Finding More Time (Chocolate Banana Muffins Recipe)

Is there a way to find more hours in a day? Anyone? Anyone? I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just wondering if anyone else is feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things to do in a day and how it affects creativity. I try to do everything I should do: get up, get dressed, cook, clean, homework with the kids, exercise, volunteer at the kids' school, smile and wave and say everything's fine and dandy, and even all that isn't easy to fit in a day's worth of hours... But when do I find the time to do what I want to do? Blogging, writing, photography, see friends, read a book... When do these things come into play? Seriously, how does everyone do it? Is it at all possible to get everything done? I'm not down in the dumps or anything, just in a rut I guess, just out of juice maybe, trying to get back in the swing of being creative without letting any of the other stuff get out of hand. Is it possible? Not sure yet...


Let's get started with these muffins. They're quick, they take care of those few overripe bananas on the counter and they're packed full of chocolate, not a bad combo if you ask me. And on a rainy day like today, I sure need a dose of quick, easy and chocolate! A cup of strong coffee doesn't hurt either. ;)


Chocolate Banana Muffins

1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix together first 5 ingredients. In another bowl, mix all the other ingredients; add dry ingredients to wet mixing just until blended. Fill muffin tins lined with jumbo paper liners. Bake in a 375°F preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 12 jumbo muffins (about 15 smaller ones).

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Most Ordinary/Extraordinary Banana Bread

Aaaaah! You guys! I miss my blog so much! I know by now I should be posting Holiday appropriate recipes and photos with backgrounds-full of lit-up Christmas trees and decorations but you know what? I'm not there yet. Soon, very soon, but for now, I will share with you my most ordinary/extraordinary recipe.

Ordinary because, really, does the internet need yet another banana bread recipe? No, probably not. But also extraordinary because it is the only one in my repertoire that I know by heart, that I go to almost every week and also, because we all love it, all 5 of us. So I thought it was time that it got the respect it deserves and a rightful place alongside the other banana bread recipes floating about the web.



Ordinary/Extraordinary Banana Bread

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 medium bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the egg, oil and granulated sugar. Mix the lemon juice with the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture alternately with the bananas, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Black and White Banana Loaf

Bare with me folks. I'm starting to think I should rename my blog "Blogging with Dorie" as it seems that's all I'm able to do these days! If it weren't for Tuesdays with Dorie, I'd have a blank page and nothing to put onto it. But I'm not giving up, summer holidays won't be the death of my blog!

Moving on to this week's recipe which is Dorie's Black and White Banana Loaf. I was so happy with Ashlee's choice. This was the first recipe I wanted to try when I got Baking from my Home to Yours, but I resisted since I wanted to try it at the same time as all the other Dorie addicts worshipers fans. So this week, I got my chance.

As I looked at the ingredient list and compared it to my usual banana loaf, I thought it looked like there was a lot of liquid. Many of the other members confirmed this in the "P & Q" so I decided to omit the milk completely. Which turned out to be a great choice, the batter was just thick enough and the marbling effect came through beautifully.

This was one gorgeous and delicious loaf of banana bread. The nutmeg wasn't overpowering, the chocolate complimented the bananas perfectly and the rum added a surprisingly pleasant after taste. As for the lemon, I couldn't taste it at all. The only thing negative I could say about the loaf, at the risk of sounding like a certain Iron Chef America judge, is that it was "a little bit oily". But I think that's because that first slice I had was still a bit warm, it got better the day after.

So there you have it folks, a beautiful, marbled, chocolatey, rummy (booze and baking mix so well) and delicious banana loaf. Go on over to Ashlee's blog, A year in the Kitchen, for the recipe. To see the other members' marbled beauties, check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll.

Craving Some Cake

Whenever I have some very ripe bananas, I jump at the chance to make my trusty banana bread. But for a while now, I’ve been craving cake. So I decided to combine the cake craving and the need to use up the bananas and make banana cake.

I’d made many banana breads and muffins before but I had never made banana cake, so I started looking for recipes. I noticed a lot of them mentioned cream cheese frosting. Really? I thought. Cream cheese frosting on a banana cake? Well, I was definitely going to try that! Any excuse to make cream cheese frosting is a good one.

So I used the fantabulous cream cheese frosting recipe from Bill’s Big Carrot Cake, with a few tweaks, and wow, that was one good cake! So if you have a few over ripe bananas, and you need an excuse to make cream cheese frosting, this cake is for you!

Banana Cake
Adapted from Allrecipes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs

4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside.

Cream together the butter and the sugar.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between each addition. Add bananas and vanilla extract; mix well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Cool and frost cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

4 ounces low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick ( 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 pound or about 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 to 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract
Finely chopped toasted pecans and toasted pecan halves

In a large bowl, working with your mixer of choice, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar and keep beating until the frosting is very smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.

Frost the cake and decorate the sides with the chopped pecans and the top with the pecan halves.