HummingBird Bread

Earlier this year my husband and I spent the week in Atlantic Beach, NC. We went to this restaurant called The Channel Marker (twice in fact) during our trip. If you ever go there be SURE to order the Hummingbird Cake for dessert! Apparently Hummingbird cake is a popular dish in the south, however before this trip I had never heard of such a thing. This cake is reminiscent of a carrot cake but instead calls for bananas and pineapple - but at the Channel Marker they also added coconut.  Topped off with cream cheese icing - and it was to die for!

This recipe was modified from one I found HERE I was in the mood for Carrot cake, but felt like giving this one a whirl as well. So I also added carrot and coconut. 

So here was the problem. I baked this bread/cake at night, and let it cool overnight. By the next morning I had developed a pretty quick moving cold and unfortunately couldn't even taste this cake. I'm assuming that by how quickly the hubby devoured it - that is wasn't that terrible...especially given that he doesn't like carrot cake. 

I made the glaze according to the directions in the link above, and I should have known by the word "glaze" but I didn't like how liquid this glaze stayed. I was hoping it would harden at some point but never did. Of course by then, it was too late to add more sugar and thicken it up. Nonetheless I heard it tasted pretty good. I'd like to make this cake again, but I think I'll use a different recipe next time - I'm still looking to replicate the one at the Channel Marker - does anyone know their baker? Hook a sister up!

Banana Nutella Muffins

Christina over at Sweet Pea's Kitchen is one of my favorite food blogs to read. I secretly think she might be my baking kindrid spirit...Anyway, here's a recipe I made from her blog - Banana Nutella Muffins

These little guys came out great. The only difficult part form me was mixing in the nutella nicely. The batter was pretty thick, and the nutella is also thick, so it was a tad frustrating trying to mix it all in without a major disaster. Use thick liners - those paper ones weren't so conducive to mixing ;o)

However the result was delicious!

Nutella Banana Gyozas

Okay, maybe they're not technically gyoza since they were fried instead of steamed, but still...the process was the same ;o)

From my previous post you saw I had some extra wonton wrappers left over...which makes for some cooking experiments. Dinner was made so it was on to dessert. This recipe probably exists somewhere, but since it only had 3 (okay maybe 5) ingredients I just came up with it on a whim.

Fill each wonton wrapper with a slice of banana:

Top each with a bit of Nutella:

Fold, seal with water:

Fry in pan and top with powdered sugar: 

Enjoy!!

Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies

Seems everyone I know lately is watching what they eat...which is why last weekend when we celebrated my mother in law's birthday my brother-in-law's girlfriend made the most amazing low fat and WW friendly cookies. These were some of the best cookies I've had in a long time – so good in fact, that half of the cookies she brought were eaten before dinner! I was lucky enough to have 2 that night before they were devoured!

She told us the recipe came from Skinny Taste - Chewy LowFat Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies. I've heard of this site before and after making this recipe I'm sure I'll be back.


Gina @ Skinny Taste says:
Serving Size: 2 cookies • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 175.8 • Fat: 6.7 g • Protein: 3.5 g • Carb: 28.3 g • Fiber: 1.6 g • Sugar: 14 g

The recipe goes like this:
1c flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp unsalted butter room temp.
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c unpacked brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4c mashed ripe banana (I used 1 whole banana)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c quick oats
3/4 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350˚.

1. Mix first 5 dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

2. In large bowl mix butter, sugars, egg, banana and vanilla. 

(Note: I had received a mortar and pestle for Christmas from my sister and thought I'd pull it out to mash the banana - not sure if this is what one might use to mash a banana - but it worked.)

3. Add the flour mixture & oats to this bowl and combine by hand.

4. Add the nuts and combine well.
(Note: I also decided to chop the walnuts a bit finer then the way they came.)

5. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (Note: Parchment is amazing for baking, I never ever bake without it - Not only does it seem to help prevent burning and sticking to the pan but cleanup is practically nothing!)

6. Bake for about 10 minutes. Just until they begin to brown. Do not overcook otherwise they'll be crispy as opposed to chewy. 

7. Let cool on tray for 3 min then transfer to rack to finish cooling. 

Makes about 36 cookies. Enjoy!