World's Best Banana Bread. Period.

G'day everyone!  I'm SO excited to share my recipe for the WORLD'S BEST BANANA BREAD. PERIOD.

It's adapted from Bethenny Frankel's Boo Boo Banana Bread recipe.  (Boo Boo is her dog lol)

Here is the original recipe, and my adaptations are in (  )'s:
1 C Raw Sugar (I used 2 T Maple Syrup instead- it was plenty!)
1 T Butter (I used 1 T Coconut Oil)
1 C Mashed Bananas (about 2ish)
1 Egg (I used 1 T soaked Chia Seeds)
1 tsp Vanilla (I left this out because we were out!  I would have added it though)
1 C Oat Flour (I used whole wheat)
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 C Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350
Mix everything together into a bowl
Pour into a greased loaf pan
Bake 30 min with aluminum foil covering the top (loosely)
Bake 15-20 min without aluminum foil, until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Now for the pictures!!!

Why is it that I always cook with YouTube?  There's Bethenny!

 


Since I had no butter in the house.....

...or raw sugar....

... or eggs because I had hard boiled them all... (LOL)  ...and do you see?   It's a chia heart!!!

The only thing I use my broiler pan for... cooling baked goods (HA)

Yes... it was THAT awesome.  I also made these into blueberry muffins the other day by replacing the chocolate chips with frozen blueberries.  Everything else was the same, and they turned out MARVELOUSLY!  Try it... so easy.  And don't be afraid to substitute ingredients!!  I use whatever I have in the house at the time, and I have never had a dud!  Experimenting is fun in the kitchen- go for it!

xoxo

Sweet Treat- Chocolate Covered Raisins

Hi everybody!   Happy almost TGIF!  AND it's almost TGIF of a LONG WEEKEND!  Woot woot!!   Just a quickie post about my brand new favorite sweet treat!  I got inspired to make some chocolate covered raisins the other day (remember having those chemical-laden ones as a kid?!...gross). 

Check it out!

















They look pretty good, no?  All I did was melt a square of Trader Joe's dark chocolate with a pinch of coconut oil over the stove (you could use the microwave if you wanted), and threw in a handful of raisins.  Stir stir stir and plopped on some aluminum foil.  I stuck them in the freezer to harden for a minute or two, and devoured them in about the same amount of time.  Brenton didn't like that I used dark chocolate.  He said "Eww... that's that bitter chocolate you eat.  Milk would be much better".  and then continued to eat a few more (hahaha)

Did you win anything on Angela's Shop 4 A Cause yesterday??  I was out-bid at the veeeeery last second!!!  Just when I thought I was going to win- BANG!- a higher bid.  Oh well.  She raised a TON of money for Cancer research, and THAT'S what's most important.

Any big plans for the long weekend?  I have some teaching to do on Saturday, and then I think we're going to go to the cemetery and then take a walk at Highbanks Metro Park to enjoy the weather a little bit. Then on Sunday I think we're having a BBQ cookout at my brother and sister-in-law's house... thinking of making BBQ Tempeh 'Ribs' and grilled veggies.  We'll see what inspires me!!  My goal for my day off on Monday is to do as little 'work' as possible and really enjoy the day.  (I say that now, but you KNOW I'll be knee deep in laundry or something)

Have a fantastic-o Thursday!!

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY bloggies!  It's hard to believe, but today is Annie'sSimpleLife's 1st birthday! WOW time flies!  In celebration, here is the recipe to my all time favorite birthday cake (raw, of course!)

Cake:


3 c Walnuts
2/3 c Coco Powder
1/4 t Sea Salt
1 c Dates


Filling:

3/4 c Raspberries (fresh, or thawed frozen)

Frosting: (yeah... I said frosting! can you believe it?!)

1/3 c Soft Dates
1/4 c Honey or Agave
1/2 Large Avocado
1/3 c Coco Powder


First, blend all of the cake ingredients together in the food processor:

For my cake, I wanted it round and birthday cake-ish, so I lined a Pyrex Round bowl with plastic wrap for ease of removal.

Divide the cake 'batter' in half, press that half in the bowl, and set the other half aside.

Then, put all of the Frosting ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. Sometimes you need to add a little water to get it to the right consistency- just add a little at a time. I'm telling you, this frosting tastes like it came out of a tub from the grocery store. I like to eat the leftovers with a spoon. Actually, when I made this cake, Brenton caught me. He said "uh... you have chocolate all over your face". (HAHA!!) Ok, back to the recipe, sorry! Coat the pressed in cake layer with a thin layer of frosting, and top with the raspberries (I used thawed frozen, so it looks gooooey!)

Then, press the other layer of set-aside cake on top. Press down really well!

Carefully, put a plate on top and flip the bowl over. Release the plastic wrap, and, like jello (GROSS) comes out of a jello mold, the cake will kinda... slurp... out. And this is what you'll have!

Ta-da!!! Then, ice the cake with the rest of the frosting. Devour immediately. Or put it in the fridge and eat it later. Even over the next few days- if it lasts that long.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Happy birthday!!!!

Choc full of surprises!!

Wowee what a weekend! Full of teaching, laundry, cleaning, and just 'stuff'. Today I went to a luncheon bridal shower. You guessed, it... it happened again. At the bridal shower, we (being myself and my sister) were criticized for not eating the chicken salad, punch, or cake. "Oh, you won't eat cake because you're a vegetarian" (OK, no, I won't eat cake because it's POISION, thanks) "Well, do you want a croissant? There's no meat in there..." (like it's a health food?! I looked at the ingredients on the package they came in, and the first ingredient was Enriched Flour... after that, it said (flour, benzoyl peroxide...) BENZOYL PEROXIDE?! Yeah, I use that on my face... not in my body- GROSS) "Oh, you guys are being TOO healthy!". Why do people always say that stuff?! Brenton said tonight "it's just because they're trying to justify eating it, drawing attention in a negative way to make themselves feel better''. Yep, I think that's it. Sorry y'all... this veggie girl is happy being healthy.

So on a fantastic note- I went to Target this evening, and checked out the chocolate section. Look what I found!!!!



90%!!!!! I was so excited. Check out the ingredients- NO SOY! (sigh, smile)

Chocolate, Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Butter, Sugar, and Vanilla. THAT'S IT! WHOOOOO!!!

Have a happy Sunday!