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!

Update #1! Brownies, Apple Cake, & Banana Bread!

This week was Spring Break and I had SO much fun! I also baked quite a few things!

I went home for a few days to surprise my mom for her birthday! The first night we celebrated I made my homemade brownies with oreos and chocolate chips! Served with vanilla ice cream, it was perfect after b-day dinner!

Candle for the birthday girl of course (she had already blown it out when I took the pic though)!!

the brownies...mmmmmmm

Birthday celebration night #2 I made Merryfield Apple cake. It is a super delicious, moist cake with apples, raisins, and walnuts, dusted with powdered sugar! It's one of my parents' favs! :)

THEN, back in DC, I had bananas ready to bake with! So I made fat-free whole wheat banana bread! But instead of one big bread, this time I made 3 minis! Brought one into work and froze the other two for later!

To see what else I baked this week, check out update #2!! There's a picture limit per post so I'm making two posts for the week!

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 chocolate chip muffins anyone?!

Happy Friday!

In keeping with my goal of baking at least one treat per week, I chose to make a good ol' fav of mine- banana chocolate chip muffins. BUT, with a slightly healthy twist: 100% whole whole and IF they didn't have chocolate chips, they'd be fat-free. So think of it as a nutritious banana muffin, with a kick of chocolate and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top.

Mini-sized, cute, you can just pop 'em in your mouth! The perfect balance, right?

No one can ever tell that they are whole wheat and have a fat-free batter!

:)

Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Winter Break Baking!

First post of 2012! How exciting! While I was home for winter break, I baked a few different things!

For Christmas Eve dinner, my family always does the traditional Italian Seven Fishes Feast for dinner. My Dad heads that up, while my brothers, sister, and I help in different ways. I always do the desserts.

And this is what I made! The main dessert is Chocolate Red Wine Cake with Whipped Mascarpone Frosting (plus more to dollop on top) garnished with strawberries. I also made Christmas cookies (some with my sister and my mom too)! There are walnut snowballs, spritz, almond crescents dipped in chocolate, gingerbread cookies, and peanut butter kiss cookies! And to add some healthfulness to the mix, I served a fruit tray with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kumquats, clementines, figs, apricots, and dates. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Red Wine Cake with Whipped Mascarpone & Strawberries

Cookie Tray!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Snowballs, and Gingerbreads!

Banana Breads + some muffins!! Made it for my family to have for breakfast! I make this all the time; it is consistently delicious & loved by all!

These are 100% whole wheat, and the one without chocolate chips is fat free. The base to the chocolate chip bread is fat free, just has the addition of chocolate chips! The flavor is fantastic and the texture is super-moist! No one can tell they're actually healthy!

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!

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.

Hope you're hungry!

Hey there!
I hope you're ready to see some yummmmmy goodies!
I'm going to start with a bunch of treats right in a row now to get you all caught up with my baking life! After that, I'll keep you updated as I bake!

So, let's start with chocolate chip banana bread. This is a moist, delicious quick bread that can be served for breakfast, dessert, or as a snack! Personally, I like it toasted with peanut butter!

And of course, the chocolate chips can be omitted, making a wonderful regular banana bread!