Banana Peanut Butter Nut Bread

One of my favorite breads to make has always been banana nut bread. Unfortunately we never had bananas hang around too long to make the bread out of them since we would peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Mmmmmmm....

For the record, I just found out that one of Elvis Presley's favorite sandwiches was peanut butter, banana, and bacon. It is delicious, omg...

Anyways, back to this bread, I decided that this time I was going to try to combine both the bananas and the peanut butter in the bread since I usually spread peanut butter on my banana bread when I eat it. It came out perfectly! The bananas remained in tact and helped keep the bread moist, while the peanut butter was still able to come through without overpowering the banana. Great success for me! Enjoy!

• 1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp Butter
• 4 oz Chopped Walnuts
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 cup and 2 tsp White Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 3 ripe Bananas
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 cup AP Flour (AP = All Purpose)
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit  In a container, combine 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 tsp white sugar, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Then in a medium sauce pan, brown 2 Tbsp of butter on low heat until the butter turns a rich brown color. Once browned, coat walnuts in the butter and then place in the container with the sugar mixture. Shake around and evenly coat the walnuts. Once coated, set walnuts on some parchment paper to dry and move aside.

Step 2: In a bowl, take your three bananas and cut up to fit in the bowl. Then take a fork and mash the bananas, but be sure to keep some lumps in it. Set aside.

Step 3: In a large bowl, cream the 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup sugar together. Add in the peanut butter, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt. Then slowly start adding in the flour until it has all been added. Lastly, fold in the banana mash, making sure to keep the lumps of banana in there. 

Step 4: Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan and cover with your sugared walnuts. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Once done, pull out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before taking out of the pan. Enjoy!


Note: Serve with cream cheese (just spread it on your bread as you eat it!)!

Yield: Makes 1 loaf.

Homemade Samoa Cookies

Ah yes, Spring is here and that means it is time to start stocking up on some of your favorite Girl Scout Cookies! In my family there has always been a steady supply of Girl Scout Cookies during this time of year. The majority of the cookies found in our house were the Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and Samoas. Every so often a new cookie box would get thrown into the mix, but it was usually those three boxes that would be devoured first. If my parents were lucky enough, they would be able to stash a box somewhere in the kitchen that wouldn't get noticed too early, but with 5 kids in the house trying hide sweets was like trying to hide bacon from a dog; it just wasn't going to work out!

Well this year my dad came and visited me and with him he brought us a delicious box of Thin Mints (I still have the box with a few cookies left in the freezer). After he left, I really had an itch for some Samoas but couldn't find any Girl Scouts selling them anywhere, so I decided to make my own!

Using both a shortbread and vanilla cookie recipes I have made, I found a way to combine them both into a "melt in your mouth" cookie that retained its shape yet didn't crumble when you picked it up. I ended up making these for Easter weekend to give out as gifts, and so far the cookies never made it past the 2 hour mark after being opened and left up on a table for consumption. Hope you enjoy these as much as my friends and family did! Enjoy!

• 4 cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 cups Butter, softened
• 1 tsp Milk
• 1 cup Sugar (white sugar, not powdered)
• 1 large Egg, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp Vanilla
• 22 oz Caramel Candies (I used Kraft Caramel Bits, worked perfectly)
• 4 cups Sweetened Coconut Shavings
• 1 lb Chocolate (I used CandiQuik Chocolate that can be heated and reheated in the microwave, it was perfect)

Special Utensils:

• Donut Cutter or 2 Round Cookie Cutters in two different sizes, one for the cookie and one for the hole. You don't need to make a hole in the cookies if you don't want to.
• A Hair Dye Applicator (one of these bottles: http://www.partwell.com/images/pictures/photos/products/bu2/6-adhesive-systems/empty-applicator-bottle-partwell.jpg, this is for the chocolate drizzle on top. If you don't have one of these, then you can use a fork)
• Rolling Pin
• Parchment Paper

Step 1: Combine salt, butter, and sugar together. Add in 2 cups of flour and stir. Once mixed, add in 1 more cup of flour and continue to mix. Dough should still be sticky and not really malleable yet. 

Step 2: Beat egg in a bowl lightly and then add in the milk and vanilla extract. Combine to the dough mixture and add in the last cup of flour. Cover and place in the fridge for 1/2 hour.

Step 3: Once you are ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and then break off a section of the dough and roll it with the rolling pin until it is 1/4 inch in thickness. You will want to keep extra flour on hand to prevent the cookies from sticking and use the flour as needed on the rolling pin, rolling surface, and the dough itself. Take a cookie sheet and place parchment paper on it and line the cookies on it. Thankfully these cookies won't spread out too much so you should be able to fit 12-15 cookies on the sheet at a time (I just did batches of 12 cookies). Place cookies in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should be white still or slightly golden, you want them to be soft. Place cookies on a cooling rack (you can lift the parchment paper and place that on the rack so you don't have to touch the cookies just yet so they can set) and continue to make cookies until you finished using all the dough. I ended us with 6 dozen cookies by the time I was finished.

Step 4: After all the cookies are made, take out the coconut and lightly toast it on the stove top in a big pan. Coconut will brown quickly so you will not need to cook them long. Cook until most of the flakes are golden brown to brown and then set aside.

Step 5: Melt the caramels how the bag instructs you too. Once the caramel is melted, add the coconut to it and mix together. Take a small clump of the coconut mixture and press into the top of the cookie. You will want to rinse your fingers from time to time to prevent the caramel from sticking. Do this until all of the cookies have the coconut mixture on top.

Step 6: Melt the chocolate how the package instructs you to, and then take your cookies and dip the bottoms of them in the chocolate. Set on parchment paper to set. Do this for all of the cookies. Once you are finished, place the rest of the chocolate in the hair applicator and draw lines on the tops of the cookies. If you don't have an applicator, then use a fork to drizzle the chocolate on top. Let set for a bit (cookies will taste just as good for a few days after you make them, so you can definitely make these in advance). Enjoy!


Yield: Makes 5-7 dozens, depending on your cookie size.

Deep Fried Apple and Brie Bites

This is a recipe I created after receiving a deep fryer for Christmas. These come out tasting just like little mini Apple Pies or Apple Empanadas.

Beware, this recipe can get messy so you will want to make sure you have some extra paper towels waiting in the wings. Also, these can be reheated in case you are bringing them someplace. Just make them before you leave, and when you get to your destination just heat them up in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 400 degrees F (204 degrees C). Enjoy!

Apple and Brie Filling

• 3 Fuji Apples
• 1/2 lb. Brie Cheese
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 20 crushed Vanilla Wafers

Step 1: Peel and dice apples to very small bits. Set aside in a large bowl when done.

Step 2: Break up Brie cheese into very small pieces and add them to the apples. Add in honey, vanilla extract, and crushed wafers to the bowl and then stir. You should end up with a very mushy looking but very tasty apple concoction. 

Step 3: Set bowl in the fridge while you prepare the Funnel Cake batter.

Funnel Cake Batter

• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Step 1: In a large bowl, beat the egg until it is frothy. Slowly start combining the other ingredients into the egg until smooth. The mixture should be a little on the thicker side so if you feel you need to add more flour, be my guest!

Creating the Apple and Brie Bites

• Apple and Brie filling
• Funnel Cake batter
• 20-30 crushed Vanilla Wafers (to coat the bites in)
• Oil for frying

Step 1: In a deep fryer or large pot, heat oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Step 2: While oil is heating up, it is time to get messy. Carefully roll the Apple and Brie mixture into little balls or clumps, making about 5 or 6 at a time. Drop them in the Funnel Cake batter and coat them evenly. Once coated, drop them in the crushed wafers and coat them, giving them a nice Vanilla Wafer shell.

Step 3: Once oil is fully heated up, add bites to the oil and fry until golden brown. Once browned, remove from the fryer and set aside on some paper towels to dry off. Bites will be a little soft as they first come out of the fryer, but will stiffen up after cooling a bit.

Step 4: After you have fried up all the bites, place them on a plate and server warm! Feel free to add a little dash of confectioners' sugar on the top of them before serving!

Yield: Makes about 24-36 bites, depending on how big you roll them