Banana Minimuffins!

The original recipe is from Martha Stewart with a few of my own changes.  I use applesauce instead of her canola oil, and yogurt instead of sour cream to make them healthier and less crumbly.  I always make mini muffins and Ave loves to eat a couple for her bedtime snack.  They are moist and chewy and not crumbly at all which is perfect for her. 

BANANA MINIMUFFINS:

Makes 12 Muffins or 36 Minimuffins (I get almost 50 minimuffins! I don't use paper liners and they freeze nicely in baggies afterwards)

4 (1 1/2 to 2 pounds) ripe bananas

1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (or canola oil)
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (or sour cream)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
 

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan, regular or mini, with paper liners.
Peel four bananas, and place them in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until mashed, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar, oil, and egg; beat until smooth. Reduce speed to low. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat until combined.
Fill muffin liners three-quarters full.  Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes for regular muffins and 20 for mini, rotating pan halfway through. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store, covered, at room temperature.

PRETZELS

If you stop everything you are doing and go make these RIGHT NOW, that is not soon enough.  They are so good.  They taste like mall pretzels.  I love mall pretzels. 

I made these last night and we used them as breadsticks with our fettucine alfredo.  I think I will never make breadsticks again and will always make pretzel sticks.  You might for a second think they have a lot of butter, but it is actually less than I use for my favorite breadsticks, so it's actually a healthy alternative ;)  It's actually probably less than I put on my toast.  It's for sure less than Ryan puts on his toast :)

Make. Them. Now. 

 

Recipe and picture from mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

Makes 8 pretzels

Dough:

2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

7/8 to 1 cup (7 to 8 ounces) warm water*

Topping:1/2 cup (4 ounces) warm water

2 tablespoons baking soda

Coarse salt (optional)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl and beat until well combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth, and quite slack. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 500°F. Prepare two baking sheets by spraying them with vegetable oil spray, or lining them with parchment paper. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces (about 70g, or 2 1/2 ounces, each). Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda, and place it in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved; if it isn't, it will make your pretzels splotchy.Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28 to 30 inches long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Dip each pretzel in the baking soda wash (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels for 6-8 minutes, or until they're golden brown. I only bake one baking sheet at a time and let the other rest while the first is in the oven.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you've used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that's what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.

*Use the greater amount in the winter, the lesser amount in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is a soft dough.

Restaurant Style Salsa

(I'm sorry my posts always begin with a pointless story. Actually, I must not be sorry because I keep doing it...)

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, it's pretty much exactly the salsa I have been making for years, but I have never written it down and with my "just wing it" style, it always ends up just a little bit different. So I followed the recipe this time and it was excellent. I think I will use a recipe from now on.

I never use jalepenos, it is plenty spicy for me with the green chiles. I'm wussy. I know. And I only use one can of regular stewed tomatoes and one can with the green chiles.

If you like it chunkier, sometimes I chop a couple fresh tomatoes and dump them in.
*Please see my next post for Picante Chicken if you want to use this salsa in another excellent recipe.

Restaurant Style Salsa

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time:

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• ¼ cups Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• ¼ teaspoons Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
• ½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• ½ whole Lime Juice

Preparation Instructions

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Carmel Toffee Fruit Dip

Here is the recipe for the fruit dip that I made on New Years Eve. I got it from Our Best Bites:

1 8oz package cream cheese

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 Tbsp vanilla (you can add more to taste I only used 1/2Tbsp)

1 bag toffee chips

Let the cream cheese reach room temperature. Mix it with the brown sugar and vanilla. Refrigerate. Just before serving add half a bag of toffee chips and mix well. The chocolate covered toffee chips would be super yummy. I couldn't find any of those, the regular ones were yummy too.

Christmas Crunch

If you need a yummy treat for a party(or just yourself) this is it. It is so good, and it is super easy to make.



CHRISTMAS CRUNCH

1 pkg. of Almond Bark
1 can (12.5 oz.) of COOKED Spanish peanuts
2 cups of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch cereal
2 cups of Rice Crispies Cereal

Melt the almond bark and then add remaining ingredients. Spread out onto a piece of aluminum foil and allow to dry. Once it is dry, break into pieces. ENJOY!

I am told that the Walmart Almond bark has the best flavor...