You might start to think that I love me some banana bread.  After all this is the second time I have posted a banana bread recipe.  The truth is that I love bananas and usually end up buying way too many of them so into the freezer they go.  More often than they turn into banana milk (1 frozen banana plus 1 cup almond milk is all it takes).  However, a call has been sent out to bloggers everywhere. There is a Banana Bread Bake-off going on at Not Quite Nigella.  I just had to answer the call.

I wanted to try something a little different but was not sure where I wanted to go with this banana bread.  After reading about a recent banana bread experience over at Bakers’ Banter, I thought I would take a look at the King Arthur Flour banana bread recipe.  Using that for inspiration, I decided to wing it from there with my secondary inspiration being my fridge and pantry.  In 13 days I am moving to East Tennessee so packing, cleaning and trashing are in my very near future.  Time to clear out the pantry!  This recipes should actually list the ingredients as “whatever is left in the honey jar”  but I have included estimates for your convenience.  I highly recommend putting your own twist on it and tossing in what ever is hanging around in your pantry.

Clean Out Your Pantry Banana Bread

The Ingredients

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, at cool  room temperature
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 medium mashed ripe bananas (about 14 - 15 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons  apricot preserves
• 1 Tbs honey
• 3 Tbs Maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/4 cups Flour, all-purpose
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup sugar

The Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. Mix the peanut butter and granulated sugar together and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt,  and mix till smooth.
3. Add the mashed bananas, jam, honey, maple syrup and eggs, and mix until smooth.
4. Add the flour and mix stirring just until smooth.
5. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips until evenly combined.  Very gently stir in 1 Tbs of the peanut butter and sugar mixture until it is distributed in the dough until they are only small pieces, about half the size of a pea.
6. Spoon the 2/3 of the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth it level.  Take the remaining peanut butter mixture about a 1/2 teaspoon at a time and squish it flat in between your fingers.  Lay the flat pieces on top of the mixture, side-by-side, creating a long strip of peanut butter in the middle of the loaf.  Top with the remaining 1/3 of the batter and smooth the top.
7. Bake the bread for 45 minutes, then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning.
8. Bake for an additional 25 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven; a long toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean, with at most a few wet crumbs clinging to it.
9. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove it from the pan, and cool it completely on a rack.

Inspired by King Arthur Flour Banana Bread.

More recipes available in my recipe archive.

Robin and Danielle have challenged food bloggers to a Recipe Remix. They gave us a list of classic dishes and called upon us to choose one of them to remake. I decided to take on my favorite of the list: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. I decided to take it on a sweeter, breakfast or dessert twist. Hence the glorious creation that is Grilled Cream Cheese and Strawberry Soup.

I did enjoy this remix. It tastes nothing like the classic, but it is still very tasty. It makes for a very filling breakfast and you know you are getting in some fruit for the day. Sadly, the picky eater of the family has been out of town for the last month so I did not get his feedback. This would probably be something that would work for kids too. I mean, how often do you get to eat bright pink foods?

Thanks to Danielle and Robin for hosting this and check out their blog for the round-up.

Enjoy!

Grilled Cream Cheese Sandwich

The recipe for the Grilled Cream Cheese Sandwich is very simple and starts with your favorite version of Banana Bread. I used the bread that I recently blogged about, my Better Banana Bread.

Ingredients

• 2 slices Banana Bread
• 2 Tbs. Cream Cheese
• 1 Tbs. Sugar
• 2 tsp. Butter

The Steps

1. Take two slices of your favorite banana bread and lightly butter the outsides.
2. In a bowl, mix together 2 Tbs cream cheese with 1 Tbs sugar.
3. Spread the cream cheese mixture between the two slices of the banana bread.
4. Grill the cream cheese sandwich in a saute pan over medium heat.
5. Remove from the pan when the outsides are slightly crisp and the cream cheese starts to melt.

Strawberry Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Strawberries; green topped removed
• 2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

The Steps

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until soup consistency. If you wish for an even smoother texture, add water 1/4 cup at a time.

And don’t forget to check out my recipe archive for all past recipes!

I have been meaning to post recipes and my food pictures here for a long time now. If you visit my flickr page, you might have seen some food pictures appear from time to time. I have wanted to share the recipes with you, but have just let life get in the way. However, I am taking that opportunity now!

Many of my readers may know that I use to have a blog solely dedicated to food. But as my last year in law school has been coming to a close, I find that I have had less and less time to blog. So I decided to turn that blog into my recipes archive and then add food to this blog. So welcome to my inaugural food post on my revamped blog!

I reason that I have titled this food category as “Food That Makes You Happy” is because these cookies are definitely NOT healthy. And while I don’t think that food can “make” you happy, I hope you understand my intent in such categorizing. Food like this brings a smile to your face.

But even more important, food like this brings a smile to someone else’s face. The reason that I made these cookies is because the Husband is leaving for a month long work trip to the Netherlands. He loves chocolate! While I was running some errands, he watched “America’s Test Kitchen.” Yes, I have him hooked on cooking shows. On the episode he watched today, they made Triple-Chocolate Cookies. He started drooling over them and I thought that I have everything I would need to make them. I ended up being wrong, which is why this is called Quadruple Chocolate Cookies instead of just Triple Chocolate Cookies.

I have also decided to include these cookies into Sugar High Friday#41. The theme is Sweet Gifts and is being hosted by Habeas Brulee. I had always enjoyed participating in round-ups when the food blog was up and running that I hope I can continue that participation here.

Before getting to the recipe, I also want to mention that the Husband called these a “repeat recipe.” Since I very rarely repeat a recipe, he always has to single out the recipes that he would like to eat again. They are usually all desserts.

Without further ado…

Quadruple Chocolate Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate , chopped
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips, divided
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs , at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chips)

1. Melt unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and butter in heatproof bowl set over saucepan of simmering water, stirring frequently, until completely smooth and glossy. Remove bowl from pan and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Stir coffee powder and vanilla extract together in small bowl until dissolved. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla-coffee mixture and beat until incorporated, 20 seconds. Reduce speed to low, add chocolate mixture, and mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Using large rubber spatula, fold flour mixture and semisweet chocolate and remaining 1 cup milk chocolate chips into batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes until batter firms up (it will more closely resemble thick brownie batter than cookie dough).
4. Meanwhile, adjust two oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using 1 heaping tablespoon batter per cookie, place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets (see photo, right). Bake until cookies are shiny and cracked on top, 11 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking time. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool cookies completely, on baking sheets, before serving.

Don’t forget: all past recipes and new recipes are also posted on my recipe archive page!