apples and banaynays

wow...i'm really getting busy this year. between senior fellows, schoolwork and classes, swing, the boyfriend and friends...i've got a lot on my plate...so to speak. yesterday was nice though because i got to hang out with alex all day. we visited with some of his friends for a while [more on that later], went to the first football game of the year, and just hung out watching some hbo. and today we're going to milburn orchards to pick apples! last year alex took me there on a surprise date and we had a really great time. so much so that i actually decided to organize an off-campus program [sponsored by the senior fellows] to take people apple picking. i talked with the people who run it and they gave us a really great discount [5 pounds for $5] and because the honors program was so impressed with the discount, they are going to cover the transportation cost. we've already had a few people sign up so i have high hopes that we can get a lot of people out there.


but anyway. back to the baking stuff. what do you do when you let bananas get a little bit too ripe? make banana bread of course! i lovelovelove this recipe from whole foods not only because it's healthy and tastes amazing, but by just adding some milk [or soymilk, if that's your preference] to the batter, you can make pancakes! two of my favorite things in the world: bread and pancakes. if you check out the whole foods website, they have a video where they show how to make both.

light and luscious banana bread
[from whole foods]

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground flax meal
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup fat free or low fat plain yogurt
3 very ripe bananas, smashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch x 4-inch metal loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.

Whisk together both flours, baking soda, flax meal, 2 teaspoons of the ground cinnamon and salt; set aside.

Cream together butter with sugar using a mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in yogurt, bananas and vanilla. Fold in flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Spoon batter into loaf pan.

Stir together turbinado sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top of the banana bread. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then remove from baking pan.

Chef’s Tip: If using a glass baking pan, decrease cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes.

[for pancakes, add 1 1/2 cups milk]

time to get naked

if you've never been to iateapie.net, you should really get on that. this site "provides reviews of foods marketed as healthy and diet friendly options." each review touches on the nutritional information, cost, and [of course] taste. it's a great place to check out before you go wasting your money on something that is healthy, but tastes awful...or worse, something that claims to be healthy but is really diet trash.

another reason why you should check it out? i'm now a contributor! check out my first review here. it is on naked juice's peach mangosteen bliss. more to come soon!

any suggestions for what i can review next?

pimp my brownies

we had a great turnout at our second "community builder". lots and lots of people came to pimp their doorstops, even some people from other buildings that weren't technically supposed to be there. more guys showed up than expected [possibly because the title of the event had the word "pimp" in it] so we were pleasantly surprised.

and i was in charge of bringing cookies.

so i saved a few of the peanut butter brownies i made for swing so that i could make brownie chunk peanut butter cookies! they kinda look like plain ol' chocolate chip cookies but no no...don't be fooled, my friend, they are so much more. i kinda am starting to figure out that screwy oven and was able to save them before they burnt. they were nice and chewy on the inside with a light peanut butter flavor and just a hint of soft chocolatelyness.

kira tried one and decided they were "really good. really really good." at one point, the co-curricular coordinator came in and told me that she heard someone in the hall say "man, it's too crowded in there...but they have damn good cookies!" yay :]

brownie chunk peanut butter cookies
[from baking bites]

ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, slightly softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter [i used creamy]

1 - 1 1/2 cup brownie chunks, in 1/4-inch pieces [i used pb brownies]

directions:

Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg, followed by the vanilla and chunky peanut butter. Gradually blend in dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in brownie chunks. Brownies will break up somewhat when stirred in.

Shape batter into 1-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden around the edges. Cool for 3-5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

time to sign up for fitness classes

classes have barely started and already i'm getting really really busy. i'm planning my first program for senior fellows and i'm taking a risk by making an off-campus one. we're going apple picking at milburn orchards on october 4th and it should be a lot of fun, but there is a lot of planning that goes into it. also, we are doing two community builders this year. this first is tonight ["sundaes on sunday" - free ice cream] and the second is on tuesday ["pimp my doorstop" - a doorstop decorating party].

the first swing dance of the semester was on friday and it was soo much fun. i can't believe how much i missed it. like, seriously, i had nightmares over the summer that i forgot how to swing and i'd jump out of bed and do the lindy basic steps myself just to make sure. and i missed my swing friends sooo much! it was great to see them. plus, we had a HUGE turnout...like more than i had ever seen. i hope everyone enjoyed themselves and comes back next friday.

i wanted to be nice and let everyone know how much i missed them so i made peanut butter chocolate brownies :]


even though i didn't like them as much as my new classic brownies, i still got a lot of compliments on them. working with that stupid, crazy oven in the basement is annoying, but i'll just have to get used to it. it's so fussy...i have to keep checking on it every five minutes which is lame considering i live on the second floor. ugh.

peanut butter chocolate brownies
[from baking bites]

ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup all pupose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9×9-in square pan with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth, then beat in sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.

In a small bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. Mix in to peanut butter mixture at a low speed, stopping when just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and scrape batter into pan, spreading into an even layer.

Bake for 26-29 minutes, until set. Edges should feel slightly firm and the center should not look wet or jiggly.

Cool on a wire rack and lit brownies out with the foil when ready to slice. Makes 16 brownies.

"cookies for everyone"

ok i lied. well, i didn't lie, but i accidentally didn't tell the truth. i do have a kitchen, but it's in the basement so you can forgive me for not knowing it was there.

considering how our first floor meeting is tonight, i decided to bake a little sumthin sumthin. something simple, quick, easy to give out, and that everyone will like. cookies!

i don't have too many ingredients with me so i decided to go with these flourless peanut butter cookies from baking bites. i went with chocolate truffle kisses instead of plain ones. sounds great in theory, but actually this was the first time one of baking bite's recipes didn't work out for me. the dough was super crumbly and crazy hard to work with. my first sheet burned way quickly [when i ran up to my room to get something] so i had to throw that out. i still made the second tray but didn't even bother topping them with kisses. i decided to save them for my next batch which i really really didn't want to screw up so i went with supersimple cake mix cookies. so they weren't interesting...oh well. life goes on. at least they taste good :)


edit: i was wrong about those pb ones. yes, the dough was hard to work with but somehow my attempt and packing it together into small globular cookies actually worked out. i had to wait until they cooled completely [they were very breakable when warm] to move them but then they stayed together when handled gently. i kind of disregarded them yesterday because i was pressed for time and had to make the chocolate ones, but after my roommates and i have had time to taste them, the verdict is in: they are super yummy. while they were crispy and crumbly on the outside, they packed a lot of peanut butter flavor. kira said that she doesn't really like pb cookies but really loved these ones because they were "different". she liked how they were moist and dense on the inside, which was due to my extreme packing of the dough. i actually found myself craving them today, something that is kind of rare for me. i ended up being really happy i made them along with chocolate ones because i love the choc/pb combination but it left options for those who don't.

not many people came by for free cookies so we were gunna name the pb ones "unloved cookies" but considering how much we enjoyed them, we changed the name to "partially-loved cookies". the others were also nice with a bit lighter texture and a fudgyness on the inside. the truffle kisses were perfect because they were so soft and gooey. we decided to name these ones "chocolate delights." i am posting baking bite's version of the recipe. i used more natural peanut butter than the recipe called for (along with about 2 tbsp water) in my attempt to try to make the dough less crumbly. also, i used chocolate truffle kisses so i think any kind of kisses, or chocolate candies, would work here. like i mentioned before, i packed the dough into my cookie scoop, which yielded more moist, dense cookies that cooked in about 8 minutes.

flourless peanut butter cookies
aka "partially-loved cookies"
[from baking bites]

ingredients:
1 cup smooth, “natural” nut butter (cashew, almond, peanut, etc.)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
24 hershey’s Kisses

directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together all ingredients, excluding hershey’s Kisses, until smooth.

Shape into 1-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Leave about 2-inches between each cookie so that they don’t spread together. Top each with a Kiss.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes at 350 F, until golden brown at the edges. Cool on pan for a few minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen.