PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BREAD

I try a lot of recipes! And I love it!  I have always said, "I love to bake, I don't love to cook." There is a difference. So most of the recipes I try are "baked".  

Yesterday I baked a new banana bread recipe. (I know I already have a gazillion, but you can always use another one.)  I had three bananas that were really black. They don't usually last that long in my kitchen, but this time they did. Of course, they didn't look that bad when I peeled them. I hope you have checked out my post about how to make your bananas take longer to ripen. What? You haven't? Then check it out HERE.

Anyway, Tuesday night I was checking my secret board on Pinterest where I pin things I want to try and I saw this pin for Peanut Butter Banana Bread.  I also had another pin for Peanut Butter Banana Bread but the recipes were different.  Not surprising. I decided to let the one by Cheryl at tidymom.net  inspire me. (source)

I have to say "inspire me" because even with it, I had to give it my own personal touches. I reduced the amount of sugar her recipe called for and then used half of my new amount by using the stevia/sugar blend. She used mini chocolate chips. I had a small bag of Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups (unwrapped) that I needed to use. So I decided to chop them and use them, but increased the amount. (It didn't take the whole bag to chop 3/4 cup.) It is the perfect addition to the bread. I also wanted to try using part whole wheat pastry flour. This time I only used a small amount. The next time I will try increasing the amount to half. I think the bread will still taste good and I will have the added nutrition value of the whole wheat flour. 

This recipe has definitely become one of my favorite banana bread recipes.

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BREAD

1/2        cup truvia sugar blend (or 1 cup sugar)
1/2        cup (1 stick) margarine, room temperature
2           eggs
1/2        cup skim milk
3           ripe bananas, mashed
1/2        cup peanut butter
1            teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2    cups flour (2 cups all-purpose + 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
1           teaspoon salt
1           teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2    teaspoon cinnamon
3/4       cup chopped mini Reese's peanut butter cups (or your favorite chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9 x 5 - inch loaf pan, or several mini loaf pans with cooking spray.

Cream together the sugar and margarine til light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.

Add bananas, milk, peanut butter, and vanilla til completely combined.  (If your bananas are really ripe, you can just dump them in the bowl and break them up with the beater.)

Combine the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix just til combined. Do not overmix.

Add the chocolate in 1/4 cup amounts at a time. This will ensure that the chocolate is thoroughly mixed without overmixing the batter.

Pour into prepared pans. Bake til done. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick into center of loaf. It should come out clean.


Baking times:

large loaf - 60 - 70 minutes
mini loaves -30 - 45 minutes, depending on size of loaves

I used 2 of my favorite blue Pyrex mini loaf pans that are a little larger than the mini loaf pans. I had enough batter left to make two mini Bundt loaves. 

(My grandchildren gave me these two darling little pans for Christmas last year.)  I could have probably made 4 mini loaves.

Cool 20 minutes in pans and then remove and 

finish cooling on wire rack.

BANANA BLUEBERRY MINI LOAVES

This was a recipe from my mother's recipe box. It contains plain yogurt so I know the recipe isn't a real old one. 

Not sure when people started using yogurt in recipes but it has been 15 years since she died, so I know it has been over 15 years ago.  I had some plain Greek yogurt but decided to use the vanilla Greek yogurt instead since I was also substituting stevia for the sugar.  (I have found that even though stevia is supposed to be sweeter than sugar, when I bake with it, the baked goods aren't very sweet.

I also replaced 1/4 cup of oil called for in Mother's recipe with 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce.  I wanted to use all applesauce but I wanted to make sure the loaf held together.  I think the oil helps this happen.

BANANA BLUEBERRY MINI LOAVES

1       cup stevia or sugar
1/4    cup unsweetened applesauce*
1/4    cup canola oil* (* or omit applesauce and use 1/2 cup oil)
1/2    cup mashed banana (about 1-1/2 bananas)
1/2    cup vanilla fat-free Greek yogurt or plain
1       teaspoon vanilla
2       eggs
2       cups flour
1       teaspoon baking soda
1/2    teaspoon salt
1       cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 3 mini loaf pans with cooking spray.

Combine the sugar, applesauce, oil, banana, and yogurt in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.

Add the vanilla and eggs, mixing well.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a smaller bowl.

Add to the wet mixture, stirring til just combined.

Add the blueberries.  Fold in.

Divide batter into prepared pans. ( I made one mini loaf and 1 larger mini loaf....could have made 3 mini loaves as the batter really rose as it bakes.)

Bake 40 - 50 minutes.  Check doneness with a toothpick.  I cooked the smaller loaf 40 minutes and the larger one 45 minutes. (You can see how it really rose when it baked.)

Cool 5 minutes and cool completely on wire rack.








Wrap lightly and store in refrigerator.

"SKINNY" PEANUT BUTTER-OATMEAL COOKIES

Peanut butter cookies are my husband's favorite.  He also likes golden raisins.  When I saw this recipe for peanut butter - oatmeal cookies, I couldn't help but notice they also had golden raisins. They have to be a winner, I thought.  And they are!  

The recipe was in my spiral notebook that I have talked about before.  I think I cut it out of either a Woman's Day or Family Circle magazine.  It was featured as a LOW COST cookie at only 12 cents/cookie.  I'm sure that isn't true at today's prices, but that isn't why I made them.

They also said it made 52 cookies at 81 calories/cookie.  My recipe made 47 and I "did the math" and my cookies came out at 65 calories/cookie.  So I renamed them...."SKINNY"  

I was also pleased that the whole wheat pastry flour didn't affect the great taste of the peanut butter and oats.  As usual with my recipes, feel free to substitute all-purpose flour and the regular sugars.  BUT my version did make a really good cookie. 

"SKINNY" PEANUT BUTTER-OATMEAL COOKIES

1        stick (1/2 cup) butter/margarine, softened  (I use Country Crock sticks)
1        cup creamy peanut butter
1/4    cup packed brown sugar blend (or 1/2 cup packed brown sugar)
1/4    cup stevia/sugar blend (or  1/2 cup sugar)
1       teaspoon baking powder
1/2    teaspoon baking soda
1       large egg
1       teaspoon vanilla extract
1       cup whole wheat pastry flour
1       cup quick oats
1/2    cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl with mixer on medium speed, beat margarine and peanut butter until creamy.

Add sugars, baking powder, and baking soda; beat until fluffy.

Beat in egg and vanilla until well blended.

With mixer on low speed,, beat in flour and oats, just until blended.

Stir in raisins.

Using a cookie scoop (1 tablespoon), place dough 2 inches apart.

Flatten with a fork.  (see tip below)

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 47 cookies 65 calories each.






TIP!!!  

When flattening cookie dough with fork:

Dip fork in a cup of water so the dough won't stick to tines of fork.  You can flatten 3 or 4 before you will need to "dip" again.

APPLE ROLL-UPS, AN AMISH RECIPE

An Amish Kitchen -- three sweet stories to nourish your soul by Kelly Long is a book I read several months ago.  I made one of the recipes from the book Moist Banana Bread back in November and shared it here on my blog.  It has since taken over the number one spot of my most popular posts.  

Apple Roll-Ups was the second recipe I copied down.  It was provided and tested by Amy Clipston.  I have been wanting to make it long before now, but finally had an occasion to make it last week when my friends came over to enjoy an afternoon of farkle.

Below the recipe I share my experiences making it with apologies to Amy. Everyone really enjoyed the dessert and I plan to make it the next time my son Patrick and his family come over for dinner. (He usually wants an "apple" dessert.) I think they will like it as much as my friends and I did. Oh, my husband thought it was pretty good also. There were 8 of us at farkle so I saved him the last serving.

APPLE ROLL-UPS

2         cups flour
4         teaspoons baking powder
1-1/4  teaspoons salt
2        tablespoons sugar
4        tablespoons lard (shortening)
3/4     cup milk
1 to 1-1/2 medium apples, (thinly) sliced
nutmeg
cinnamon
1        pint water (2 cups)
1-1/2 cups brown sugar (or 3/4 cup brown sugar blend)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a rectangular cake pan (8 x 11-inch is what I used) with cooking spray.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.

Cut in the shortening til "pea"size.  I used my fingers.

Add milk to make dough.

On a floured surface and with a little extra flour,

roll the dough out with a rolling pin

in a rectangular shape til about 1/4 inch thick.

Spread about half of the apple slices over top of dough.  Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Add the rest of the apple slices and sprinkle again with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Starting with one of the long sides, start rolling the dough as for jelly roll.  (May need to sprinkle a little more flour to help roll the dough.)

Just before you get to the other side, bring the other side up over the roll.

Cut slices about 1 inch wide 

and place in the cake pan with the open side up.

Boil together the water and the brown sugar.  

Pour over the apple slices.

Bake until brown.  I started checking on it around 30 minutes, but cooked it for about 45 minutes.   

When I served it, I used my small apple shaped dishes.  My friends were very impressed.









I added more instructions as the recipe reminded me of some of my mother's...."place in cake pan, bake until brown".  I need more specifics. I also reduced the amount of apples.  Her recipe called for 4 medium apples, sliced. 

Three apples produced 4 cups of sliced apples.  I placed all of them on the dough and didn't get very far rolling when I realized I would have to remove a lot to be able to continue rolling it. 

I removed close to 2 cups of slices.











So I rewrote the recipe with my changes.  (Sorry Amy, but it just wouldn't work for me with the amount of apples you used.)

CAKEY PINEAPPLE BARS

I made these Cakey Pineapple Bars for Fort Leavenworth's Tax Center's Open House.  I have been making "goodies" for my husband to share during the tax preparation class.  It's been great.  I love to bake but am always in the need of a place to share so we don't have to eat all of them.  Somebody in the class suggested that maybe I could make something to share for the Open House.  

I had several recipes I wanted to try and the Open House was the perfect outlet for me.  The first one I made was the "Perfectly Chocolate" Peanut Butter Chip Cookies (which I will be sharing soon) and then this recipe for Cakey Pineapple Bars.

I have to admit when I looked at the ingredients, I couldn't help but question what it was going to taste like OR even if it would make a "cake". It seemed like it was missing some ingredients, but they were delicious!  It was hard not keeping a few for us, but I didn't.  

PRINT the recipe.

CAKEY PINEAPPLE BARS

2         cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2  cups confectioners' sugar
2         eggs, lightly beaten
1         can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple in juice
2         teaspoons baking soda
1/2      teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to  350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Add the eggs, pineapple with juice and stir for 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap the pan on the countertop several times to get rid of bubbles.

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until top is lightly browned and springs back when lightly touched.

Let cake cool completely in pan on wire rack.




Cut cake into desired size bars.  

In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar with 2 teaspoons water until smooth.

Drizzle over bars.

Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to set before serving.