Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies & Pumpkin Choc Chip Banana Bread!!

Happy Weekend!

Wrapping up college has been a crazy, continuous whirlwind, to say the least, but I've been able to get some baking in!!

Up first, I made Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips & Reese's Pieces! To this day, these are my brother & sister's favorite cookie! (Sorry Emily & Mark-- next time I see you I'll make more!)  

If you are a chocolate and peanut butter lover, like I am, these are the cookie for you! A soft, chocolaty cookie with bursts of peanut butter...Heaven. 

I brought most of these into work with me! A very-welcomed & appreciated Tuesday Treat!

 Before making these, I made my good ol' Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!  In addition to these two big guys (8'' x 4''), the batch made 2 little loaves too (5'' x 3'') ! (NOTE I made a double batch of the recipe linked to this post! A single batch, as posted, would make a very-mounded 8'' x 4'', or the 8'' x 4'' + a little one!) Made with 100% Whole Wheat flour and no butter or oil, you can even feel good about eating a slice (or two..or three...)! ;)

Much more baking to come after finals are over and as graduation nears!

You can find the recipe for the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread here!

Cookie recipe below!

Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips & Reese's Pieces

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (I used Hershey's this time)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened 

(if you use salted butter, just leave out the added salt)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 11oz bag peanut butter chips

1-2 cups Reese's Pieces

(I usually use 2 cups, but I got a little carried away "taste testing" them before making the cookies...:))

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk together and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, use electric mixer to beat softened butter, granulated sugar,brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy.  Add in the 2 eggs and beat well (scrape down the sides of the bowl if you need to).

Then, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Beat at a low speed, or just fold in by hand.  When almost all of the flour streaks are gone, mix in the peanut butter chips and Reese's Pieces with a wooden spoon. Keep mixing until everything is combined.

Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet (~1-2 inches apart, depending on the size of the cookies).  I usually line my cookie sheets with parchment paper for easy clean up / to prevent sticking. Bake for 8-11 minutes, or until they look firm and not-shiny. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.  

Enjoy warm or fully cooled! 

Warm & crumbled over some vanilla fro yo or ice cream is my eating-method-of-choice!

Have a great weekend!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bars! *healthified & delicious!*

What's a girl to do with 4 baking-ready (aka mushy) bananas?

As you may have noticed from previous posts, when I have extra bananas, I usually make banana bread (except for that one time I made banana cupcakes with honey cinnamon cream cheese frosting). I've done regular banana bread, chocolate chip banana bread, peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread, pumpkin chocolate chip banana bread.....

and they're all tasty! But I wanted to make not-a-bread.

So,

I made these! Whole Wheat Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Bars!! As the title makes rather obvious, these are made with 100% whole wheat flour and old-fashioned rolled oats. Also, I made them with no butter or oil! The only fat comes from the eggs and the chocolate! You could of course leave out the chocolate to make a healthier product; however, I believe everything is better when chocolate is involved.... ;)

They turned out soft, moist, and full of flavor! The chocolate-banana combination was delicious, and the oats gave them a hearty-healthy texture. mmmmmm mmmmmmmmm

Recipe!

Rachel’s Whole Wheat Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Bars

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3-4 medium/large bananas, mashed
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
10 oz bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15x10 inch jelly-roll pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray (i.e. PAM).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and brown sugar. Stir in Oats. Add all of the wet ingredients (applesauce, eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla) and fold into the dry ingredients until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread into greased jelly-roll pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a cooling rack. Delicious cut and served warm, or cooled!

Enjoy!!!

RECIPES INCLUDED: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread & Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I love making banana breads. They are versatile, can be made healthier at no expense to the flavor or texture, freeze well, and are moist & delicious!

Since I make banana breads so often, I decided to start experimenting more with varieties. On the left below is a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, and on the right is a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!

Both are whole wheat, contain no butter or oil, and are reduced sugar (note: reduced sugar = less sugar than the original recipe. However, they are by no means low in sugar!)

I made two mini loaves and one big loaf of each kind. Some of them I gave to people as gifts, like this one:

I cut the big ones each in half. I brought one half of each to work, and kept the other half of each for me and my roommates! Below, the left loaf is the peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread, and the right is the pumpkin chocolate chip banana bread.

The gooey middle is my favorite part...

I am so pleased with how they came out! Moist, tasty, flavorful, chocolatey!

And now, for the recipes! I have never put up recipes before; however, I've gotten many requests to do so. After some thinking, I decided I'm going to start posting them! Just promise you'll still come to my bakery when I open it!! ;)

Here they are!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 T baking powder (I know, it seems like a lot. You're reading right though-- Tablespoon)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup ripe banana, mashed (about 2)

2 eggs (slightly beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk

6-10oz chocolate chips (I use mini ones!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugars, peanut butter, and banana. Stir until combined. Beat in eggs. Pour in milk and vanilla. Then, add the flour mixture. Mix just until combined. Gently stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into loaf pan and spread evenly. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until cooked through (the center should spring back when pressed lightly with your finger). Cool in loaf pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 15oz can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup mashed banana (about 2)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs (slightly beaten)

6-10oz chocolate chips (I use minis!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate large bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugars, banana, and vanilla. Add eggs and stir until well combined. Then, add the flour mixture. Mix just until combined. Gently stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into loaf pan and spread evenly. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until cooked through (the center should spring back when pressed lightly with your finger). Cool in loaf pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

Enjoy!!

Oat-banana-chocolate protein super healthy "cookies"!

HEALTHY SNACK!

Yes yes, they are. I had some bananas that were perrrfect for baking, and I wanted to use them to make something healthy...a healthy snack!

So check these out, I might even eat them for a quick breakfast on-the-go!

What makes them healthy you ask? Here are the ingredients:

Bananas

unsweetened applesauce (just a little)

Old Fashioned Oats

dried figs, cut up

2 scoops chocolate protein powder (no added sugar)

cinnamon

vanilla

That's it!

The oats for a slow-digesting carb, high in fiber from the figs and oats, protein from the protein powder, a little healthy fat from the protein powder and the oats, and the taste of chocolate!

They were an experiment, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but they actually taste pretty good!! The touch of sweetness from the bananas melds really well with the oats and protein powder! And they're chocolate!!

I wouldn't really call them a cookie, but that's what they look like...I think I'll try them with peanut or almond butter spread on top too :)

Healthy "treat" = success!

I'd love to know what healthy recipes/treats other people make! I love experimenting!

Banana Bundt Breakfast Bread!

Happy Weekend!

We had a lovely potluck senior brunch this morning! I brought this!

It's my usual whole wheat, fat free banana bread recipe, but I wanted to make it look a little more special! Hence, Banana Bundt Bread, dusted with powdered sugar! I suppose you could call it cake...I brought along some honey cinnamon cream cheese frosting to go with it too :)

Yum yum....

Pretty with my roommate's flowers in the pic!

Enjoy!

Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting!!

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!

Which for me is basically just an excuse to make baked goods that are heart shaped, love-themed, or red & pink!

So these cupcakes aren't actually very Valentine's Day-y, BUT I happened to have a lot of bananas that were in need of being used in some sort of baking. So why not try out some banana cupcakes?! Frosted with honey cinnamon cream cheese frosting (which is as decadent as it sounds), and topped with a conversation heart, of course, to make it festive :)

^^I'm bringing this dozen to work... ^^

...giving some to friends for their birthdays....

...and keeping some for me and my roommates!

Perfect!

I'll be doing some more baking in the spirit of V-day, so stay tuned!!

Finals time = early Christmas baking!

I LOVE the Holiday season!
Family, Friends, Relaxation, and Christmas baking!!

I'll do more baking closer to Christmas of course, but finals time at college = festive baking! I finished my finals early and was able to make bake for my roommates, sorority, and friends who were still here! Nothing better than a treat while studying!

First I made Red Velvet Cupcakes! Moist cake with creamy cream cheese frosting, topped off with Christmas sprinkles!

Then I decided to make up a basket of goodies to bring to my sorority's house. Peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses is one of my favorite Christmas cookies of all time and are always a hit! Then I made soft chocolate cookies with crushed up peppermint Oreo-type cookies in them. Finished it off with little pretzel-chocolate-m&m bites.

After putting it in the kitchen, the basket was empty in less than an hour.

YUM!

Finally, before leaving to go home for the winter break, I made banana pumpkin bread. Fat-free, whole wheat, reduced sugar, moist, and delicious!

Happy Holidays!! More Christmas baking to come soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

First birthday in the Taste of DC office! This is a peanut butter banana cake, frosted with chocolate peanut butter frosting, and then topped off with peanuts for the words!
I must say, it was finger-licking good. YUM!

formal breakfast...

I made these breads for post-formal breakfast. But I tried to healthify them a little bit, so all of them are fat free and whole wheat (but then I added chocolate chips to the banana bread and one of the pumpkin breads, so those aren't technically fat free anymore, but still better for ya!) So we have pumpkin bread, chocolate chip pumpkin bread, and chocolate chip banana bread. However, I didn't think to take pictures until after I pulled them out for people, so the pictures are a testament that they were tasty :) haha nom.

Chocolate chip banana bread

Chocolate chip pumpkin bread

Regular pumpkin bread (naturally people preferred the chocolate chip haha)

Healthier Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I've made my traditional banana bread recipe many, many times, and usually keep it pretty much the same. However, I decided it's time to try to make some of my baking a little healthier. So, rather than make the chocolate chip banana bread I usually make, I made a few modifications: Whole wheat flour instead off all-purpose flour, and extra banana & a little applesauce to replace the butter (this might sound weird if you've never heard of it, but in baking applesauce is a common health substitute for butter). Now, to really make it "healthy," the chocolate chips should probably be omitted, but I'm all about balance, and of course, all about chocolate. It tasted DELICIOUS-- even more moist than the original, and wonderful texture. I think I will make it this way from now on! perfect.

mini banana chocolate chip muffins

I made these for my travel marketing class :)
i make them alllllll the time! same recipe as the banana bread i always make! delicious