Banana Coconut Bread with Lime Glaze

Our little family definitely doesn't "go bananas" for bananas. I don't know what it is. But none of us really like them. 

I think, for me, it a texture thing. Plus, I grew up on the "BRAT" diet when you had an upset stomach. I still do this for my little guy. So maybe that's why he doesn't like them either. Anyway, the theory is that when you have an upset stomach or recovering from the stomach flu, you only eat, Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, or Toast.

But one thing we DO love is banana bread. I tried this new recipe because of the idea of a lime glaze. Mmm, and my inkling was correct! The lime glaze is divine. However, I think next time I'll skip the coconut. It wasn't necessary and my little guy wouldn't eat the bread because of it. 

Tell me what you think. Enjoy!

{BANANA COCONUT BREAD WITH LIME GLAZE}

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2 c. flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter, softened

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 c. plain low-fat yogurt

3 T. apple juice

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. + 1 T. sweetened coconut, flaked

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/2 T. lime juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer for 1 minute. Add eggs and beat well. Add bananas, yogurt, apple juice, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture and beat just until moist. Stir in 1/2 c. coconut. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle with 1 T. coconut. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes. Combine powdered sugar and lime juice and drizzle over warm bread.

Basmati Rice & Corn Salad

I'm really surprised I haven't posted this yet. But I guess I haven't made it for a while. Which is a bummer! We love this salad. I found it by accident in the little booklet that came with our rice cooker. It's really delicious! We had it last night, served with BBQ chicken. Yum! It would taste wonderful hot or cold.

Enjoy!

{BASMATI RICE & CORN SALAD}

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1 c. basmati rice
1 ¾ c. water
½ tsp. salt
2 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/3 c. olive oil
½ c. crumbled cooked bacon
5-6 green onions, thinly sliced
Salt & Pepper

Add rice, water and salt to rice cooker. Soak rice for 15 minutes before turning on cooker. Cover and cook rice until done. Stir in corn, re-cover, and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Pour rice and corn into a large bowl and fluff with fork.

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar and mustard, add olive oil and whisk well. Pour dressing over rice and toss to combine. Add bacon, onions, and Salt and Pepper to taste.

Personalized Fortune Cookie for your Valentine

I know I posted these last year. But I wanted to remind you of a cute, easy, inexpensive way to show your Valentine your love. I made these personalized fortune cookies last year for my sweet Valentine, my parents, and my in-laws. On each "fortune" I wrote a reason why I love them. It was so fun for them to open the messages, PLUS these taste so yummy.

Get creative with how you decorate. You can buy different colors of dipping chocolates. Or you can put food coloring in the cookie batter! You could even go back with piping icing and write their name.

I was teaching some friends how to make these a while back and one told me the FUNNIEST fortune. She said her husband always says the same line when he opens a fortune cookie. He says, "Help! I'm trapped in a fortune cookie factory and I can't get out." ha! I love it. 

Enjoy!

{FORTUNE COOKIES}
click here for a printable version of this recipe.

2 large egg whites 

1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 T. vegetable oil
3 tsp. water
½ c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
½ c. granulated sugar
Optional: food coloring, dipping chocolate
Cooking Spray

Preparation:

Write or print fortunes on pieces of paper, make sure they are no more than 3 1/2 inches long and  ½"  wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray two or three 9x13 baking sheets. 

In a mixing bowl, on medium speed beat the egg white, extracts, water and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar. Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should be thin enough so that it pours off of a spoon, but not too thick that it won't spread easily with the back of the spoon. 

{Optional: if you want to color the cookies, add the food coloring at this point.}
 

Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet (make sure you sprayed the pan well), spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Use the back of a round Tablespoon to spread it out a bit. Bake about 14-15 minutes. You want to watch for the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie to turn golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula.

Working very quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand (yes, it will be kinda hot). Place a fortune flat in the middle of a cookie. 

To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, like a taco {yes, this is a picture of a paper towel. I didn't think to take pictures of the process until after. So, please hold your mocking!} Hold the two edges together, but keep the bottom fold rounded.

Then gently place the rounded fold on the edge of a bowl or a muffin pan and fold together the opposite way to form a fortune cookie shape. {remind me never to attempt to enter the world of hand-modeling}

Place the finished cookie in the cup of a muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies. 

I cook only 2 cookies per pan, because you have to fold quickly. If you wait too long the cookies will crack because they harden FAST!

To speed up the whole process, I use 2 baking sheets  and alternate putting them in the oven. I set two different timers to keep the two sides of the oven straight. 

After they're all cooked and cooled, melt your dipping chocolates and dip one side of the cookie, if you choose. Then decorate with sprinkles. Adorable.

Sugar Cookie Bars

I'm a sucker for sugar cookies. Every time I see one, my mouth starts to water. But at the same time, I'm kind of picky with what sugar cookies really are good. The HAVE to be soft and chewy. The hard and dry variety, are just not going to cut it.

My recipe for the BEST sugar cookies, really is the best as far as I'm concerned. But let's be honest, sugar cookies take time to roll out, punch out, cook in batches, and finally frost individually. So, this week I was craving sugar cookies and found this sugar cookie BAR recipe. It's quick and easy and you'll be eating them in no time. The hardest part is waiting for the pan to cool before frosting. 

I made these specially for my sister-in-law, Tiffany (oh, and my brother, Adam too), who just had their FIRST baby....a girl. She will be my little girl-to-be's best bud. Their sweet little newborn is adorable with a full head of black hair. Good work you guys! You just need to have 12 more of those sweet babies. Just Kidding!

Enjoy!

{SUGAR COOKIE BARS}

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1 1/2 c. sugar 

1 c. butter, room temperature 

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 1/2 c. flour 

1/2 tsp. baking soda 

1 tsp. baking powder

 

Preheat oven to 350°.Spray 15x10 inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray (I seriously got out my tape measure to make sure I had the right pan, you don't want them to be too thin and this is NOT the big cookie sheet size). In your mixer cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together. Add in egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. With mixer on low, add in your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix until just combined. Press the STICKY dough evenly into your prepared pan.Bake for 20 minutes until edges begin to golden. Cool completely before frosting.

 

FROSTING  

1/2 c. butter 

1/4 c. milk 

16 oz. powdered sugar 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 tsp. vanilla

Adjust milk and powdered sugar to get to desired consistency.

Source: Chef in Training