Banana-Pear Chewy Granola Bars #Chiquita®Bananas

What kind of recipe would you put together if you had to include bananas, pears, and cinnamon? That was my challenge a couple of months ago when Chiquita® Banana had an awesome 8 week contest going on. I was slightly late to the party since I didn't even think about entering until week 7, but I gave it my all that week and entered at least 4 recipes. Can you even begin to imagine how excited I was when I won the grand prize for week 7?! Yup...here they are and they are healthy to boot: Banana-Pear Chewy Granola Bars!

These are so easy to make and really quite versatile. The mashed bananas, a little honey, and some dried fruit are all of the sweetness the recipe needs. I added some dried cranberries and blueberries, but any dried fruit would work. The flaxseed offers some awesome Omega-3's, but make sure you refrigerate the rest of the bag...those little seeds can spoil if they aren't stored correctly.

Chiquita® Banana-Pear Chewy Granola Bars 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2   cups large flake rolled oats

1/2   cup coarsely chopped almonds

3   medium, very ripe Chiquita® bananas

1   Tbsp. coconut oil

2   Tbsp. honey

1   tsp. cinnamon

1/4   tsp. allspice

1/4   tsp. sea salt

1/4   cup flaxseed

1   Bartlett pear, peeled and diced

1/2   cup dried cranberries

1/2   cup dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on both long sides of the pan. Set aside.

Spread the oats and the almonds on a large baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the oats are just starting to brown. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in the coconut oil, honey, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Fold in the flaxseed, pear, cranberries, blueberries, oats and almonds.

Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan, packing it down with a spatula. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until firm and set. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Lift out of pan and continue to cool completely.

Cut into 12 bars.

I finally found a use for the baker's twine!

I've made these several times already, and keep them wrapped in parchment, in the fridge, and at the ready to grab for a quick breakfast or to bring to work as a snack. Not a bad start to some healthier eating, eh? 

Be sure to visit the Chiquita® Banana recipe page for some more awesome and healthy banana recipes....everything from smoothies, to banana bread, to...granola bars!

What is your favorite Banana recipe?

Coconut-Mango Banana Bread

I have to apologize for taking so long to actually post this recipe. As I continue with my "lifestyle" change, I'm learning to adjust my schedule to fit in some exercise and learn how to make recipes that aren't so empty of nutrition. Again, not to worry, my recipes will never be health food--just a little healthier, or meant to be eaten in moderation.

Lately, I've become somewhat of a mango fanatic. Seriously, where has this fruit been all of my life? I actually had to look up on the Internet how to slice it up, but it's really not so hard. Check out what the National Mango Board has to say about it:

I may have to find myself one of those mango slicers....

Aren't they beautiful?

At any rate, I decided to add some mango to my last batch of banana bread. Plus, since I bought a can of coconut cream awhile back and I had no idea what to make with it (truth be told, I didn't even have an idea of what kind of consistency it had), I thought coconut might give the bread a tropical feel...quite important here in Minnesota where there is no end in sight to the cold weather.

Sometimes it's all about using what's in the cupboard...

Coconut-Mango Banana Bread
Printable Recipe

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

4 very ripe bananas, slightly mashed

1 can (14 oz) coconut cream

2 eggs

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups chopped mango

1 cup finely chopped macadamia nut

1 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. F; butter and flour two 9 X 5 X 3 loaf pans.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom; set aside.

Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the bananas, coconut cream, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla until well blended, about 2 minutes. Spoon the flour mixture into the banana mixture and beat on low speed until just blended. Stir in the chopped mango, macadamia nuts, and coconut.

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Happy Eating!

Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls

...with Nutmeg-Cream Cheese Frosting!

Can you believe it's time for another Improv Monthly Challenge? Many thanks to Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker for hosting this fun event. Each month we are given two ingredients to work our magic with. This month: Bananas and Nutmeg...two of my favorite things!

Of course, another of my favorite things is the cinnamon roll. Last month, I combined Chocolate and Marshmallows and made a Hot Chocolate Cinnamon Roll. How could I top that flavor combination? By turning Bananas and Nutmeg into Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls, silly! Here's how I did it:

Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls with Nutmeg-Cream Cheese Frosting

Printable Recipe

Dough:

½ cup milk

¼ cup butter

2 tablespoons sugar

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast

3-3 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into 4-5 pieces

Frosting:

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2-3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375 ° F.

Put the milk and butter in a measuring cup and microwave for about 45 seconds or until the temperature is 110 ° F. (bathwater warm). If it gets too hot, just let it cool for a few minutes. Pour into the large mixing bowl; stir in the sugar and then the yeast. Let this mixture stand for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to foam.

Bananas may well be my favorite comfort food....

Add two cups of the flour, the salt, the banana, and the spices to the yeast mixture and beat well. Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes (alternately, use the dough hook on a stand mixer).

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a clean damp towel. Allow dough to rise until double, about 1 hour. In the mean time, process the brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon in a food processor until the mixture is well blended and the walnuts are chopped. Add the cold butter and pulse until incorporated.

Roll out the dough into a 12 X 9 inch rectangle (I like to do this on my Silpat). Sprinkle the walnut mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch edge. Roll up the dough from the long side and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal sized pieces and place into a greased 9 X 13 inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled (or refrigerate overnight).

I put my rolls in the fridge overnight...this way I can have warm rolls for breakfast.

Simply take the rolls out of the fridge and let them rise until they are nice and poofy.

Bake rolls at 375 ° F. for 25 to 30 minutes or until browned.  Remove from oven and frost while warm.

The frosting is the best part....

For frosting, beat the cream cheese and the butter in a medium bowl. Add the nutmeg and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar and milk, beating to desired consistency. 

I believe we have a keeper.

Be sure to check out what everyone else is making!

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread

2013 Winner Best Recipe Ever!
Read the story on the Daily Dish

How is it that a gal who isn't all that fond of banana bread keeps posting banana bread recipes? Blame the banana bread obsessed husband of said gal. Luckily, (or not, if you consider my expanding waistline) I've become quite fond of these different varieties.

The idea for this particular flavor hit me as I was buying my coffee at the corner convenience store. I spied the bite-sized peanut butter cups at the check-out. Oh, I know they aren't new. In fact, I've used them in cookies. But how would they be in banana bread? I bought two snack-sized bags.

A quick Google search showed that they've been put into banana bread already....but not my banana bread....

Unfortunately, there really weren't enough of the peanut butter cups in those snack bags for my recipe, but I improvised and chopped up a bar of dark chocolate to add to the batter. It was a good choice. The recipe is written with just the peanut butter cups. Feel free to add the dark chocolate, if you like.

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread

Printable Recipe

3 cups all purpose flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 very ripe large bananas, slightly mashed (about 3 cups)

½ cup peanut butter

1 (6 oz) container plain or vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt, or 1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

¼ cup coconut or canola oil

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups bite-sized peanut butter cups, or chopped peanut butter cups (try Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups)
1 (3 oz) bar premium dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. F.; spray two 9”X5” loaf pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 ¾ cups flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the bananas, peanut butter, yogurt, eggs, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until well blended, about 2 minutes. Spoon the flour mixture into the banana mixture and beat on low speed until just blended. Toss the peanut butter cups in the remaining ¼ cup flour and stir into the batter. Stir in the chopped chocolate.

 

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Next time I may add some white chocolate to the bread. What would you add?

Sourdough Banana Pancakes

It seems like every other day I have a bunch of overripe bananas. This time, not only did I have overripe bananas, but I had some sourdough starter to use. Seriously, that stuff can get out of hand! It almost needs more care and feeding than my Chihuahua. Luckily, it didn't take long for me to figure out a way to put both the bananas and the sourdough starter to good use....Sourdough Banana Pancakes. Yup..I could make these  every week. They are that good.

Sourdough Banana Pancakes
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup sourdough starter

1 cup low fat buttermilk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for the griddle

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat a griddle on medium-high. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, add bananas, sourdough starter, buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla; whisk to combine.  Add to flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Batter should have small to medium lumps.

Brush a little melted butter on the griddle. Pour the pancake batter by ¼ cups onto the griddle, keeping the pools of batter 2 inches apart. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 ½ minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

Have I mentioned how I came about my sourdough starter? Check out this box of goodies I won from Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine. Notice the jar of sourdough starter? It's from the King Arthur Flour site and, apparently, has origins dating back 250 years! To make your own sourdough starter, you can visit the site and buy some of this stuff, or you can make your own. Here's a recipe I found on allrecipes.com: Sourdough Starter.

Remember to not over-mix the batter. No one likes a tough pancake.

The pancakes turned out awesome! Next time, I may add some fresh blueberries for an incredible banana/blueberry pancake, but, in the mean time, these were tasty with just some melted butter and some sugar-free syrup.

What kind of pancakes do you like?

Peanut Butter-Banana Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins

So, now I'm trying my hand at a "healthier" muffin. Peanut butter is replacing the butter, a banana is replacing some of the sugar, and I've even added a little whole wheat flour. The motivation? Well, besides wanting needing to cut back on some excessiveness going on with my own diet, I also feel a little responsible for my hubby's need for healthier eating. So there. Of course, it helped that I received an overnight package with some remarkable organic chocolate from Green & Black's. Take a peek at this treasure:

Am I lucky, or what? The variety is awesome--besides the Milk Chocolate and the Espresso that you see front and center, there is a 70% Dark Chocolate, a Mint Chocolate, a Toffee Milk Chocolate, an Almond Milk Chocolate, a 60% Dark Chocolate with Cherries, and a 60% Chocolate with Ginger. And this was just my sample...there are more kinds available at the store. But, I digress...back to the muffins...

The package of chocolate came on Tuesday. Wednesday morning, before work, I was already elbow deep into the muffin recipe, just so that I could start using chocolate. :) I made it up as I went along, so if you notice anything needs a little tweaking, be my guest.

Peanut Butter-Banana Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Printable Recipe

1 cup all purpose flour

¾ cup white whole wheat flour

¼ cup packed brown sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for topping

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus a dash for topping

1 (3.5 oz) bar Green & Black’s® Dark Chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 (6 oz) container plain Greek yogurt

½ cup low-fat buttermilk

1 ripe banana, mashed

½ cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.; line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir in the chocolate pieces and set aside.

I felt a little like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, opening that beautiful golden wrapper.

In a small bowl, blend the egg, yogurt, buttermilk, banana, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Add to the dry mixture and gently fold together, just until moistened, being careful not to over-mix. Use a cookie scoop to spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Stir the remaining sugar with a dash of cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the muffin tops.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly touched. Remove from oven an cool on cooling rack. Serve warm, if desired.

Considering that I had just minutes to spare, before leaving for work, I think these muffins turned out pretty well. Next time, I may try a tad more peanut butter, because I didn't taste it in the muffin, but overall I was pleased with the taste. The chocolate was really the star--it chopped easily, and it had deep, chocolaty flavor that lent itself well to the banana and the brown sugar. As a bonus, I didn't feel guilty about any of the ingredients...antioxidants galore! These will be made again.

As for the chocolate, I was impressed with Green & Black's background. Certified organic, Green & Black's also uses Fair Trade practices. Now, I'm looking forward to trying the other flavors, particularly the Dark Chocolate with Cherries.

For more information on Green & Black's Chocolate, visit them online at http://www.greenandblacks.com/us/ or on their Facebook page, where you can enter one of their monthly contests.

In the final analysis, I've found that healthy can also be tasty. And what better way to celebrate healthy than with some rich, dark chocolate?

Disclosure: I was given samples of Green & Black's Chocolate for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.

Butterscotch Banana Bread

I've said it before--I've never been a huge fan of regular banana bread. I'm not sure why. Perhaps,I've tried it once too many times when it has been dry and tasteless. The recipe I've used for years has chocolate chips in it, and I like it, but it's not my first choice when I think of things to make with bananas. 

The other day I was faced, once again, with overripe bananas. My husband wanted banana bread. Sigh. I do aim to please, however, so the question was not "should I make banana bread?" , but rather "how can I make this batch of banana bread tastier?".  It turns out it that it really wasn't that hard.

Butterscotch Banana Bread
Printable Recipe

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

4 very ripe bananas, slightly mashed

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. F; butter and flour two 9 X 5 X 3 loaf pans.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the bananas, sour cream, eggs, butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until well blended, about 2 minutes. Spoon the flour mixture into the banana mixture and beat on low speed until just blended. Stir in the butterscotch chips and walnuts.

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

So why did this recipe turn out better than my other tries with banana bread? Well, first, I did use more bananas--there are four large ones in there. The sour cream certainly adds moisture, and the toasted walnuts give it some good flavor. I also switched out the granulated sugar for brown sugar and added the butterscotch chips. I'm thinking it's the whole package...I just liked it.

Unfortunately, my husband was diagnosed with diabetes before he could take the first bite of this banana bread, so I will be doing some tweaking for my next batch. I'll be reducing the sugar a tad and swapping the full fat sour cream for the light variety. I may even sneak some whole wheat flour in there. Don't worry. I'll let you know how that all turns out, but in the mean time, it is all about portion control at our house.

One loaf was sliced and brought to work....

....and the other was sliced, wrapped, and frozen.

One slice, with a bit of peanut butter, has about 25 carbs. Not a bad snack.

So, while we face some new dietary challenges at our house, it's wise to keep in mind that all good things can be enjoyed in moderation. In the mean time, the next batch of cupcakes will all be going to go to my daughter and her friends. :)