Banana Chocolate Muffins

These muffins have two of my favorite ingredients. Now if they just had peanut butter in them, it would be all 3 of my favorites. I guess it's a good thing they didn't, because I'm not sure I would have refrained from eating them all. As it was, it was hard enough. I am still trying to watch what I am eating...and I don't mean watching it go into my mouth haha! I took one bite of my daughters, just for quality control purposes. Yes, I will keep telling myself that story.... that someone has got to do quality control for me and who better than me? That's my story and I'm stickin to it! :)

Recipe Source: http://www.kitchentreaty.com/chocolate-banana-marble-muffins/

2 cups flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with a half a lemon squeezed into it and allowed to sit for 15 min or more)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or butter (or spray with Pam) the pan thoroughly if you do not want to use liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, mash the bananas, then whisk in the buttermilk, sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and whisk just until blended.
Remove one cup of the batter, and place it in a small bowl. Whisk in the cocoa powder, just until blended.
Divide the main (non-chocolate) batter between muffin cups. It’s about 1/4 cup of batter per cup.
Scoop 1 Tbsp of chocolate batter on top of the batter in each muffin cup.
Using a toothpick, swirl the chocolate batter into the banana batter.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool for about five minutes.

Peanut Butter and Banana French Toast

I wish I could say I was actually in Paris this morning as I made and ate this breakfast. That would really have made it FRENCH toast, but alas I was standing in my kitchen in the middle of a big city, in the middle of the hottest winter ever and I was in the middle of getting ready for work!! Wow that was quite a run on sentence. I'm sure Natasha and Angie are going to speak to me tomorrow at work, regarding my improper use of the English language haha. Gotta love having English teachers as friends. Keeps me on my toes, but apparently, not this time! ;)
This breakfast was a nice change from the original French toast that we all usually eat. It had a good subtle peanut butter flavor and it was definitely a nice change of pace. The sliced bananas really made it taste great, but let's get real, what could NOT taste good with peanut butter and banana in it?

Recipe adapted from:  http://susikochenundbacken.blogspot.com

1/2 cup coconut milk ( You can use regular milk also)
3 eggs
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
8 slices French bread 

Butter

Powdered Sugar

Sliced banana

In a blender add milk, eggs, peanut butter, sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.Spray a griddle with Pam or use butter to melt onto the griddle to grease it. Dunk each slice of french bread in the milk mixture. Make sure to coat both sides. Place it on your hot griddle and cook each side until golden brown. Use your sifter to sift powdered sugar all over the top of the hot french toast. Slice fresh bananas on top to serve.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Bites

Tonight I had a craving for something sweet. Being as tired as I was, I  had to make something easy and quick! I tried to justify making these because they have fruit and peanut butter in them, so I just kept telling myself they would be healthy haha! Since I only ate two, I guess it isn't so bad. I love peanut butter and chocolate together and if you throw in a banana, I guess it's just a triple good thing! These are super yummy,  but next time I am going to make them with semi sweet or dark chocolate and cut some of the sweetness. I only had milk chocolate on hand tonight, so that's what I used.

1 Banana

Peanut Butter

Melted Chocolate, (milk chocolate, semi sweet or dark)

Cut the banana into slices. I wanted mine thick. You can cut them as thick or thin as you like.Place a small amount of peanut butter onto the top of each slice. Dip them in melted chocolate and place on wax paper to harden the chocolate.

Banana, Coconut, Chocolate Chip Bread

Lately I have been finding recipes and modifying them. That's almost as fun as creating it yourself, not quite....but almost! I found a recipe for banana coconut bread on Pinterest and then modified it, by adding less almond extract, a little pinch of cinnamon and a few chocolate chips. It turned out really good.

The original recipe can be found here:
http://fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.blogspot.com/2011/10/coconut-banana-bread.html

I modified this recipe by adding only 1/4 tsp almond extract instead of the 1 tsp it called for.  I also added about 1/8 tsp cinnamon to the dry ingredients. You can add as many chocolate chips as you like, but I only added about 1/4-1/2 cup as I don't like my bread too chocolatey! I also found that mine cooked for quite a bit less time then the original recipe called for. So set your timer for about 40 min and keep checking it from there!

French Banana Pancakes

Breakfast for dinner? That's a funny concept since I don't even eat too many breakfast foods at breakfast time. But....tonight, after a long day of work, exercise, errands etc, I decided to make something quick and easy. I love pancakes, but I thought that these French Banana Pancakes would be awesome! I was right!! John loved them too. They might not be the healthiest thing on my menu at home for the week, but hey it's got a fresh banana in each one....that makes up for all the bad stuff, right?  ;)

Pancakes:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup light cream
5-6 firm bananas, halved lengthwise

Whipped cream and additional cinnamon, optional

Sift flour and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add milk, eggs, melted butter, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth. Heat a greased 6 inch skillet over med-high heat. Pour in approximately 1/4 cup batter. Swirl to cover bottom of pan. Cook until lightly browned. Flip with spatula and brown the other side. Remove to a plate or wire rack. Spray Pam in skillet after each pancake is removed, to grease it for the next one. Repeat with remaining batter until all pancakes are made.

For filling: melt butter in a small saucepan.l Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in cream and cook until slightly thickened. Add half a banana at a time to the skillet, heat for 2-3 minutes, spooning sauce over them. Remove from heat. Roll a pancake around each banana and place on serving tray. Spoon extra sauce over top of pancakes. Top with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon if desired.