Banana-Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins

What does everyone do when they have brown bananas on the counter? Make banana bread! Ok, maybe not everyone. I bet those suckers get tossed more times than we know. But what if you aren’t in the mood for banana bread? Or you just don’t have a few minutes to put it together? Do, what I did. Mash ‘em up and stick ‘em in the freezer.

About a month ago I had some bananas that were riiiiipe. They were so ripe I was afraid they were attracting things my kitchen didn’t need attracting. So I mashed them up, stuck them in a freezer bag, labeled them and froze them. Then, another round came along. This time, I mashed those up, combined them with the thawed ones and made some Banana-Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I was originally going to make some boring old banana bread, but then I ran across these bad boys as I was looking through my cookbooks again. I’m so glad I made them. They were definitely a nice change from the norm and hubby commented on how they almost tasted like chocolate chip cookies, but in muffin form. That means “mmmm, yummy!” I know this because he ate two of the night I made them, two of them for breakfast the next morning and another two for breakfast again.

The original recipe is actually Banana Espresso, but since I don’t keep instant espresso powder on hand – I use instant coffee granules – I wasn’t going to go out and buy them specifically for these muffins. I just subbed in my usual and it worked out great. I also used mini chocolate chips, because I like how they get distributed more throughout the muffin than regular sized chips.

If you have some bananas that you’re on the verge of saying goodbye to, don’t. Make these instead!

Banana-Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins
Yield: 1 dozen regular size muffins & 6 mini-muffins
Adapted from Baked, New Frontiers in Baking
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup milk
1 egg
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray or line a regular size muffin pan. (Plus 6 cups from mini tin).

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk and egg.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant coffee granules, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about ¾ full. Bake in the center of the oven fro 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack.

Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, Take 2

I have a little writer’s block. Well, I’m not much of a writer, so I guess it’s really total blockage. I have 3 or 4 posts waiting to be written, but I can’t seem to make them interesting. I want to give my readers something other than a pretty picture (if I’m lucky anyway) and a recipe. You want substance, not just surface, right? I know I do.

Speaking of pretty pictures

I got an email via Facebook from my instructor this weekend. He was asking how GB and I were doing. How nice was that? I’ve actually been meaning to contact him to find out about the final exam I missed. I don’t even know what I need to review before I take it! I’m so glad he’s being so flexible about it. He also asked if I was going to be interested in attending this fall. Um, I think I’ll wait. I’m not sure how hubby will handle a 3 year old and a 5/6 month old by himself. Yes, it’d only be one night a week, but the two of us together can barely make it sometimes.

Weekday mornings around here can be crazy. We don’t usually have to set our alarm because MC’s out of his bed and in ours waking us up before it goes off. But somehow we’re still rushing around trying to get everyone out the door. I try to make some breakfast and then pack MC’s lunch and get him dressed while hubby gets ready.

The weekends are another story. We can slow down a little bit, maybe enjoy a nice breakfast together. Hubby can get up with MC and I can lay in bed for just a little longer, or until GB requires my attention. On mornings like that, these Overnight Cinnamon Rolls are great. Everything is prepped the night before (when the little’uns are asleep). Just give the rolls a little alone time in the morning, then bake ‘em and glaze ‘em.

This version is from Alton Brown.  (Have I ever professed my love for Alton on here???  I think he’s informative, fun and quirky.) I asked hubby what he thought of these cinnamon rolls and his response was, ”I can’t find anything wrong with them.”  To me that means, they’re good, but not great. And I’d have to agree. They are better than the other ones I made, but they still don’t have that soft, fluffy, cinnamony, sweet and sticky Cinnabon-ness. Sorry Alton, I’m not sure I’d make these again.  But I still love you.  I think my next attempt will be this recipe I found on King Arthur Flour’s site.  If anyone has tried these, let me know.

I decided to go with a glaze instead of the cream cheese icing Alton suggested.  I just mixed together a little milk and some powdered sugar until I got the consistency I wanted.  It was easier, plus I didn’t have any cream cheese - ACK! 

I didn’t change any proportions or ingredients (wait, except the buttermilk – I didn’t have any, so I used the vinegar/milk trick, oh, and I did have to add a bit more flour due to the dang humidity – what’s up with that Texas???), so no recipe here.  Just go to the Food Network site. And speaking of the Food Network…has anyone seen this?  I just ran across it the other day and laughed my ass off! Check out the Host Bios…I bet you’ll get a few good chuckles.

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

If you have a second, please take my poll!  I’m trying to decide what to make for Father’s Day this year.

Yep, it’s breakfast time again, here at Slice.

Weekends are the perfect time to whip a big batch of pancakes and freeze them for easy weekday breakfasts or how about for a special Father’s Day treat? It’s just around the corner!  Plus, with bluberries on sale in all the grocery stores these days, why not pick up a pint and make blueberry pancakes? They’re good for you and taste great (well, I like them anyway – MC asked for one, then decided he didn’t like it and spit it out).  And for an extra blueberry kick, serve them up with some fresh blueberry sauce.

Make sure to let your batter rest for a few minutes before ladling them onto the griddle.  It’s best to mix up the batter, then heat up your pan. The pancakes will rise up nice and puffy for you. 

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes
Yield: 12 pancakes – using ¼ to 1/3 cup measuring cup
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
¾ cup yogurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a medium sized bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk the milk, yogurt, eggs, vanilla and butter. Add to flour mixture.

Let the mixture sit for a few minutes while the griddle heats up: 350F or medium heat.

Using a ¼ cup or 1/3 cup measuring up, pour batter onto griddle. Let the pancakes cook for a few minutes, then check the bottom for color, then flip it. Since the batter is thick, you won’t see the usual bubbles and dry edges. Cook for a few minutes on second side.

Lemon-Lime Poppy Seed Mini Muffins

Alternate Title: ”What to make at 6am when you’ve been up since 4am with a one-month old that doesn’t want to go back to sleep”.

Coffee and I have been BFFs lately.  Along with my couch for quick naps, if possible – because sometimes, as much as I’d like to get some shut eye, it just doesn’t happen.  Blame it on the caffeine, blame it on my extreme desire to sleep, causing me not to be able to sleep.  Who knows.

So, while I was up, why not bake up something yummy for breakfast?  Only problem, I was a bit low on supplies. I just can’t get motivated take a newborn along on a grocery trip. Sure, I can stick her in the sling, or take along a bulky carrier, but when GB’s awake, forget about it.  She’s a squirmer and the sling doesn’t give her much room to stretch or squirm.  And she’d rather be held than sit in a carseat or carrier. The best time to make grocery runs is on the weekends when MC’s taking a nap and hubby can watch GB. 

So, about these muffins. I had a jar of poppy seeds for just such occasions.  You know, when you want to bake something, but you have to scour the pantry to come up with something good.  But, I didn’t have any lemons.  I did have some limes and lemon extract.  Why not combine the two?  I only used the zest of the lime, but next time I plan on incorporating the juice as well.  I’d also suggest adding more than ½ teasoon of lemon extract – or if you have it, use the lemon zest and juice.  I only used ½ cup of sugar because I like my muffins and quick breads on the less sweet side.

Lemon-Lime Poppy Seed Mini Muffins
Yield: 24 mini muffins
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon lemon extract
zest of one small lime

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a mini-muffin tin or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds.

In a separate bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together with a few light strokes, just to combine.

Fill each cup about ¾ full.

Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve always been a fan of breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, waffles, donuts, cinnamon rolls, you name it.  I used to love going to a dive diner to get my fix, but nowadays I love making them at home.  I’m not totally sure when that all changed, maybe when I stopped having hangovers in the morning and could actually enjoy making the breakfast?    Regardless, I make something at least 5 times a week…well, sometimes I toast a homemade waffle or microwave a pancake. But when it comes to breakfast items with yeast, I’ve stayed away. Who wants to deal with getting up early to let the dough rise and proof? Bleh. I’m up just early enough to get my hubby and 2 year old out the door on time. So when I saw a recipe for overnight cinnamon rolls, I was intrigued.

This recipe has you make the dough the night before, take it out of the fridge in the morning, let them sit for about an hour and then bake them.  I’m not going to post the recipe here since I didn’t modify anything, except for the glaze.  I just added a couple ounces of softened cream cheese, because what’s a cinnamon roll without some sort of cream cheese on top???

(pre-icing)

I grew up eating Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.  Whenever I went to the mall, this is what I’d eat (later it changed to Auntie Anne’s pretzels – YUM – I will eventually tackle the soft pretzel, but not today).  So, of course this is how all other cinnamon rolls are rated.  And yes, I’ve tried the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls with Cinnabon “cinnamon”, or whatever it is.  Uh, no.  As hard as they try, it’s just not the same.

These were good, but they weren’t great.  There was something either missing, or maybe mine was too bready – I let my dough rise too long (more than doubled) and bake too long (even though I only had them in the oven for 20 minutes, instead of the 30 minutes listed). It just wasn’t “THE” cinnamon roll I was looking for.

Don’t worry, I haven’t given up.  The next time I’m in the mood for cinnamon rolls, I may try this overnight cinnamon rolls recipe from Alton Brown.  He hasn’t failed me yet.