Banana Nut Muffins Recipe

UPDATE: I brought these into work today and everyone loved them!! 

One thing I have learned this past week is that if I want to accomplish something I should NOT make it into a new year resolution. Every year for the last several, my resolution has always been to cook at home more.  We eat out every day that I do not work. At the moment that breaks down to about 3 days a week. This year I choose not to make it a resolution because I knew my work schedule (getting off at midnight) didn't really allow for cooking within normal hours. Well for some reason I have really been in a cooking mood these last few days. *crosses fingers* I hope it last! Anyway, onto the good stuff. Here are some Banana Nut muffins I made and some Chocolate Chip Banana Nut bread. YUM!

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cup of All Purpose Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Butter (softened)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
4 Bananas (better if they are on the riper side)
1 cup Walnuts
1 cup Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 375* and grease your baking pan.
2. I mixed the first 7 ingredients in that order and then added the bananas 1 at a time.
3. Keep mixing... I mixed for a little while, the original recipe says for 3 min.
4. Fold in the walnuts and the Chocolate Chips if needed.
5. Spoon into your cooking pan of choice. Cook for about 18 minutes.
6. Gobble it up or save some for breakfast!

I forgot to add some walnuts to the top of mine. :( I made 12 muffins and an 8x8 loaf of bread. (you know, standard bread size...lol)

Here is the original Banana Nut Bread recipe.

Homemade Granola

So, my work schedule is changing and I will not be working 1 to midnight anymore. Instead I will be getting off of work at 6! I am going to use this change to improve my cooking skills actually cook something and maybe break this horrible eating out habit. Today I went to the grocery store and picked up all sorts of ingredients. I will be making chicken parmesan, tortilla soup, dorito pie, chocolate chip cookies, banana nut muffins and this homemade granola.

INGREDIENTS
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 cups rolled/old fashioned oats
1/4 cup of butter
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 pinch of salt (optional)
1 handful or so of almonds, walnuts, raisins, dried fruit, etc.

DIRECTIONS
1. Put the olive oil and the oats into the pan and cook until some of them look brownish

2. Pour the oats into something else and then cook the butter, honey, and brown sugar in the pan until bubbly.

3. Add the oats and mix it all up. Cook for a bit longer. Don't wait until you smell them burning like I did. Take them out after they are all coated and well heated. I sprinkled the salt on some where around here. I think. :)

4. Add in the nuts and dried fruit or whatever else you want.

Ahh the finished product! These are super yummy even being a little burnt. I can't wait to make them again! I plan to use this granola for a yogurt topping or just as a snack.

I found the homemade granola recipe here but as you can see I did make a few of my own changes.

Cake Pops Tutorial!

When I first tried the Cake pops by Starbucks I Fell. In. Love. However, I thought that they were a bit pricey. I started looking for more affordable ways to make them myself. I came across the Oreo pops and have made those for several events. Everyone who tried them enjoyed them and I won a baking competition at work! I still wanted to learn how to make cake pops.

I tried a no bake option with tons of powdered sugar and they were horrible. When I made my Halloween cupcakes I had some extra cake. I decided to try and create my own recipe with a few other random ingredients. These were a huge success! I found that even I liked them better than the Starbucks cake pops.
Recently a friend and her son celebrated his 18th birthday and requested that I make these cake pops for them. Even better than that, she was helping! So I decided this would be the PERFECT time to put together a tutorial.

INGREDIENTS

Cake!

1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar

2 Bags Wilton Chocolate Melts

Sitcks (Optional)

1 8oz pack of Cream Cheese

Wax or Parchment Paper
*Makes about 25 Cake Pops*

DIRECTIONS

1. Make your cake just like your box says. (Betty Crocker Super Moist has been my favorite. Maybe one day I will search for a from scratch recipe :\) Let the cake cool before going to the next step. Trust me you don't want to be crumbling up hot cake. :)

2. Crumble the cake. I use a fork and sort of scrape across the cake. Don't worry if there are a few larger pieces  you'll take care of those in a moment.

3. Add the powder sugar and the cream cheese. I like to use about 6oz to 7oz of cream cheese but if you overcooked your cake you can use more. Mix this all together you should be able to pick up the whole chunk without pieces falling off. Or at least mostly.

4. Roll the dough into little or big balls (your choice!) Using an ice cream or cookie scoop may help make your size consistent. Place the balls on some parchment or wax paper and on a cookie sheet.

5. Pop the balls in the fridge for about 15 min.

6. Heat about 7 to 10 of the melts in a small dish according to the directions on the package. Use this to dip your sticks in before shoving the stick into the frozenish cake. This will help the ball stay on the stick. *For your sticks you can use the super expensive white ones or you can get some cheap bamboo skewers and cut them in half.* Put the balls back in the freezer for another 10 min or until the chocolate is hard.

*I like to use Wilton Candy Melts but there are a few other brands out there.*

7. Heat the rest of the chocolate in a narrow bowl or measuring cup. Dip the balls into the chocolate and place back on the pan or in a stand (you can use a store bought one, styrofoam, or card board). You can tap the stick on the edge of the bowl to get some of the excess chocolate off. This is the time when you would want to put the decoration on. The chocolate hardens pretty quickly. Keep in the fridge until about 20 min before serving. I prefer them to be a bit colder but you could leave them out a bit longer and they would still taste fine. 

Have you made cake pops? Do you have any tips? Share them in the comments!

Chocolate Trees! YUM!

On Thanksgiving I had some extra chocolate left over from my cake pops (tutorial coming soon!) I had been wanting to pipe out some little designs and I think these came out well.

To do this all you need is to put some chocolate in a piping bottle/bag or use a ziploc bag and snip the corner off. Pipe out your design. I did the outline first, made it kind of thick and then I piped the zig-zags across. I added some sprinkles to finish it off. These can be used for your ginger bread houses, to add to cupcakes or cakes, or even just as a cute holiday snack.

We have been working on many holiday projects this year. I plan on posting them all for everyone to see. What kind of holiday projects have you been working on? Share your ideas in the comments! You can even add a link to your Pinterest boards.

Who Put Glass in Your Cupcakes?

A few weeks ago I brought some cupcakes to work with glass and blood in them. They were a HUGE hit. I was asked to make them for a friends Halloween party and for another friends son's birthday party. I learned how to make hardy candy for these, which is not as difficult as I thought. I decided I would post a tutorial on how to make them. At this point I have made these cupcakes 3 times this month. I have think I have gotten better each time!