The Best Banana Bread You Will Ever Taste (Brown Sugar Banana Bread)

Well, it's Christmas the first Sunday of the NFL season. Sitting on the couch all day with my husband watching the Red Zone is absolutely thrilling..too thrilling...so I decided to break it up with a little bit of banana bread. That, and the fact that I was tired of the tiny swarm of fruit flies that took residence in my kitchen, due to the state of my non-edible bananas (yup...nearly black). Good as any reason to bake out some bread right?!

I did a little bit of Pinteresting, and found this worthy looking recipe at Cookies and Cups. Yum.

This recipe is not only delicious...its flawless. Its the perfect combination of rich deliciousness, with yummy saltiness. My husband loved it...that should tell you everything you need to know about this delicacy

I did a few revisions, mainly because I didn't have the exact ingredients, or I thought something would sound better. 

• I used dark brown sugar, rather than light. I LOVE dark brown sugar, and I use it whenever a recipe calls for brown sugar. Everything always turns out delightful, so hopefully I'm not committing a huge baking no-no by doing that. 
• I substituted 2% milk in the glaze, rather than the heavy cream. I try not to use heavy cream in anything...its delicious...but fatty. The glaze turned out rather tasty w/o it. 
• I also used sour cream, rather than the Greek yogurt, mainly because I like how store bought cake mixes turn out when I add sour cream to them. 

What You'll Need

2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat)

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 medium bananas)

1/4 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)

2 eggs

6 Tbsp salted butter, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 Tbsp heavy cream (I used 2% milk)

1 Tbsp honey

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

Directions 

Dial up your oven to 350 degrees. (My oven runs hot, so I did 325)

Lube up your 9x5 loaf pan with Pam Spray, or olive oil (my choice). 

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, mix together mashed banana, sour cream, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.

Mix wet and dry ingredients until "just combined."

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. <--A quick note...I have a really bad habit of using a metal knife in place of a toothpick. I don't know why...but its a bad idea because your knife will never come out clean until your cake is baked into a brick...use a toothpick...my friends.

Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run knife around the edges of pan to release any parts that might be sticking and then remove from pan, transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Glaze

In small sauce pan, combine all ingredients, heat over medium until mixture reaches a full boil. Boil for 2 minutes and then remove from heat.

Let mixture cool for 5-10 minutes and then pour over banana bread. Glaze will set up and then cut into slices.

Original Recipe from Cookies & Cups.

Easy Easy Easy Peanut Butter Granola

 Its time, my friends, for you to glorify your yogurt. To take a bland and oddly textured food stuff and turn into something with flare and pizzazz by adding in a scrumptious CRUNCH.

That's right - granola, a yogurts best friend. Or in my case, Greek Yogurt - the only kind I seem to be able to stand anymore. I guess I just ate too much Yoplait in college...

I've been told by my midwife to really "beef up" (no pun intended) the protein in my diet. I can only stomach so much meat at a time before things start to go south. Turkey smells horrible, and I'm pretty sure everyone else at home is tired of all the chicken I've been cooking...Bandit included.

So I've taken a sabbatical from my non-dairy diet and have ventured into the easy protein found in many dairy foods (Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, etc), all followed shortly by a handy dandy Lactaid pill. Thank the Lord for those.

Anyways..enough typing. Here is the super-duper so-easy-the-cat-could-make it recipe for peanut butter granola.

Ready? It's a duesy...

2 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. honey
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. oats (I used about 1 1/2 c. of oats)

I stopped measuring anything in the kitchen about a year ago (unless I'm baking, of course. Mom always told me to measure when baking). So if you prefer to use a couple "blobs" of peanut butter (who can measure that stuff anyways?) and a couple real long squeezed of honey (also, unmeasurable) - feel free! 

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of delectable granola.

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray (or rub down with olive oil, which worked perfect for me) and set aside. Combine peanut butter and honey in a bowl and microwave until peanut butter melts (approximately 30 seconds). Stir.

Stir cinnamon and vanilla into peanut butter and honey mixture. Add oats and stir until oats are completely covered in peanut butter mixture. Spread out oat mixture (real good!) onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 7 -8 minutes until granola is slightly browned. Let cool until granola is crunchy.

Bon Appétit!

I Present to You, the Worlds Best Taco Soup! - via Our Best Bites

OK, first...I was completely distracted and totally forgot to take any pictures of me making this. I SWEAR I made it though. I'm borrowing a photo from Our Best Bites which is were I found this fantastic recipe. I've added their badge to my blog (lower right) as a tribute to their fantastic blog with all the yummy recipes. You should really check them out!

But anyways, this soup is seriously the bomb, yal...and I've got three people who will back me on that (those who got to enjoy it for dinner last night).

I made this on the stove top (and let it summer for about 20 minutes after I added all the ingredients).

Taco Soup

Recipe from Our Best Bites

1 lb. extra lean ground beef (93% lean or or leaner)
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1.25-oz. packet taco seasoning (about 1/4 c.)
3 c. water, divided
2 28-oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
2 15-oz. cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained

Toppings: Pico de Gallo, light sour cream, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, tortilla strips, guacamole, etc.

Heat a large soup pot over medium. When ready, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. When almost brown, add the taco seasoning and 1 c. water. Add the remaining ingredients, including the remaining 2 c. water, bring to a medium boil, then, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. Serve with desired toppings. Makes 10 12-oz. servings.

Slow Cooker Instructions: After browning the meat, place all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for about 6-8 hours.

Freezer Instructions: Because of all the canned goods, you’ll just take up a lot of space in your freezer if you freeze the whole recipe. However, after it’s been cooked, the leftovers freeze extremely well. You can even try freezing individual portions in 12-oz. freezer-safe containers and then reheating them for a quick lunch.

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I topped it with cheese and sour cream (then I downed a lactaid pill) but the soup would totally be delicious without those toppings if you wanted to go completely non-dairy (which you should, because dairy is bad for you ;). 

I also served it with saltine crackers...which I could eat for a snack. They are so yummy! 

Enjoy!

-Dana