BANANA CHOCOLATE CAKE

 Thanksgiving has come and gone. Well, maybe for you but not for us. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving on December 3rd this year because of Covid. But that will be fine. One thing I have learned the last few years of my life is you can celebrate anything on any day and it can still be meaningful. 

Since we didn't go to our younger son Patrick's house on Thursday, I C to make a cake for just us to have something "sweet" in the house to eat. Wayne ate a banana the other day and told me the rest were ready to use to make something. I only eat bananas when they are still a little green. Then I leave them for him to eat. I remembered seeing a recipe that called for bananas so I told him "perfect".

This recipe for Banana Chocolate Cake was in an old Cooking Light magazine that I was going through. I used the sugar substitutes as recommended by the recipe and used skim milk for the powdered milk. My baking cocoa was the Special Dark so my cake was darker, richer looking than the one with the recipe. The last change I made was decorating the top with whole half pecans. I thought it made the cake look decadent. Will have to do it more often.

PRINT recipe here.

BANANA CHOCOLATE CAKE

Sugar substitute equivalent to 3/4 cup sugar (I used 1 cup of stevia.)

1/3        cup packed brown sugar (I used brown sugar complete)

1/3        cup butter, softened

2           eggs

2           teaspoons vanilla extract

2           medium bananas, mashed (1 cup)

1/2        cup skim milk

1-1/3     cup flour

3           tablespoons baking cocoa (I used Special Dark cocoa)

1           teaspoon baking powder

1/2        teaspoon baking soda

1/2        teaspoon salt

3/4        teaspoon powdered sugar (optional)

12+       half pecans wholes (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees  F. Lightly spray an 9 - inch square baking pan. (I used an 8" square pan so my cake was thicker.) Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar substitute, brown sugar, and butter on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Add eggs and vanilla;

mix well.

Add bananas and milk;

mixing well.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture, beating just until blended.

Pour into prepared pan.

Arrange pecan halves on top.

Bake for 23 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean and edges of the cake are just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Cut in squares to serve.

Add a scoop of ice cream, if desired.

Store covered in the refrigerator.

WHOLE WHEAT PUMPKIN MUFFINS

 I can't tell you how hard I have searched for this recipe! I really don't want to think about it, personally. Then today I sat down to write up another recipe I have been putting off and picked up the Pillsbury Healthy Baking cookbook to see if I had any recipes in it that I hadn't posted (I've gotten behind and am determined to get caught up and then not get in this pickle again!) and opened to this recipe for Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins. I read the ingredients and thought, "this sounds like the ingredients I had pictured for the lost pumpkin muffin recipe that I loved so much."

I rechecked the pictures and sure enough I had found the recipe. To be honest I'm more excited about being able to make the muffins again than I am sharing them with you. I have so many awesome healthy recipes that don't attract attention and get much traffic. It can be really disappointing at times!

I did make them almost sugar-free which is always an added plus for my healthy recipes. The recipe called for dried currants and I used raisins so that is the sugar in them. I used truvia complete brown sugar for the brown sugar and that is stevia with a hint of molasses. Not enough for them to list any added sugar.

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WHOLE WHEAT PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1-1/2   cups whole wheat flour

1/2      cup firmly packed brown sugar (or truvia complete brown sugar)

2         teaspoons baking powder

1         teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2      teaspoon salt

1         egg

1/2      cup skim or 2% milk (I used skim milk)

1/2      cup canned pumpkin

1/4      cup oil

1/2      teaspoon grated orange peel (I used dried grated orange peel)

1/2     cup dried currants (I used raisins)

GLAZE (I didn't use)

1/4     cup powdered sugar

1 - 1-1/2 teaspoons orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt with a whisk.

Make a well in the center. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat egg until foamy.

Add the milk, pumpkin, oil, and orange peel.

Mix well. 

Add to the dry mixture stirring just until most dry ingredients are moistened. 

Stir in currants or raisins. 

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.*

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Immediately remove from pan to wire rack. 

If you are adding the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and enough orange juice to make a glaze the consistency you want. Drizzle over warm muffins.

*I didn't add the glaze but instead lightly sprinkled a cinnamon-sugar mixture I keep using stevia for the sugar on top of each muffin before baking them. I could have sprinkled more on them.

These muffins freeze really well. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator or use the microwave. You could also make mini-muffins if you wanted more from the recipe.

APPLE CIDER COOKIES

We have had two weeks of winter - a little snow and temperatures below normal with highs only in the 20s and mid 30s and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. The good news is the forecast for Thanksgiving week is normal with highs in the 50s and maybe even 60. That will be good since we are supposed to be replacing our front door. I'm really looking forward to that. It will be a different look after painting our wooden front door red right after we moved in twelve years ago to having a navy blue steel front door. I will share a picture of it after it is finished.

I have also been neglecting my blog for a number of months now and it has caused some problems when it comes to sharing some awesome recipes with you. I can usually remember what I have made but not where I found the recipe. Crazy, right? I have been frustrating hours hunting through cookbooks trying to find the recipe. I have so much better things to do with my time!

I remembered these cookies - they are hard to forget, but when I was scrolling through the pictures on my phone, I couldn't find the pictures. Then I found the recipe, but still couldn't find the pictures. 

I try to delete the pictures from my gallery after I write a post. When I couldn't find them, I decided I must have deleted the pictures by mistake. Today I decided to check my photos to find them. I don't usually delete those pictures.

I finally found them all the way back in August! I couldn't believe I had made them that long ago. 

I have since decided when I make a recipe, I will also take a picture of the cookbook and recipe if something happens that keeps me from posting right away. So hopefully I won't be wasting any more time trying to find a recipe. I also am going to try to write up the post as soon as I can after I make something. That way I don't have to scroll through so many photos. That make writing a post a long time having to scroll each time for the next photo.

All that said, this recipe was delicious back in August but would especially be fabulous now. The apple cider drink mix plus the chopped apples plus the sugar cookie mix created a perfect cookie. I did use a sugar-free apple cider drink mix to reduce the amount of sugar. I also used

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APPLE CIDER COOKIES

2       tablespoons sugar

1       package (0.74 oz) apple cider instant drink mix (not prepared with water) (I used a sugar-free drink mix)

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1       pouch (17.5 oz) sugar cookie mix

1/2    cup (1 stick) butter, softened or at room temperature

1       egg

3/4    cup finely chopped peeled apple (1 medium)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, 1 teaspoon of the apple cider instant drink mix, and 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon until well blended. Set aside. Since I was using a sugar-free apple cider mix I didn't use use a whole teaspoon of the apple cider drink mix. (No picture until later.)

Combine the sugar cookie dry mix with the rest of the apple cider mix with a whisk in a large bowl. 

Add the butter, egg, the rest of the apple cider instant drink mix with a hand mixer on low until mixture is crumbly.

 

Stir in the apple pieces until

combined.

Scoop out the loose dough (I used my tablespoon scoop)

and shape the dough in the palm of your hand 

 into a ball. 

Roll balls in the sugar-spice mixture. 

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. (Discard any remaining sugar-spice mixture.)

Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are set and light golden brown. Cool 1 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet to wire racks 

to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Store cookies in airtight container after completely cooled.

BUTTERSCOTCH-PEAR COOKIES

 This year was the best year yet for our pear tree. The tree produced the most pears ever and the best pears ever. We had so many I ended up giving a bunch away. Neighbor and Friend Sara made a pear pie and shared the recipe with me. I haven't had the chance to make one yet from the pear slices that we quick froze. Friend Vicky made these delicious Butterscotch-Pear Cookies and served them to us Tuesday afternoon at canasta. It was really hard to eat just one, but I held out so I could eat a piece of the lemon meringue pie she also served us.

If you love butterscotch, you will love these cookies. What a delicious change from chocolate chips! And the chopped walnuts? Yummy

Print RECIPE.

BUTTERSCOTCH-PEAR COOKIES

1       cup butter (2 sticks)

1-1/2 cups sugar

2       eggs

2       teaspoons vanilla

2       cups flour

1/2    teaspoon salt

1       teaspoon baking soda

1       teaspoon baking powder

1/2    cup chopped walnuts

1       cup finely chopped pears

3/4    cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and then add to the first mixture.

Fold in the walnuts, pears, and butterscotch chips.

Spoon out dollops of dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 16 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

KING ARTHUR FLOUR PUMPKIN PANCAKES/WAFFLES

 I know I have been sharing recipes with pumpkin lately, but it feels like the time to do so is so short. I don't see why it has to be that way. Anyway I hope you will bare with me with one more recipe. This is, of course, is awesome or I wouldn't be sharing it with you. 

The recipe is supposed to be used for making pancakes and I did make pancakes the first time and they worked out great. I had leftover batter after the first time so I just stored it in an air-tight container to use the next day. The batter was thick the first time but even thicker the next day. As usual I just added a little extra milk the second day to thin the batter. I didn't add much and so it was still not thin. That's when I got the idea to try it as waffles instead.

Well, that worked out even better and since my husband prefers waffles instead of pancakes, that is what I will be doing each time I miss up the ingredients. For a twist, I sprinkled a little cinnamon-sugar on top instead of powdered sugar and used my usual sugar-free syrup. The only change I made in the recipe was to use whole wheat flour instead of the all-purpose flour.

PRINT RECIPE.

KING ARTHUR FLOUR PUMPKIN WAFFLES

1-1/4    whole wheat flour

2          tablespoons sugar

2          teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2    teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2       teaspoon salt

1          cup milk (may need to add a little more if batter is too thick)

1/3       cup pumpkin

2          tablespoons butter or oil

1          large egg

In a large bowl blend the dry ingredients with a whisk. 

Add the milk, pumpkin, oil, and egg and stir til combined. 

Heat waffle iron and cook as normal OR

as pancakes...