Banana Bread Mini-Loaves

I love banana bread.

It always reminds me of growing up. My mom loves to bake and there was always frozen bananas on hand. My sister and I new something good was coming when we saw them thawing. Banana muffins for after school snacks, banana bread for when guests were over for a cup of tea.

Now, I can say that I don't believe my Banana Bread could even come close to my mom's. There will never be a contest when all the nostalgia is taken into account. A little time machine of deliciousness to transport me back to a simpler time.

Mine is delicious and I hope you'll like it as well. One must not let the freezer be over run by the bananas that turn before you can get to them.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
4  brown bananas, thawed if frozen
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

*Optional*:
1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips, walnuts, or pecans

Preheat the oven to 350°F
Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Mix in egg, vanilla and bananas until well combined. Bananas should be well mashed, some chunky bits are alright (they make for a nice treat when biten into).

Stir together salt, baking soda, and flour. Gradually incorporate into the wet mixture. Add any optional ingredients if desired. 

This recipe makes 18 muffins, 3 mini loafs, or 1 large loaf.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, 25-30 for mini loafs, and 30-40 for large loaf. Poke with cake tester, or toothpick to ensure cooked through.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

xo Jenn.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

These delicious bites are a twist on the deep fried variety we've all come to know and love. These poppers replace the breading and deep fried component with the best possible ingredient out there... BACON.

The crispy bacon, with the subtle heat of the jalapeno and the oh so creamy goodness that is the cheese filling. Great for a treat and they can either be baked in the oven, or as part of the summer season, thrown on the bbq.


For this recipe you will need:

5  slices of Bacon, cut in half

5-Jalapenos, halved and seeded, pods(whites) removed *for a little more heat leave the whites in the pepper*

4oz. Cream Cheese,soft

1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded

10 Toothpicks

Preheat the oven to 350
In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese and cheddar cheese until well combined.

Portion cheese mixture into jalapeno halves, and wrap with uncooked bacon, I suggest wrapping them on the tighter side, to ensure all the cheesey goodness doesn't escape. Secure bacon strip with a toothpick.

Place in oven safe baking dish, or lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. The bacon should be cooked and the peppers soft. As ovens do vary, so keep an eye on them after 20 minutes, some may recquire more or less time to complete

Place in oven safe baking dish, or lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. The bacon should be cooked and the peppers soft. As ovens do vary, so keep an eye on them after 20 minutes, some may recquire more or less time to complete.

If you're going to cook these gems on the bbq, I would suggest lining a portion of the grill with foil, to ensure none drop between the slots on the grill.

Let cool for a few minutes, and serve. These are definitely an item to share, they are delicious and taste like more.

Give them a try and let me know what you think

xo Jenn

Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

I like to consider these a healthy treat...they have fruit in them, that counts right?.

These delicious gems came about after trying to use up fruit before it went off. I will admit, I am guilty of buying fruits and vegetables with the best of intentions and forgetting about them.

That's what happened with my raspberries, I found them after a couple days in the fridge and threw them in the freezer. Knowing I wouldn't get to them before the weekend and not wanting to waste them.

I felt the urge to bake but wanted to get creative with what I had on hand, its always  a challenge but usually more rewarding when it comes to exploring the abyss that is my cupboards. Helloooo white chocolate chips!

I immediately thought of my favourite fruit scones, which are raspberry white chocolate, and I decided to make cookies.(I know, I know, why not make the mentioned scones... scones involve milk...which I typically only have on hand when I've got a recipe planned that calls for it, or I know my mother is coming to visit and will need it for her tea)

Let's not kid one another, scone vs. cookie? Cookie wins hands down.

A couple tweaks to my standard cookie recipe and these gems came to life. The colour is bright and fun and the flavour is fresh and fruity.

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs

2 1/4cups all purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt

1 cup frozen raspberries 
1 package white chocolate pieces

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer, until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs in one at a time making sure they're  well blended.

Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until soft dough has formed.

Smush raspberries in a bowl. The back of a spoon works well, or a ziplock bag and a  a desire to squish stuff! They will break down until little beads. I find its good to keep them frozen until ready to mix in, it helps to keep little burst of flavour and gives the dough a nice soft colour.

Mix the white chocolate chips, and raspberries into the dough until well combined.

Scoop tablespoon size rounds of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9 min in an ovenpreheated  to 350°C.  A reminder, 9 minutes is my golden rule for cookies. They comeout looking slightly underdone, but they will be nicely golden brown on thebottom, and when they have cooled, the will be soft, delicious and melt in your mouth.

Give them a try and let me know what you think!

   xo Jenn

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

After a long absence we're back!

Warm weather is here and the grill masters are out in full swing! What better a time to get cooking some delicious fresh flavours.

Grilled pineapple salsa, is one of my favourites this time of year. It can be served on it's own, or as a compliment to poultry, fish, and pork.

I've  been making this for 8 years now, it's taste tester and mom approved, keep it away from roommates, otherwise you'll have an empty bowl if you turn your back.

Ingredients:

1 pineapple, cored and sliced into rings
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
1/2 jalapeno, chopped finely(add more to your taste if preferred)
2 TBSP Cilantro, chopped.
Salt and pepper to taste

Not only is this salsa fresh and delicious, it can be thrown together rather quickly.

Add pineapple rings to a hot grill, or grill pan if access to a BBQ is not available. Grill 2-3 minutes per side to let the sugars caramelize.  Remove from grill and let cool slightly. Chop up the pineapple and add to a medium sized bowl, don't forget the juices! Add the remaining ingredients and toss it all together.

That's it, that's all. So delicious! Now, it will be hard to share, but the silver lining...people will be impressed with this one.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

xo Jenn

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tarte

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tarte

                                                   



Have you ever found something in your pantry and thought...'Time to see what I can do with this'? Well, this past weekend, that was me. I had those little individually wrapped caramels, 2 bags of them sitting there staring at me. I'm not a fan of them on their own, but had purchased them for some holiday baking that didn't end up occurring.

With the bags of caramels on the counter, it was time to root through the rest of the pantry to see what could be found. On several of the blogs and facebook pages I follow, there have been many tarts about lately. I figured, why not give it a try.

Armed with some items I figured would be really tasty as well as use up some 'extras' I had on hand, it was time to get cooking.

Pantry Items:

Caramels (2 small packages, about 40 pieces, unwrapped)
Oreo crumbs(2 cups)
Pecans(1/4 cup crushed, plus a few whole for decoration)

Other:

Cream (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
Butter (1/4cup melted)
Chocolate Chips (1/4cup)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, mix together Oreo crumbs and melted butter.  Push into a 9inch tarte pan spreading to cover the base and up the sides of the pan. Pop into the oven and bake for 8 minutes, to set the base of the tart. Let cool.

The caramels can be taken care of 1 of 2 ways, microwave or double boiler,  mixed with 3/4cup of cream. When caramels are completely melted and bubbling, pour into tarte shell, and top with pecans.

Letting the caramel cool, Melt the chocolate chips and remaining cream together. Using a spoon or a ziplock bag with thecorcer cut out, drizzle the chocolate over the tarte.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours and serve.

Rich and delicious.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

xo Jenn

Chickpea and herb dumpling soup

I love soup, one of the greatest meals possible during the fall/winter. Dark, cold, damp nights... soup is the greatest thing to warm up your insides.

I stumbled across this one many years ago and it quickly became a favourite. Its hearty but without an excessive amount of work or ingredients. Like many soups the longer the flavors have to mingle together the better it gets. The best part is the dumplings, little balls of tasty dough that soak up the goodness that is the broth, I always try to save them for last but they are hard to resist. Tender little rounds of cheese, herbs, and butter.

Chickpea and Herb Dumpling Soup

1- 19 oz(590 ml) can of chickpeas, drained
1- 26 oz(796 ml) can of diced tomatoes
3.5 cups of vegetable stock

1 tbsp of oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4tsp chili powder

Dumplings

1 cup self raising flour
3 tbsp butter, chopped
2 tbsp grated fresh parmesan (optional)
2 tbsp  chopped herbs
¼ cup milk

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic a sweat until the onion is translucent.

Stir in the chickpeas and spices, and heat for 2 minutes. This gives the spices a chance to toast a bit, and gets the chickpeas a head start on softening. Add the stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil.

While the soup is doing its thing, time for dumplings.

In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients(hold the milk), I use a fork as it helps break up the butter, fingers work as well, the mix will start to get crumbly. When it's all mixed together, slowly add the milk continue to stir. It will all come together. Now for the fun part...

Form the dough into cherry size balls and drop them into the soup! Smaller the size the more  you'll have in your bowl One tip to remember, they double in size when cooking so if they look too small, don't worry.

Soup should be boiling by now, give it a good stir then drop the dumplings in one at a time, they will start to expand right away. Then they're all in the pot, reduce the heat to a simmer over low heat, put a lid on and leave it be. The dumplings will take about 25 minutes until ready, if you opted for larger ones, leave them a little longer(no harm in taste testing one either). I leave the soup to simmer for about an hour before I serve it up. Just to get the flavors doing their thing.

A few months left in this Toronto winter, odds are this will be making another few appearances in my kitchen. A fantastic way to defrost on a cold day.

Try it out, let me know what you think :)

xo Jenn 

Fun Stuff- Cupcake Decorating!

This weekend I had the opportunity to get into some creative action for my nephew's baptism.  A bunch of people getting together afterwards for Coffee, Tea and treats called for some baked goods. My sister and I decided to get away from a big cake, and make cupcakes as they're easier to feed a crowd.

I got to play with some fun items to create the cupcakes. Wilton Candy Melts (for these I used the plain white melts),  Wilton- Star Mold as well as the Wilton ColorSwirl 3 Color Coupler. I love how they turned out, so cute and fitting for the celebration. I'll admit, I'm already putting together a list of holiday baking ideas(Red, White, and Green cupcakes anyone, perhaps candy bows?!?!). 

                                                                   (Photo Credit: Katie French)

I hope to expand my collection and see what kind of fun stuff I can come up with when it comes to the candy making. They're just so fun, and pretty easy with the molds.

For the cupcakes,  as mentioned above I used the plain white candy melts, and a star shaped mold. The actual icing, was divided up into 3, and dyed blue, yellow and white.  The only challenging bit was  filling the  3 icing bags without making a mess, and holding  the 3 bags together. Practice makes perfect though, which means time to see what else can be made to test it out.

Stay tuned, anytime something new is tested out I'll be posting about it.

xo Jenn