Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins... a toddler's lesson

My husband and I take turns getting up with our son on the weekends.  On the weekends where Saturday is my day to get up I like to bake with the little guy.  He loves it, and then we have breakfast at the same time.  It's a win-win situation.  Well the husband is in New Orleans so that means it was definitely my turn to get up.  Last night after I put him to bed and organized the groceries for the week I noticed that I still had bananas from last week and I had bought another bunch.  I also noticed last weeks were not looking so hot.  A quick poke told me the bananas were either destined for some kind of baked good or the trash.  Always attempting to do better with the amount of food I waste I decided a baked good would work perfectly and cover the baking for the morning as well. 

First step is to pre-measure everything unless you have patience of steel.  Nothing like trying to level a cup of flour with a little person grabbing your elbow while chanting "I help you Mommy" about 50 times in 2 minutes.  I think my child could have a future as an auctioneer.  I try to use big containers to decrease the likely hood of things spilling onto the counter.  Any container will do as you can see.

I saw two recipes for Banana-chocolate chip muffins on the blogs I read every week but I couldn't remember which ones, so I just googled and clicked on the first thing I saw that had good reviews.  These were perfect, and easy enough for him to help with, always a perk.  The hardest part about this recipe was convincing him we had to leave the muffins to cool until the chocolate was no longer molten lava.

make sure YOU wash their hands as you never know where they are going to stick them

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Lois Gordon, allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
*1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

*I used vanilla because it's what I had (again with the food waste reduction act of 2010).  I don't think it made a difference.

Method

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Coconut-Chocolate Creme Brulee

After all of the recipe stealing I do around here I am happy to post one of my own recipes.  This dessert was inspired by Smokejacks on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont.  A restuarant I am sorry to say no longer existed the last time I visited. 

We served this at the end of a wine tasting this weekend and it won over even those that aren't big fans of coconut and probably ate the dessert just to be polite.  The chocolate was the main flavor with a mild coconut finish.  If only all the dirty stemware had dissappeared as fast as the dessert my Sunday probably would have been more enjoyable.

Coconut-Chocolate Crème Brulee


Ingredients

For Custard
2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
1/3 cup sugar
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup flaked sweetened coconut
6 large egg yolks
1 whole egg

For Topping
12 teaspoons sugar (2 teaspoons per custard)

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place three crème Brulee dishes in each of two 13X9X2-inch baking dishes (or whatever you have that fit your dishes, I needed three random baking dishes). Mix cream, coconut milk, sugar and flaed coconut in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a simmer, add chocolate and mix well until combined. Cover pan, and reduce heat to a very low simmer (or turn off after 5 minutes) and let sit for 10 minutes to infuse flavors. Pour mixture through a strainer into a large measuring cup.

Making the custard (Crème):
Whisk egg yolks in a medium to large bowl with whole egg until well blended. Temper the egg yolks but whisking quickly and slowly pouring a small amount of the chocolate mixture into the eggs. Mix thoroughly before adding more of the chocolate mixture. After a few mixes you can dump the rest of the chocolate mixture into the large bowl. Whisk until mixed thoroughly. Return custard to measuring cup. Divide among dishes. The custards do not rise so you want them poured fairly full. Pour enough hot water into pans to come halfway up sides of dishes. I pour a little in then place the pan and dishes into the oven, and then pour the rest in to reach half way. Carefully transfer pans to oven and make about 30 minutes or until custards are almost set in the center when pans are gently shaken. Using a spatula carefully transfer custards in dishes to work surface or cooling rack. Cool 30 minutes. Chill at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

Making the crunchy top (Brulee):
When ready to serve, sprinkle 2 teaspoons sugar evenly over each custard. Working with 1 custard at a time, hold Brulee torch so that the flame is 2 inches above the surface. Direct flame so that sug melts and brown, about 2 minutes. Keep the flame moving in a circular pattern to avoid burning the sugar in any one spot.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Fondue

This weekend we had friends over for fondue, figuring it would be a quick throw together meal.  Not so much.  I had never prepped three courses of fondue before and cutting everything up takes longer than you would think.  We started with a cheese fondue, a coq au vin fondue for the main course, and then peanut butter chocolate fondue for dessert.  I'll post the cheese fondue later but don't you always wish you could just start with dessert?

Anyone that has ever had chocolate fondue knows how amazing it is when you dip your cold fresh strawberry into the molten chocolate, but imagine dipping it into a liquid peanut butter cup.  This is by far the best dessert fondue I have had to date.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fondue


Ingredients

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Dippers: we used banana slices, halvedries, cheesecake, chocolate wafers, grahm crackers, marshmallows
Method

In a heavy saucepan, cook and stir the chocolate chips, sugar, milk
and peanut butter over low heat until smooth. Transfer to a fondue
pot and keep warm. Serve with bananas and strawberries, and other things you plan on dipping.

Yield: 12 servings.

Twist on a s'more.  Chocolate wafer, marshmallow peanut butter chocolate, and banana.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

I have been very busy this week with the end of my first class, however, I have my study group coming over tonight which was a perfect excuse to make this recipe.  I would highly recommend using canned pumpkin for this one.  For some reason when I pureed the fresh pumpkin little chunks did not break up, and while that may be able to hide in say a pie, not so much in a brownie.  I am hoping no chunks made it into the brownies I dropped off at the babies daycare this morning.  Happy eating.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Swirl Brownies


Martha Stewart Halloween 2004
Makes 16

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish (I am thinking this is suppose to be 9X13, because I used a 9-inch and if you can tell from the photos I have brownie bread it is so thick). Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter lining.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don't set.

With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.