Chocolate Bottom Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

I stumbled upon this recipe a few months back and decided it was by far my new favorite banana bar! If you love banana bars, and even if you don't, you will definitely be a fan of these...that is, if you like chocolate, of course :)



CHOCOLATE BOTTOM BANANA BARS with CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

 Ingredients: *1/2 cup butter, *1 cup sugar, *1 egg, *1 tsp vanilla extract, *3 bananas, *1 1/2 cups flour, *1 tsp baking powder, *1 tsp baking soda, *1/2 tsp salt, *1/4 cup baking cocoa, and *1 cup milk chocolate chips. FROSTING: *4 oz cream cheese, *1 cup powdered sugar, and *1 tsp vanilla extract.

Directions: *Preheat oven to 350 degrees. *Grease a 9x13 baking pan. *In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then add the egg and vanilla until combined. *Next, add the bananas to that. *In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. *Gradually add dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients. *Divide the batter in half, and set one half aside. *With the half still in the mixing bowl, add the cocoa powder and mix well. *Fold in the chocolate chips with that. *Spread the chocolate half evenly into the greased pan. *Then spread the half that was set aside ontop of that. *Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Toothpick should come out fairly clean. *While the bars are baking, beat cream cheese with powdered sugar vanilla extract for the frosting. *Once bars are done baking and cooled, spread cream cheese frosting over the top. *Top with sprinkles if you're feeling fancy :)

Chocolate Mint Cookies

Sitting around at home on rainy days is enough to drive a girl crazy! Been doing some baking lately, but haven't had the ambition to post what I've been making on my blog. Figured I had a little time to kill today so here goes...Chocolate Mint Cookies!

Ingredients: *2 cups all purpose flour *2/3 cup cocoa powder *1 tsp baking soda *1/2 tsp salt *2 sticks butter *2/3 cup sugar *2/3 cup packed brown sugar *1 tsp vanilla extract *2 large eggs *1 pkg crushed Andes Mints

Directions: *Preheat oven to 325 degrees *Combine dry ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl *In mixing bowl, beat softened butter, sugars, and vanilla extract *Add eggs one at a time *Gradually add in dry mixture until well combined *Fold in crushed mints *Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for about 12 minutes

Whole Wheat Chocoloate Chip Cookies...sorta

It has certainly been an incredibly long time since my last post! I must admit, I go through cooking phases. I will get really into it for a while and then suddenly I'm bored of it again. It's not that I haven't cooked anything in the last few months, it's more so that I've been too busy (lazy) to go through the work of posting it in my blog.

A while back, I tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. I thought they turned out quite nicely, and so decided to add them to my blog so I wouldn't forget the recipe! My husband loves the recipe I've been using for a long time, but frankly, I'm tired of those grease bombs. I prefer my cookies to be soft, but not so greasy that you can barely pick them up without them falling apart. I found a recipe that promised a better cookie, and as I began to whip them together, I realized I should have checked my available ingredients first! Haha :)  I didn't have enough all purpose white flour and had to substitute it with whole wheat flour. Surprisingly, it did not ruin the cookie, in my opinion!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies


Ingredients:
*1 stick butter, softened
*1/4 cup cream cheese, basically 2 oz., softened
*3/4 cup brown sugar
*1/4 cup sugar
*1 large egg
*2 tsp. vanilla
*1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
*1 cup whole wheat flour
*2 tsp. cornstarch
*1 tsp. baking soda
*1 pinch of salt
*2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
*Cream butter and cream cheese together.
*Add in both sugars, egg, and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.
*Scrap down edges of bowl before adding dry ingredients.
*Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to wet ingredients until just combined.
*Fold in chocolate chips with spatula.
*Chill in refrigerator for two hours before baking.
*Bake at 350 degrees on a greased cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes.

I've found that cookie dough bakes better if you allow it time to chill in the refrigerator beforehand; otherwise you can wind up with flat greasy pancake cookies :/   This recipe made 24 perfectly sized cookies. If you want smaller or larger cookies, you will need to adjust your baking time. I also rolled these cookies into balls then pressed them down a bit to flatten them out. I'm not sure if this affected how they baked, but just thought I'd throw that out there. Using the whole wheat flour gave the cookie just a tiny bit of that grainy-ness associated with wheat flour. Because of this, I think some nuts added to the cookie would be awesome! Also, I don't actually ever measure my chocolate chips. I just add them in until I think the dough looks right. As for the cornstarch, this is a first for me in a cookie recipe. I read that it works in much the same way a pudding does in dry pudding cookie recipes...without actually having to use the pudding.

Sorry, no photos of this one. Just take my word for it that they look and taste great :)

Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 193 per cookie

Mexi Corn Dip

So, a while back I was at a party at a friend's house and she had this amazing dip that was so addicting and delicious! I have been making it ever since for different occassions and get-togethers. I make it just slightly different than my friend, but they are almost the same thing. Yummy and easy Mexi Corn Dip!


Not a great pic, but was trying to get somewhat close up!

 Ingredients:
*1-8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
*1 cup mayo
*1 cup sour cream (I use lite)
*2-15 oz cans mexi corn, drained
*1-10 oz can Rotel, drained (original, mild, hot--any works, just get what you prefer...I use mild)
*1-4 oz can diced green chilies
*1-8 oz pkg shredded cheddar cheese




Directions:

*Make sure cream cheese is softened enough to stir. Add mayo and sour cream to it and stir by hand until the three ingredients are well blended.

*Drain mexi corn and rotel. Add to cream mixture, along with the green chilies, and stir until combined.

*Add shredded cheddar cheese. Stir. Can set a sprinkle on cheese aside to garnish the top of the dip with.

I prefer to chill my dip for a couple hours to stiffen it up a bit before I serve it. This dip goes best with Corn Chips, the Scoops kind, but also tastes good with tortilla chips. Heck, I'd eat it right out of the bowl with a spoon!

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

The other night my husband told me he was in the mood for homemade pizza for supper. Me, being the amazing wife that I am, rounded up the only ingredients I had to make a pizza. This is one of my favorites that I came up with a few months back. My version of Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza!

Typically I buy a packaged crust that only requires you to add water to it; however, I didn't have any in my cupboard so I was forced to make dough from scratch. And since I was making it from scratch, I figured I might as well make it slightly healthier than a typical pizza dough.

Ingredients for Crust:

*1 tbl sugar

*1 1/2 cups warm water

*1 tblsp active dry yeast (1 pkg)

*1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

*1 tsp salt

*2 cups whole wheat flour

*1 1/2 cups white flour, divided

I hate the idea of having to let a dough rise for an hour, only to punch it down, knead, and then let rise again for yet another hour. I'm so impatient, and besides that, I really didn't have time for that last night. The way I did it worked fine for me, and afterall, it is just a crust...it doesn't have to be perfect, right? Good.

Directions for Crust:
*In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast to sugar water and let sit for about 10 minutes. It should start to look bubbly/foamy.
*Stir in oil and salt.
*Add the wheat flour and 1 cup of the white flour. Don't add it all at once, instead, slowly add it a cup at a time so you can work it in together when stirring.
*Once the first 3 cups are incorporated fairly well, pour the remaining 1/2 cup of white flour out onto a clean surface. Dump the dough on to it and work/knead it until the flour is completely incorporated into the dough. Should take 5-10 minutes.
*Place ball of dough in a greased oven safe bowl, roll the ball around to coat with grease, and then cover with wax paper. Place the bowl in the oven and turn oven on to 175 degrees. Do not close the oven door; leave open a few inches.
*While the dough is in the oven, get out a large pizza pan...the biggest one you have, and grease with cooking spray. I prefer using round pizza pans.
*After roughly a half hour in the oven the dough should have risen about twice the size. Take it out and turn oven temperature up to 400 degrees. Then, spread pizza dough out over your prepared pizza pan. Use a fork to poke the dough.
*Brush crust with olive oil, not a lot, just a little.
*Place the pizza pan in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Remove and top with toppings.

Toppings:
*1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese condensed soup, other any other generic brand
*About 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
*5 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (Travis kept eating it, so I'm not sure how much I actually put on the pizza...just saying!)
*1/4 cup diced/chopped dill pickle, kind of up to your own tastes
*1 cup mozarella cheese (can use whatever type of cheese you prefer)

Directions for toppings:
*Basically, add the ingredients onto the par-baked crust in the order listed above :)
*Bake pizza with toppings until the cheese is melted to your liking. I kept mine in at 400 degrees for somewhere around 12 minutes.

This makes a very large pizza with 12 good size slices. Nutritional information is here.

Thanks for looking! Hope you give it a try sometime on pizza night :)

Healthy Banana Bread, Oil & Sugar Free!

My freezer is practically overflowing with bananas. I tend to buy more than I can consume before they over-ripen for my tastes. I blame this on my husband because he rarely ever helps me eat them no matter how much I try to get him to eat healthier :)
So, instead of throwing two more bananas into the freezer I decided to try my hand at a healthier version of banana bread. This banana bread is oil and sugar free, mostly due to the fact that I'm out of sugar...haha, and I've also been wanting to try the whole applesauce in place of oil thing. This is my version of a Healthy Banana Bread, Oil & Sugar Free:

Ingredients:
*1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce, heaping
*1/2 cup honey
*2 eggs
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1 cup banana, mashed (2 large bananas)
*1 1/4 cup flour
*1/2 cup ground flax seed meal
*1/2 tsp salt
*1 tsp baking soda
*1/4 cup hot water
*chopped nuts, optional

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease bread pan with cooking spray.
*In large bowl, mix together the applesauce and honey until combined.
*Add eggs, one at a time.
*Add banana and vanilla extract.
*In separate bowl, combine flour, flax sead meal, and salt.
*Add baking soda to hot water and stir together.
*Slowly add flour mixture to bread batter. Then, add the hot water and baking soda. Mix until combine.
*Pour batter into prepared bread pan. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool on wire rack before cutting.

This bread is moist and pretty good; however, if you are looking for a really strong banana flavor, then you will need to add more mashed banana to the recipe. This has just enough banana for me and you can really taste the flavor of the honey coming out. I also think adding walnuts to the batter would be an excellent idea, but my husband hates them, so I of course am not allowed. But, now that I think about it, he probably won't particulary care for this healthy version, so I should have just added the darn walnuts anyways. Dang, wasn't thinking there!

1/12th of this bread contains only 146.7 calories and only 2.6 grams of fat. I use a website to calculate calories and other nutritional information. Click here to see nutrition for this recipe. Now, remember, this bread contains no oil or sugar, and not even much white flour. It is low calorie and therefore has a different taste than what you are used to. If you don't like it, then that is probably why. Hope you all are brave enough to try it :)

**Update--I like the flavor of this bread much better when it has cooled overnight. The honey taste isn't as apparent. It is moist and yummy. I got the stamp of approval from my lady co-workers :)

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

I've been wanting to make this recipe ever since I found it on Pinterest. It is a Strawberry Yogurt Cake, original recipe found here. I changed it up just a touch because I can never leave well enough alone :)

Ingredients:
*2 sticks butter, softened
*2 cups sugar
*3 eggs
*1 tsp lemon juice
*1 tsp almond extract
*1 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup flour
*1/2 cup ground flax seed meal
*1 tsp salt
*1 tsp baking soda
*1-6 oz container strawberry Greek yogurt, I used Chobani
*about 2 cups sliced strawberries, I used frozen

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease bundt cake pan with cooking spray.
*In mixer, combine softened butter and sugar until fluffy.
*Add eggs one at a time until combined.
*Add lemon juice and almond extract.
*In a separate bowl, combine 1 3/4 cups flour, ground flax meal, salt, and baking soda.
*Alternate adding dry mixture and yogurt to egg mix until all is incorporated.
*Toss strawberries in 1/4 cup flour. I used a collander to shake off the excess flour. Carefully fold strawberries into cake batter.
*Evenly distribute cake batter in bundt cake pan. Use a spatula to smooth it out if needed.
*Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for a bit before tuning it out of cake pan. The strawberries make kind of a gooey texture on the top of the cake, and they need time to set up.

Icing Glaze:
*Whisk together 1 cup powered sugar, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 2 tsp lemon juice, and a few tblsp milk. It all depends on the consistency and flavor you prefer. Pour over cake after cooling.

A couple things to keep in mind...when you bake with ground flax seed meal it adds a distinct darker color and it's own flavor to whatever it is you are baking. I have been incorporating it into some recipes because flax seed is supposed to be good for you. Basically, all I do is cut out 1/2 a cup flour and replace it with the flax seed meal. If you prefer not to bake with it, simply substitute flour back in place of the meal when following my recipes.

Also, even though this recipe contains Greek yogurt and flax seed, two healthier options, it is still loaded in calories from the flour, sugar, and butter. Please, do not eat the whole cake! 1/12th of the cake contains around 410+calories. So just do what I do...bake it, eat one piece, then take the rest to work and have your coworkers eat the rest. Just don't tell the females how many calories are in it :)