om nom nom nom

food times :)

Newmacs were fun! The guys won their championships and now its on to nationals. until then, jeff gets everything he wants. -.-

I baked for him and his swimming champion buddies!

1. best banana bread so far. i may tweak it to give it more flavor...it definitely would've helped to have more ripe bananas I think. It wasn't as sweet as it could've been, but I have a crazy sweet tooth that a lot of other people tend not to.

 2. THE best brownies ever.  like actually delicious. the best best. of course, I'm not against trying other recipes but so far, omg so good.

3. gluten-free peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped peanuts. no one believed me they were made without flour. seriously, you only need peanut butter, sugar and butter to make these cookies.

i love baking. next, i wanted to try a few recipes out of the chocolate baking book jeff got me for valentines day. and and the disney cooking book that he also got me for christmas! so many recipes to try :)

Recipes:

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

(courtesy of allrecipes.com)

Chewy, Fudgy Triple-Chocolate Brownies
Makes 16 brownies
5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1¼ cups (8¾ ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
  

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fold two 16-inch pieces of foil or parchment paper lengthwise to measure 8 inches wide. Fit 1 sheet in the bottom of the greased pan, pushing it into the corners and up the sides of the pan (overhang will help in removal of baked brownies). Fit the second sheet in the pan in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet. Spray the sheets with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. In a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, melt the chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool. 
3. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture; then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spread into the corners, and level the surface with a rubber spatula. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil or parchment handles and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares.

 (courtesy of http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/09/16/chewy-fudgy-triple-chocolate-brownies/#more-3850)

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
4 oz. Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 325. Mix peanut butter, sugar and egg until well blended.
2. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Remove and roll mixture into 18 balls.
4. Place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
5. Flatten each ball by using a fork to make a criss-cross pattern.
6. Bake 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
7. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Melt chocolate.
9. Dip one end of cookie into melted chocolate and then dip into chopped peanuts. Repeat with other side.
10. Place on wax paper covered cookie sheet and refrigerate until chocolate hardens.
    (http://www.bakerella.com/perfectly-peanutty/)