the need for precise temperate, while stirring was crucial. I made a water bath in a both with the kitchen aid mixer bowl and whisked egg whites with granulated sugar until it came to 140 degrees to ensure no food borne illness etc.



Whipping the egg whites until hard peaks are formed.



Adding the cooled caramel sauce to the whipped egg whites.



Beating and beating and beating this mixture, while adding butter, one tablespoon at a time. To get it to this consistency I always add powdered sugar. I find from scratch swiss meringue style butter cream is on the runny side and does not hold it's shape when piped. The powdered sugar ensures it will hold it's piped look and feel.



The finished product with some Maldon sea salt flakes for garnish. Even the texture of the from scratch chocolate cake was good. It was a new recipe I tried. Next time I'll add some sour cream to the batter to keep it a tad more moist for the days following.

Dan's Salted Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp + 2 tsp (40 mL) heavy cream
2 egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1. Put 1/4 cup of sugar and water in saucepan over medium-high heat. Do not stir of you will get sugar crystals, but you can swirl the saucepan gently. It will bubble itself into a deep amber. Remove immediately from heat and add cream (careful - it will bubble up furiously). Stir until smooth and set aside.

2. Put the egg whites, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a heatproof stand mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture reaches 140 degrees. Best to use infrared thermometer. Transfer to stand mixer once temperature is reached. It's fine to start whisking hot. The incorporation of air will cool the mixture down.

3. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Add butter one tablespoon at a time, and continue beating on medium. Reduce speed to low, add vanilla extract, and then caramel. Beat for 4-5 minutes. Mixture will look like it is separating, but then it comes back together. Add powdered sugar to get butter cream to desired consistency.

My New Favorite Ice Cream Recipe

Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Gourmet Magazine

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt such as Maldon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs

EQUIPMENT: an ice cream maker

Heat 1 cup sugar in a dry 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is dark amber.

Add 1 1/4 cups cream (mixture will spatter) and cook, stirring, until all of caramel has dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sea salt and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, bring milk, remaining cup cream, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar just to boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally.

Lightly whisk eggs in a medium bowl, then add half of hot milk mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard coats back of spoon and registers 170°F on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil). Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, then stir in cooled caramel.

Chill custard, stirring occasionally, until very cold, 3 to 6 hours.

Freeze custard in ice cream maker (it will still be quite soft), then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up.

Raspberry Lemon Tart

So I was in the mood to really cook this past Sunday. For me, as you all know, cooking is a way for me to unwind and de-stress. For dinner I was craving homemade bread sticks with seasonings on top. I made a batch of these for our Sunday dinner, along with a pot of Beef Stroganoff. I purchased some good organic beef sirloin steak, froze it for an hour or so, so I could thin slice it up and braise it with stock, some red wine, seasonings, onion, garlic etc. For dessert I wanted to make a Raspberry Lemon Tart.



Recipe:

1 recipe pie crust for 9" pie or tart pan
1 8oz package reduced fat cream cheese, room temp
1/2 C prepared lemon curd
1/2 C powdered sugar
pinch of salt
Zest of one lemon
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1-2 T heavy cream
1-2 Pints fresh organic raspberries

Prepare crust in tart pan. Bake off at 425 degrees until desired doneness. Remove and allow to cool to room temperate. Meanwhile in your mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, thoroughly combine cream cheese, curd, sugar, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice. Beat until light and fluffy. Thin with cream as necessary.



Spread cream cheese mixture on bottom of cooled pie crust. Arrange with fresh raspberries on top. Chill at least 1-2 hours before serving so cream cheese mixture can re-set. I sort of just whipped this up, after feeling inspired by a few recipes in Bon Appetit, Gourmet and the new Farm to Table cookbook I recently purchased. I love experimenting in the kitchen.

Homemade Chocolate Orange Gelato

Holly and I were in the mood this past weekend to get the ice cream maker out, and try some new recipes. We both were in the mood for chocolate gelato. I looked up some recipes in Bon Appétit, Cooks Illustrated and Gourmet. I also looked at a basic Ben & Jerry’s recipe. I decided to sort of meld these all together and get this recipe exactly to where Instead of just plain chocolate, I wanted to enhance the basic flavor a bit with a hint of orange. The end result was amazing! We will be making this new recipe I came up with, over and over all summer long.

Dan's Chocolate Orange Gelato

1 & ½ C whole milk
1 & ½ C heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
¾ C sugar
12oz best quality bitter or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 TBS best quality pure orange extract, do not use imitation
Candied orange zest – optional

In a double boiler slowly melt 8oz of chopped chocolate over simmer water bath. When melted, cool to room temperature. In a large saucepan heat milk, cream and ½ C of sugar, until sugar is fully dissolved. Gently heat this mixture to 120 degrees if you have an instant read thermometer, about five minutes. Do not boil. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl beat the four egg yolks with the remaining ¼ C of sugar and orange extract. Beat until yolks are pale yellow and sugar is thoroughly incorporated. Mix cooled chocolate into egg mixture. Whisk thoroughly. Add milk/cream mixture ½ C at a time into egg/chocolate mixture, stirring well after each addition. If you incorporate the milk all at once, it will not mix together properly. After milk/cream mixture has been incorporated into the egg/chocolate mixture, place entire mixture back into saucepan and simmer gently to 180 degrees. This step is about six more minutes. Gently simmer until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and refrigerate until completely cool. Once completely cooled, transfer to your ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s directions. Once ice cream is almost solid, mix in the remaining 4oz of chopped chocolate and orange zest, if desired. Once set, transfer to freezer proof container and freeze until solid.