French Vanilla Banana Bread

It’s important to get plenty of fruit in your diet.  I think banana bread is an excellent way to do this.  ;)

I had some super ripe bananas this weekend that were begging to be made into banana bread.  Well, begging might be a bit of an exaggeration, but they were definitely asking. :)

The bread turned out so moist and delicious, I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 stick of butter, softened (always, ALWAYS use butter)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1  1/2 cups mashed very ripe banana (about 3 medium bananas)
• 1/3 cup Stonyfield Organic Low Fat French Vanilla yogurt (many recipes call for plain yogurt, but I like the extra flavor of the french vanilla)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Using a whisk, combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

Using a mixer on medium speed, combine butter and sugar until thoroughly blended.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time.  Beat well after each addition making sure egg is fully incorporated.

Add the bananas, yogurt, and vanilla.  Mix until well incorporated.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt mixture.  Mix on low speed just until moist. Do not over-mix.

Pour into two lightly greased foil 4″ x 8″ loaf pans.  (I’ve found in years of baking sweet breads that mine turn out better when baked in foil pans versus glass or metal pans.  The glass/metal pans tend to brown the bread too much on the edges before it is sufficiently done in the middle.  The foil pans usually turn out a perfectly golden loaf of bread.)

Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes in pans before removing.  Place on a wire wrack to cool completely.

And the next thing you do is sit down and eat a big, fat slice of warm banana bread with a glass of ice cold milk.  Mmmmm….

Enjoy!
♥ Rachel

Amazing Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Thank you all for your prayers and comments for Dolly on Friday.  Those of us who get to know and love her in person appreciate every single word.  She did well through the weekend, but, of course, could use your continued prayers as she starts this process.

photo source: krusteaz.com

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe here.  (That’s probably because I don’t really cook/bake very much {grin}.)  I made some lemon bars for the first time this weekend and they were SO good.  The amazing thing about them is they started with a box of Krusteaz Lemon Bar mix {gasp} and got doctored up a bit.  They were also super easy to make.  We ate them so fast, I didn’t eve get a picture.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 package Krusteaz Lemon Bar Mix (1 pouch each lemon filling mix and complete crust)
• 8 oz (1 cup) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup water

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 8x8x2-inch pan.
• Press full pouch of complete crust firmly into bottom of pan.
• Bake 8 minutes (crust will be pale).
• Place cream cheese and sugar in medium bowl.
• Using an electric mixer, mix on low speed until smooth.
• Add 1 egg and vanilla.
• Continue to mix on low speed until smooth.
• Pour cream cheese mixture evenly over hot crust.
• In another bowl, stir full pouch lemon filling mix, water and 3 eggs together using a whisk until eggs are well incorporated.
• Pour lemon filling over cream cheese layer. (Rachel’s note: try to pour small amounts as evenly as you can on top of the cream cheese layer.  The lemon filling sinks to the bottom of the cream cheese layer, so you do not have a chance to spread it.)
• Bake 35-40 minutes or until center does not jiggle when shaken.
• Cool completely and cut into squares. (Rachel’s note: Can cool in the refrigerator if short on time. We ate them when they were just barely still warm and they were great.)
• Store covered in the refrigerator.  This part may be unnecessary because they may not last long enough to store.  :)

Wishing and hoping your week gets off to a great start!
♥ Rachel

CFF: Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake Recipe

It’s Cancer-Free Friday around these parts and that means we get to talk about something other than cancer!  Woohoo!!  Yay!!!

Since next week is Thanksgiving — otherwise known as “the day you eat as much as you possibly can, and then a little more” — I thought a recipe might be in order.  Because I’m pretty sure you are not going to get nearly enough sweets in your diet next week.  ha ha!

This recipe was given to me by a friend (Hi Dolly!) and it’s a cake one of her friends made for Dolly’s birthday.  I’m not sure what makes it so delicious, but everyone who tries it loves it.  I like it because, although it’s sweet, it doesn’t taste too sweet.  Maybe it’s because the buttermilk cake balances out the richness of the chocolate icing.

Now, I’ll warn you.  It’s not a “pretty” cake (at least not when I make it!), so if you’re in the market for a beautiful creation, let me refer you to Southern Living or Better Homes & Garden where you can find pretty cakes.  This cake is all about taste – not looks.  And really – don’t you think taste is what most people care about??

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

You will need these guys to help you make the cake.  These are very basic ingredients, which is what I love in a recipe.

Cake Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing Ingredients:
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Cream eggs and sugar.   Add oil and mix well.   Add flour and buttermilk alternately.   Add vanilla and stir well.   Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13-inch pan.   Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.   Do not remove cake from pan.   Cut into squares and immediately pour chocolate icing over cake.

Combine cocoa, margarine, sugar, and milk in saucepan.   Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.   Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.   Pour over cake.

This is what the finished product looks like when I make it.  It looked different when Dolly shared her cake with us because it had more of an icing layer on top.  If the icing is poured on the cake immediately after boiling, it will all soak into the cake (which is fine and tastes great – it just doesn’t make a “pretty” cake with nice icing on top).   If you want a bit of an icing layer on top of the cake, let the icing cool for a few minutes before pouring on the cake.

If you would like to download a printable version of this recipe, click here.  Let me know if you make it and how you like it.  I think you’ll be pleased.

Have a great weekend!!

♥ Rachel