Frosted Banana Cookies

If you ever wished banana nut bread could be turned into a cookie,hen your wish is about to come true.

Tired of making banana nut bread every time I had very ripe bananas, I decided to search for something new and found Frosted Banana Cookies by Krumkake.

Really I'm not lying. These cookies taste just like banana nut bread. They are soft and moist with the perfect amount of banana flavor. I loved the brown sugar frosting. Like I said before, frosting makes everything extra yummy!

Since I'm sending you to the recipe page, I won't reprint the recipe, but just tell you what I did differently.

1. I never premash (is that a real word?) bananas. I throw them in the Kitchen aid and let it do the mashing.

2. I don't sift my flour, but I do sift the baking soda since it tends to clump.

3. I didn't use the banana flavor. I just added the teaspoon of vanilla. I'm not a big fan of a strong banana flavor.

4. These cookies are yummy without the frosting if you prefer them that way like my kids do.

5. I'm digging Krumkake. If that's your picture, then your one cool chick and thanks for sharing your recipe!
P.S You're cool even if that's not you in the picture!



Frosted Banana Cookies
by Krumkaes

Spaghetti Carbonara

I have never made this simple dish before but I had a feeling I was going to love it since it had roasted garlic in it. And let's face it; anything with roasted garlic is bound to be good.



Spaghetti Carbonara with roasted garlic
Adapted from The Sutter home Napa Valley Cookbook

4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

salt

1/2 lb dried spaghetti

1/2 lb sliced bacon

2 eggs room temperature, lightly beaten

1/4 light cream or half and half

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pepper

Peel the garlic and wrap it in foil. Place in 350 degrees oven. Roast for 30 minutes or until soft and golden brown.

Unwrap the garlic and mash it in a small bowl with the butter. Set aside

In a large pot bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al denta.

In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, Transfer to a paper towel. Crumble when cool and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk the eggs and cream until blended well. Set aside.

TO Assemble

Drain the spaghetti and rinse the pot and return to stove over the lowest heat. Add the garlic butter and stir to coat bottom of pan. Add spaghetti and toss to coat. Remove from heat and add egg mixture. Stir constantly until it has thickened and formed a sauce. Add bacon and cheese along with salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat.

Serve immediately.

Blackberry Slump

This is a great recipe when you are craving a cobbler on a hot day, but you don't want to use your oven as this cobbler is cooked on the stove top. Which is perfect for when it is too hot to bake.



Blackberry Slump
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma New England Cookbook

2 pt (1lb) blackberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Biscuits

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup buttermilk

In a Dutch oven or heavy saucepan with a tight fitting lid, combine the berries, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir and set aside.

For the biscuits, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter and buttermilk briefly to form a soft, lumpy dough.

Set the pan with the berries in it over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once the berries have come to a boil, uncover and stir to ensure the sugar has melted and reduce the heat to medium-low. Drop spoonfuls of biscuits onto the simmering berries, spacing them evenly. Cover and simmer gently until the biscuits are firm and dry to the touch. Do not remove the lid too often as it is the steam that cooks the biscuits.

Spoon the slump into bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream, cream or whipped cream.

Key Lime Pie

I've had my fair share of Key lime pie and some of them I have loved and others I could have done without. This one falls in the category of love. I love, love, love this pie. It has the perfect amount of tartness without making you pucker (who can enjoy a pie that makes you wince from the tartness with each bite?). This is the kind of pie that makes you say oh my when you take the first bite.


I bought a bag of limes thinking it would yield the 1 1/4 cups of lime juice, but I only got 1/2 cup. After tasting the lime juice, I realized it was strong enough I could add water to get the 1 1/4 cup of liquid I needed, I was right. After added the water, the lime juice was still tart. For me the diluted juice was the perfect flavor, but if you love a tart key lime, then add the full amount.


Key Lime Pie
Adapted from Cottage Living 2/2006

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 tablespoon butter, melted

2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk

1 1/4 Key lime juice (fresh, not from a bottle)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

sweetened whipped cream



Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, and butter with hands; press firmly into a 10-inch pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and let stand for 15 minutes.

Whisk together condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs until well blended. Pour into crust and bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until set. Chill for 4 hours.

To finish pie, spread sweetened whipped cream over top and serve.

Zucchini Pancakes

One of my favorite ways to use up zucchini and to get my kids to eat their vegetables!


Zucchini Pancakes
Barefoot Contessa at home

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 lb)

2 tablespoons grated red onion

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

6 to 8 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

unsalted butter and vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Grate the zucchini into a bowl using the large grating side of a box grater. Stir in onion and eggs. Stir in 6 tablespoon of flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. You can add the remaining two tablespoon of flour if the batter gets too runny.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter with 1/2 tablespoon oil. Heat until the butter is hot but not smoking and then lower the heat to medium-low. Drop a heaping soupspoons size of batter into the pan. Let it cook for two minutes or until it is brown, then flip. Place finished pancakes on a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven.
Wipe out pan and add more butter and oil for next batch.
Serve warm.

Old Fashion Pandowdy

Before I found this recipe I had never heard of a pandowdy. According to gourmet.com, a pandowdy is a deep dish fruit dish that was created as a way to use leftover bread dough on baking day.
After reading the history about it and drooling over the picture, and because I am a sucker for any type of apple dessert, I had to try it. I'm happy to say I was not disappointed.

This apple dessert may not be the best looking apple dessert, but the cinnamon spiced apples topped with a sweet crunchy dough, makes this dessert win first prize in the taste category. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream or even eat it cold. It's a yummy apple dessert.




Old Fashion Apple Pandowdy
Adapted from gourmet.com



Fruit Filling

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoon water

2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 Gala or Granny Smith apples (2 to 2 1/2 lb), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits

Biscuit Top

2 cups all- purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon demerara sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 cup heavy cream plus more for brushing


To Make The Fruit Filling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with rack in middle. Stir together maple syrup, water, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Add apples and stir to coat. Stir in flour and sugar.
Transfer apple mixture to a 9-inch square baking dish and dot apples with butter pieces. Bake, covered with foil for 25 minutes.

While Apples Bake, Make The Biscuit Topping

Whisk together flour, baking powder, 1 tsp sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with fingertips until it resembles coarse meal. Add cream and stir with a fork until dough forms.
Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times to bring dough together, Roll dough in an 8 inch square, brush with cream and sprinkle with 2 tsp of demerara sugar.

To Finish Pandowdy

Cover hot fruit with dough and bake uncovered until biscuit is just golden-about 20 minutes. Then use a spoon to break up biscuit topping. Mix slightly with filling and drizzle some of the apples and syrup over the biscuit.
Continue to bake until apples are tender and biscuit is golden brown in spots, 5 to 10 minutes.

Chocolate Crinkles

This recipe came from a cookbook created by church ladies who love to cook and for some reason put together a cookbook. I don't know why they created the "Un-'bear"ably Good Cooking" Cookbook, but I'm glad they did.

It's funny how we got this book since I didn't know the lady who put the book together (Betty Jo Young) or even the lady who gave this recipe (Monica Memmott Earl). We became the proud owners of this cookbook by luck. My hubby's boss gave him the cookbook as a way of thanking him one day. I don't remember why he was thanking him because it has been way too long to remember, but I chuckle each time I use the cookbook because this thoughtful gift was actually re-gifted. And how do I know this? Well his aunt who had been in charge of the cookbook had personally signed the book for him. Whoops. Well he may have not appreciated the cookbook, but I love it. So Betty Jo thanks for the cookbook. I appreciate the massive amount of work it must have been to put it together because I can imagine it must have been a pain in the butt.

I would also like to thank Monica who contributed this recipe to the " Un-'bear"ably Good Cooking" Cookbook. Her cookies were quick, delicious and easy to make. Which is a plus since we are all swamped with end of school projects.



Chocolate Crinkles
From "Un-'bear"ably Good Cooking" and Monica Memmott Earl


Mix together

1/2 cup oil

12 tablespoons of Dutch processed cocoa

2 cups sugar

Add:

4 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix well and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Roll into a ball and then in powdered sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes