Banana Bread, Cream Cheese and Strawberry Open Face Sammies

We're in the middle of summer and I've been slacking as far as the blog posts go. My apologies, but I have a lame excuse, I do. There are too many delicious recipes to try and too much time to spend outdoors. Well this long over do post is one that is delish and truly not my own creation. It's a compilation of a few great bloggers out there and let's give credit where credit is due. The sour cream banana bread comes from Courtney at Neighborfoodblog.com and the strawberry sauce/compote comes from Christine who got the recipe from Aunt Missy's Kitchen.

I love a creamy banana bread and Courney hit the nail on the head with this one. Here's her recipe (with one minor change from me):

Sour Cream Banana Bread
8 slices

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened (Courtney melted her butter)

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

½ cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 large very ripe bananas

1½ cups flour

1 teaspoon. baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

Grease an 8 inch bread pan with butter or cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. I used my hand mixer for this stage and mixed ingredients together until smooth and no brown sugar lumps remained. Put your mixer away and whisk in the sour cream, add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

 

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas then whisk them into the sour cream/egg mixture.

 

Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon on top then stir it together until flour is incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Check the pan after about 30 minutes. If the top is getting too browned, cover with foil for the remaining baking time. I didn't have to do that the two times I made this bread.  Allow the bread to cool before removing from the pan. Wrap leftovers in saran wrap. Bread will keep for up to a week. (Mine is gobbled up in a matter of days)

 

 

Now how about some strawberries to top this moist, delicious bread? Sounds good to me!

Homemade Strawberry Sauce

12 oz fresh strawberries rinsed and hulled
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp butter
Pinch of salt
Juice of 1 lemon (Missy uses 1/2 a lemon)
2 level teaspoons cornstarch
1 T cool water

In medium saucepan combine half the berries, sugar, butter, lemon juice and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium low heat for about 7 minutes, stirring a few times to make sure the sugar is dissolved and the mixture doesn't stick to the pan. (If you forget the butter, as I did the first time I made this, the mixture WILL stick to the pan, but the easy solution is to add the butter as soon as you realize you forgot it and you should be all right). In a separate small bowl, combine cornstarch and water and stir until smooth. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the strawberry mixture and stir. Allow berries to bubble and simmer for another minute or two and remove from heat. Add the remainder of the strawberries. Cool and refrigerate for later.

As Missy says, "this makes a great sauce for cheesecake, ice cream, pancakes, French Toast etc". I took the etcetera route and made a decadent breakfast/brunch entrée or side. Open Faced Banana Bread, Cream Cheese and Strawberry Sandwiches. Yummy delish, that's all I can say. Thanks fellow bloggers for all your inspiration!

 

 

And a few days later, I came up with this idea for easy portability. Three layer banana bread with all the fixings.

 



Make Yourself Comfortable

Craving comfort food? I sure am. This little gem managed to get me out of the bad mood I've been in due to the constant snow that has invaded New England for 2-1/2 weeks. Oh yes, 2 or 3 more days of shoveling, salting, are sanding are in the forecast, not to mention an additional 12 to 15 inches of the white stuff. When we have a snowy winter like this one, I always try to keep bread, eggs, cheese, cream and butter in the house.  One of the reasons is so that I have an excuse to comfort myself with this decadent strata. It's great right out of the oven, and almost as good at room temp. Here's the recipe.

Ham and Cheese Strata
Serves 9

Cooking spray
2 T unsalted butter
8 slices hearty white bread cubed 1" pieces
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz honey ham sliced 1" pieces
2 scallions chopped
5 large eggs
1-3/4 cups fat free half and half
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Ready to assemble this cheesy, buttery, savory concoction? I sure am.

Spray an 8" x 8" baking dish and set aside. On stovetop on low, melt butter in small saucepan and remove to cool. Place half the bread cubes on top of the sprayed baking dish.

Sprinkle with 1-1/2 cups of cheese. Top with all the ham and chopped scallions. Add the rest of the cubed bread and the remaining cheese.

Set the baking dish aside and make the custard: Whisk together eggs, half and half, melted butter, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Pour this liquid gold over your ham, cheese and bread mixture.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours (or longer shouldn't hurt), letting the custard soak into all the elements of the dish. About an hour before you're ready to bake, remove dish from fridge and let come to room temperature.

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake 50-60 minutes in middle rack on oven. All ovens are different, so start checking for brown-ness at about 40 minutes. Remove from oven, let rest about 10 minutes before serving. I slice into 9 squares. Doesn't that look comforting?

There are so many ways to re-mix this recipe...add some Dijon mustard to the custard. Place a layer of roasted red peppers or softened sun dried tomatoes on the ham and cheese. Of course some chopped, cooked bacon would be heavenly as well. One of my favorites is blue cheese and caramelized onions. You can even make this on a sweet note, with cottage cheese, raisins and cinnamon. There are so many ways to make yourself comfortable, I suggest you give a strata a try!

Cream-Filled Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Cookies with a Twist

The twist. Ahh the twist is the addition of Maple Extract. I don't bake with it often enough, and it's the perfect addition to so many fall and winter dishes (both sweet and savory).

I know some people are not fond of maple anything, and then some go wild over maple everything. Both my parents were fanatics about maple walnut ice cream and maple walnut coffee cake. So that was my inspiration when I decided to put this experiment together last night. There are a few steps to making these little darlings, but the results are so worth it. And as usual, I've tried to cut some calories and sugar. There might be some future tweaking, but for now...this is a yummy cookie your maple lovers will adore.

Cream-Filled Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Cookies
makes approximately 20-22 sandwich cookies

Filling
8 oz Neufchatel cheese softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened (1 stick)
1/2-3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 T Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (or 2 T regular brown sugar)
1 tsp natural maple extract
1/3 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts

Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
1 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (same amount if you're using granulated sugar)
1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (or 1 cup regular brown sugar)
2 large eggs at room temp
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp natural maple extract
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1cup rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts

I like to make my filling first. In medium size bowl, combine your butter and Neufchatel. I use a hand mixer. Now add your sugars and maple extract.

And fold in your ground nuts.

Wrap filling in plastic wrap and set aside in your refrigerator to set up and let the flavors meld.

Let's make the cookies. Pre heat your oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment. In medium size bowl, combine salt, flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk with a fork or spoon to incorporate. No need for any sifting. Set aside.

On to the batter. Place butter and sugars in a large bowl. With hand mixer combine sugars and butter until smooth. Add eggs and both extracts and incorporate.

 
Now add the flour mixture in two batches to the wet ingredients and combine. And fold in the oats, raisins and chopped walnuts.

I usually just plop my oatmeal dough by teaspoonfuls onto the parchment paper, but since I was filling these little beauties, I decided to make them into 1 inch to 1-1/2 inch balls, so they would all be pretty uniform in size.

Bake each cookie sheet 9 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack and remove cookies to paper towels to finish setting up. And amazingly enough, the cookies are all pretty much the same size. I lucked out on that one.

While cookies are cooling, remove the filling from the fridge, let it come to almost room temp so filling the cookies will be a snap. Lovingly pile a teaspoon to a tablespoon of the maple infused filling on to the bottom (flat side) of one cookie and top with a second. Keep going, and be sure to sample at least one (or two). They really are yummy.

Decadent Orange Ricotta Cake

I had quite a bit of oranges left from my Saucy Mama challenge last week and had a serious sweet tooth to boot. I remembered the ricotta cheese in my fridge and before I knew it, I was prepping my loaf pan for a variation of Mike's Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake. It's creamy. Oh so creamy! And for those who think the consistency of ricotta is grainy, you won't find that in this sweet little confection. It's a cake that almost reminds me of a flan. It's simple to put together and I think you'll enjoy making it and eating it- especially with the orange/sugar glaze that seeps into the cake and the strawberry/orange sauce that just puts it a little over the edge. Plus there's no waste when it comes to the oranges- you'll use the zest, flesh and juice. Enough talk, let's get cooking.

Orange Ricotta Cake
9 x 5 inch loaf pan

1-1/2 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cups unsalted butter at room temp
1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese (I used the lower fat)
1-1/2 cups sugar (I used Splenda no calorie)
3 large eggs at room temp
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dash of orange extract (optional)

Glaze
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Juice of orange that you used for the zest

Orange Strawberry Sauce
16 oz strawberries diced
Zest of 2 oranges
Supremed orange slices from the 2 oranges
Juice of both oranges
1/4 cup water
1 T sugar or Splenda

Prepare loaf pan with cooking spray and pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. In medium size bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix ingredients with whisk or fork and set aside.

In large bowl cream your softened butter. I do not have a stand mixer and find that my small hand mixer works fine. Add your sugar (or Splenda) in a few batches and beat until creamy and light. Now add the ricotta and combine to the mix. Add 1 egg at a time until all 3 have been incorporated. Now add the zest, and extracts.

When all the yummy wet ingredients are mixed well add the dry ingredients. I do this in two steps. And like most cakes, don't over beat. Combine until all ingredients are incorporated and there is no dry flour hanging around. Remember to scrape down the sides of your bowl a few times while mixing.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake 15 minutes. Lower oven heat to 325 degrees and turn loaf pan 180 degrees. Bake another 45 minutes and your cake should be ready. Use the toothpick trick- if a toothpick inserted into the cooked cake comes out clean, you're cake is done. And don't throw away that toothpick because we'll be poking some mini holes in the cake. But first, let cake cool on cooling rack.

Remove from pan and continue to cool on rack. While cake is cooling, make your glaze by whisking together the confectioner's sugar and juice of zested orange.

When the cake is easy to handle, transfer to plate and poke as many holes with your toothpick as you like. These holes are going to allow the sweet glaze to seep into the cake to make it even richer and creamier than you ever imagined.

With holes adequately poked, take a spoon and drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake. Let some of it sink in and repeat. And repeat and repeat until all the glaze is used up.

I let my cake sit overnight carefully wrapped in plastic wrap with toothpicks standing guard on all sides.

As soon as I got home from work tonight I added the final touch, the orange strawberry sauce. Now this is easy. Take your diced strawberries, supremed oranges, sugar (or Splenda), water, zest and orange juice and place in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer until mixture concentrates and begins to thicken, about 15-20 minutes. Stir this sauce occasionally as the sugar likes to try and stick to the pan.

Let the sauce cool and plate your dessert and sauce.

The addition of a dab of whipped cream would have been nice on top of the sauce, but darn it again, I didn't have any cream in the fridge. When I make this little bit of decadence again, you can be sure I will have some on hand.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

There was a recipe being shared on facebook last week that caught my eye. It was Amish Cinnamon Bread posted by Torri Camp Gayle. I really couldn't tell what her finished bread looked like because the slice was slathered with cream cheese, but I loved the ingredients and had some buttermilk in my fridge (my new favorite ingredient for everything) and decided to make a loaf. I used a medium size loaf pan and am rather happy with the results, although I'd love to get some more swirl action happening within the bread. Here's the recipe:

Amish Cinnamon Bread
credit to Torri Camp Gayle

1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup sugar (I used Splenda no calorie)
1 large egg
1 cup low fat buttermilk
2 cups flour (I was at the end of my AP flour so added 1/2 cup whole wheat flour to make the 2 cups)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (my addition)

Cinnamon Swirl and Topping
1/3 cup sugar (I used Splenda no cal)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Prepare loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside. Mix together the Cinnamon Swirl and Topping mixture and set aside.  Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

Now we're ready to rock and roll. Cream butter, Splenda and egg until combined. I mixed this for about 2-3 minutes with my trusty hand mixer.

Now add the buttermilk, flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined, but don't overmix. You don't want a tough bread. Pour half the batter into your prepared pan and sprinkle 3/4 of your sugar mixture on top.

Top with the remaining batter, and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture. Take a knife (or maybe a wooden skewer would do the trick) and make swirls back and forth in the batter. Mine ended up looking lumpy.

So I patted it down with my clean hands.

I wasn't thrilled (it was still lumpy), but in the oven it went for 45-50 minutes. And I must say it's a super tasty bread that needs a bit of a face lift.

My friend Aurora had a good idea to solve the lumpiness. Do the swirling before you add the second layer of the batter. I'm even taking her idea a step farther and suggesting you make three thin layers of batter topped with the 1/3 each of the cinnamon mixture and only swirl the bottom two. That's what I'm going to try next! Any other suggestions are more than welcome. I know I have some seasoned bakers reading every so often, so if you're out there- share any secrets you may have, before I make this again. All in all, this was a simple, tasty recipe that just needs a little tweaking. And once it was cut- you'd never know it needed plastic surgery. A very good recipe that I think would also make an awesome bread pudding!

Cherry Cobbler with Oats

This is a quick post to let you know that the peach cobbler I made a while back can be re-mixed with frozen cherries and some oats for a marvelous crunch. Love when I can add a few oats in my desserts! Here's the recipe:

Cherry Cobbler
serves six

12 oz frozen pitted cherries, drained of juice and defrosted
1 stick unsalted butter melted
1 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup Splenda no calorie sweetener
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1 tsp vanila extract
1/4 cup Splenda no calorie sweetener for topping

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8 x 8 inch pan with cooking spray. Melt butter and set aside to cool. Mix your dry ingredients together with a whisk (flour through the one cup of Splenda). Now add your buttermilk, vanilla and butter and stir to combine. Top with the cherries and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Splenda. Breakfast or dessert will be done in 1 hour. Easy and super yummy. Hope you give this a try!  

Crunchy Chewy Granola Bars

I've been making granola bars for years because I just can't eat the packaged ones found in the grocery store. Either they're too sweet, too crunchy, or taste like tree bark. And as much as I try to be a nature lover, tree bark is not something I'd like to ingest.

A few months ago I bought a baking pan with square indentations, and last night when I was mixing up the batter for some peanut butter raisin granola bars, the light went off in my head- Use the new pan for the bars, you'll get 4 sides of crunchy crust and a chewy middle in each and every bar.

Peanut Butter Raisin Granola Bars
Makes 8 individual 2-1/2 inch square bars

Cooking spray
1/2 stick butter
2 egg whites
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup Splenda no calorie sweetener
1/4 cup honey
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Prep pan with cooking spray. Melt butter and set aside to cool. In large mixing bowl beat egg whites until frothy. Mix in peanut butter, sugar and honey. Here's a nice tip: spray your measuring cups with cooking spray before adding peanut butter and honey and they won't stick, they'll slide right out. Now add the butter and mix. You'll have a very smooth mixture at this point. Now it's time to add the oats and cinnamon. Sometimes I add the oats whole. But last night I took 3/4 cup of oats and pulverized them in my spice grinder. I like the end result better this way, but if you're too lazy to do this, go ahead and add the oats without the grinding step. Now add the raisins.

If you're using a pan like mine, you'll get 8 bars that are between 3/4 inch to 1 inch deep. Place batter into square indentations and smooth with your clean hands. You're now ready for a quick bake.

Bake 12-15 minutes in middle rack until edges begin to slightly brown. Do not overcook.

Let cool about a half hour and enjoy!

Re-Mix: There are so many variations for this recipe and I don't believe I've tried them all yet, but here are some ideas. Instead of the raisins add mini chocolate chips and a little vanilla extract. Crushed roasted peanuts are always a welcome addition, and I have even added macademia nuts and candied pineapple, which is really a treat. And even better than the Splenda sweetener, is brown sugar. Oh, and if you are a fan of dried fruit, add some dried apricots for some zing. Go through your fridge and freezer, I bet you've got ingredients for your own custom made granola bars. Just remember that cinnamon is a strong spice and it might have to be eliminated with certain combinations.

If you don't have a pan like mine, this recipe will work in an 8 x 8 inch pan, baked for 20 minutes. I would cut the bars into 12 pieces (4 x 3) not quite square.

Raspberry Brownie Sundaes

I am so baked out. Really. In the last few years I have joined so many cooking groups/clubs, internet sites that celebrate every season/holiday that inspire me to try something new that I always seem to have one more thing to try. I think tonight (except for the dulce de leche cookies waiting to be baked tomorrow that are in my fridge) I am done with sweets for the season (at least until World Nutella Day and Valentines's Day) but that's in February so I think I might be ready again. So before I go back to posting salads and healthy dishes, I must share today's bit of decadence. And oh! it's so worth sharing. It all started with a candy bar my friend Mary Anne gave me.

And continued with a purchase I made at the supermarket today. A nine dollar mini "bar" baking pan.

I've been playing around with single serve desserts for a while now and knew I could put this little darling to good use. And that's exactly what I did this afternoon. How does Raspberry filled Ghirardelli dark chocolate filled brownies sound to you? Sounded right up my alley, and it was really simple since I used a boxed brownie mix and everything else that came after that just seemed to fall into place. This is a dessert I recommend to anyone who needs a chocolate fix or wants to make this their last hurrah before the new year, it's just that rich. Here's the recipe:

Individual Raspberry Brownie Sundaes
makes 8

1 box of your favorite brownie mix for 8x8 pan
2 large eggs
3 T cooled strong brewed coffee
1/3 cup canola oil

Topping
8 oz neufchatel cheese softened
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves (I like Polaner All Fruit)
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Garnish
Hershey's syrup (I used the lite)
Hershey's mini chocolate chips
Fresh raspberries (price was unreasonable so I nixed that, but they would be great if you feel rich)

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and prep pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownie mix using my ingredients, not what is on the box. That would be 2 eggs instead of one and the coffee instead of the water.  Pour half the mixture into 8 of the 12 indentations in the pan. Place a square of the Ghirardelli chocolate on top of each brownie mixture.

Cover those heavenly pieces of raspberry chocolate goodness with more brownie mix, but don't over fill. You shouldn't have any brownie mix left over. Bake 17 minutes and let cool.

While brownies are cooling, prepare the creamy frosting. Mix all ingredients (I use a simple hand mixer) . When frosing is fluffy and brownies are cool or almost cool, it's time to assemble this little plate of decadence. Place brownie in individual bowl.

I tried the presentation a few ways and liked them served in ramekins, but for the blog I chose clear bowls so you could see the whole sequence. Time to add some chocolate syrup. I was conservative but you certainly don't haveto be.

Add a dollop or two of the raspberry cream.

Your brownie sundae is almost done. Add some mini chips like I did. Or try fresh raspberries, or even frozen raspberries with some natural juice. Great dessert to end the year or welcome a new one! Happy new year to all and thanks so much for reading.