Tag Archives: bananas

On The Healthier Side… Kinda

16 Sep

Banana Chocolate Chip Blondies

I wanted to try a little something different this week than what I would typically call a “go to” for a relaxing night of baking. I was originally drawn to this recipe because it was healthy and low in calorie… I then took that recipe and made them delicious. That 87 calorie high energy “dessert” became a dense and fabulous banana chocolate chip blondie.

I’m all for healthy (I am getting married in a month!), but when it comes to my desserts/breakfast/baking/just about all meals, I try not to concentrate too much on the calorie count. My thought process: there’s bananas and oats in it, it’s TOTALLY healthy! Then you add the sugar, but in all honesty, this recipe has some great substitutes for the standard baking ingredients.

My fiance, Rob, is a huge fan of bananas so i wanted to incorporate some in my next recipe along with experimenting with some unique ingredients. These blondies come out thick, dense and full of flavor. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! They are simple to make and definitely on my list to make again.

Blondies

Blondies display

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes
Yields: 16 Bars

 What You’ll Need

  • 2 Ripe Bananas
  • 1 3/4 Cups of Oats (or ground up granola)
  • 2 Tablespoons (30 grams) of Peanut Butter (I’m a Jiff creamy fan, Rob is a Skippy Crunchy fan – it’s a daily battle)
  • 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
  • 2 Tablespoons (30 grams) of Honey
  • 4 Tablespoons of Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon of Salt
  • 1/2 Cup of Low Fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt
  • 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Cup of semi sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 390 degrees F and grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Set aside.
  2. Throw ALL ingredients, except for the chocolate chips (I told you this recipe is easy!) into a food processor and blend until smooth
  3. Transfer to a medium bowl and fold in half of the chocolate chips into the batter
  4. Pour into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the remainder of the chocolate chips over the top of the bars
  5. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. These bars are VERY moist when they are taken out of the oven, but will set and firm a bit as they cool. Be careful not to over cook as they will dry out quickly.
    Blondies with tray
  6. Once cooled, cut into 16 bars. I cut into 9 and realized just how dense these bars really are! Learn from my mistake, cut into 16 bars!
    blondies with mits

I hope you all enjoy these as much as Rob and I did! They’re perfect for a casual Saturday afternoon with a cup of coffee and a good book!

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Enjoy!
Kristin

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Banana Nut Muffins

28 Sep

I know… It’s been way too long since you’ve seen a Kristin’s Cravings post. Let’s chalk it up to a summer full of beaches, concerts, casinos, comedy shows, ferry rides, NYC adventures, a trip to Napa and a new boyfriend who doesn’t like desserts (Crazy, I know!! ha, sorry Rob!)

I have to give the boyfriend credit though, through constant begging and nagging I’ve made him some banana nut muffins. It’s also the start of the fall season which is my favorite season to bake because of all the flavorful spices like cinnamon and nutmeg that are used and of course the cooler weather to make my NYC apartment bearable!

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This is a very simple recipe and total time to prep and bake should be around 30 – 40 minutes depending on how fast you work.


What You’ll Need:

  • 2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
  • 1.5 Tsp of Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Tsp of Salt
  • 4 Overripe Bananas (I used some that were slightly ripe and they worked just the same)
  • 1/2 Cup of Light Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup of Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon
  • 1 & 1/2 sticks (3/4 Cups) unsalted butter, Softened
  • 2 room temperature Eggs
  • 1/2 Cup of Pecans, Chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter 2 muffin tins. Be generous, the last think you want is parts of the muffins stuck inside the pan! Make sure to also butter the top of the pan so that the portion that folds over the top doesn’t get stuck either.

Use a sharp knife and chop the the Pecans; set aside

Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture; set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.

With an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together until smooth.

Switch to the whisk attachment and whit the remaining bananas into the mixture for a good 3 minutes. Put the machine on a higher level and make sure the batter becomes smooth. Add int he eggs and vanilla. It make look pretty wattery, but it’s OK. Once the dry ingredients are added it will start to firm up.

Switch back to the paddle attachment and miss in the dry ingredients in thirds until just incorporated. Take the bowl off the mixer and using the rubber spatula scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the flour at the bottom of the bowl is incorporated.

Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula that you set aside earlier.

Spoon the batter (I use an ice cream scoop) into the muffin tins and fill them about 3/4th of the way and give them a tap on the counter to get out any air bubbles.

Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating halfway, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes before devouring!

Be careful, these little guys are addicting!! I made about 2 dozen and they were gone in a day! Luckily I have quite a few people to take them off my hands!

Enjoy!

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