Almond Flour Banana Bread

Almond Flour Banana Bread

I don't know that I have much to say about this banana bread except that I'm obsessed with it right now. There's no added fat/oil (until you slather butter on it before eating). It's higher in protein that banana bread made with wheat flour. It's gluten-free. It's really super delicious too. Great option if you have to be gluten/wheat-free.

Almond Flour Banana Bread

     Adapted from Mama Knows Gluten Free

Ingredients: 

• 2 medium-large bananas
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups superfine blanched almond flour

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350°Fahrenheit. Grease/butter one 9" x 5" loaf pan or two mini loaf pans (5 3/4" x 3 1/4"). 
• In a large bowl mash the bananas until smooth. Add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until combined.
• Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and granulated sugar. Whisk to combine.
• Add the almond flour to the banana mixture. Use a silicone spatula to mix until thoroughly combined.
• Pour/Scrape batter into prepared pan(s).
• Bake on the center rack: single loaf for 50 minutes; 2 mini loaves for about 35 minutes--or until bread bounces back instead of denting upon pressing lightly on top.
• Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool further. 
• Slice with a serrated knife and enjoy.

Wrap leftovers in foil or plastic wrap.

Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

Who doesn't love a good soft frosted sugar cookie? I mean, really? It's simple sweet colorful goodness. These cookies are in the vein of Lofthouse Cookies.The cookie itself is pretty comparable -- soft, somewhat bland, but tasty -- and the frosting has more of a butter flavor than the actual Lofthouse cookies. All-in-all, a very satisfying homemade option.

I'd like to say more about these, but you're probably here for the recipe anyway, so here it is. Also check out Preppy Kitchen because they have LOTS of great recipes there, and that's where I got this recipe. The only thing I changed, really, is subbing cake flour for half the all-purpose flour.

Here you go.

Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Preppy Kitchen

Cookie Ingredients: 

• 135 g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) cake flour
• 135 g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg @ room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream @ room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 240 g (2 cups) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 tablespoons milk
• gel food coloring (optional)
• sprinkles

Instructions:

Measure out the dry ingredients -- flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch -- and mix completely with a whisk.

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Add sour cream and beat to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and scoop dough into the center. Fold the sides up to enclose the dough and flip over. Press dough into a flat square, and gently roll with a rolling pin to push dough into the corners, taking care to not press too hard and squeeze dough out of the plastic.

Refrigerate dough for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sprinkle a cutting surface with a little flour. Unwrap the dough and roll it out on the counter to 1/4-inch thickness.

Use a pizza cutter and a ruler (preferably) to cut dough into 2-inch squares. Depending on how you roll it out, you will end up with 24 to 30 perfect 2" squares. Re-roll or bake scraps as desired.

Place squares on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 1/2" apart.

I like to bake mine one sheet at a time. Bake each pan of cookies for 8-9 minutes -- do not over-bake. You don't want much, if any, browning at all on the edges.

Remove from oven, allow to cool on pan for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool. (I usually slide the whole sheet of parchment with the cookies onto a wire rack.

While cookies cool, mix the frosting ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Add more milk or powdered sugar to adjust consistency to your liking.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting onto each cookie and sprinkle immediately with sprinkles.

Store cookies in an airtight container.

Makes about 2 dozen 2" cookies

Whisk dry ingredients together

Dough plopped onto plastic wrap.

Fold plastic wrap so you have square corners.

Flip plastic-wrapped dough over and gently roll dough into corners,.

I place my dough on a small sheet pan before placing in the fridge.

I no longer waste my time and cookie dough with round cutters.

Cinnamon Caramel Crumble Bars

I've been wondering for a while if I could make a caramel version of the berry crumble bars my work friends loved so much. Then I thought maybe a layer of cinnamon and sugar--like cinnamon roll filling-- would also be tasty. Then it dawned on me: why not do BOTH at the same time? So that's what I did here. I took my salted caramel sauce recipe, added a tablespoon of cinnamon, and used that instead of the berry jam, and WOW. It really works.

These bars are chewy, cinnamony, buttery, and super satisfying. Kind of like a snickerdoodle-oatmeal cookie-cinnamon roll combo. Very nice. 

If you like cinnamon but don't want it to be too intense, maybe reduce the amount from 1 tablespoon to 2 teaspoons. 

Cinnamon Caramel Crumble Bars

Adapted from Feasty Travels


Ingredients: 

Sugar Cookie Crust

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Filling

• About 1 cup cinnamon caramel (recipe below) OR stir 1 tablespoon of cinnamon into a jar of caramel sundae topping 

Crumble Topping

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

• Line an 8"x8" pan with parchment paper and set aside.

• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy.

• Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix just until combined.

• Spread cookie dough evenly into bottom of prepared pan.

• Stir the caramel until it's loose, and then use an offset spatula or back of a small spoon to spread evenly across the cookie layer in the pan.

• Make the crumble topping by first mixing all of the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. Add the melted butter and mix with a spoon and then with your hands. Squeeze the mixture a bit to get some chunky crumbles.

• Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the caramel.

• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 48-53 minutes, or until top is well browned, and edges have puffed up the sides of the pan. (The edges end up pretty chewy, like brownie edges, and the center is more soft and tender.)

• Remove pan to a cooling rack to cool for about 15 minutes before pulling out of the pan by the parchment paper and setting on the rack to cool completely.

• Cut into bars when completely cool. 

• Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Makes about 24 small bars or 12 large

Cinnamon Caramel

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Equipment/Tools:

• clean & warm 1/2 pint mason jar
• heavy-bottomed saucepan
• small saucepan
• wire whisk
• silicone spatula
• measuring cups and spoons

Instructions:

• Place cream and butter in the small saucepan over low heat. Once it's hot, you can turn it off. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't boil.
• Place the clean mason jar on the stove to stay a little warm while you make the caramel sauce.
• Pour the sugar into the large saucepan set over medium heat.
• It will take a while, like 5-8 minutes before you start seeing the sugar start to melt. When you start seeing melted patches, start gently swirling the pan to evenly distribute the sugar and prevent any burned spots. 
• Continue melting and swirling the sugar until it's a deep amber color. Once it's deep amber, remove from the heat and pour in about half of the cream, which will bubble up violently. 
• Whisk the sugar and cream together, making sure to get any sugar in the corners of the pan. 
• Whisk in the remaining cream, and then the salt. Whisk until smooth, again paying attention to the corners of the pan. 
• Pour the caramel sauce into the mason jar, scraping all the goodness in using a silicone spatula. 
• Allow caramel to cool for about 10 minutes before stirring in the cinnamon. 
• Once the caramel jar is cool enough to touch without hurting yourself, put the top on the jar (not too tight), and allow to cool completely before using in the recipe above or placing in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 cup cinnamon caramel

Liege Waffles

Liege Waffles

Liege Waffles: a buttery yeasted dough studded with Belgian pearl sugar and baked on a waffle iron. I've been wanting to taste these and make them for years. I finally tasted them maybe two years  ago(?) at waffle truck at a bar in Marietta, GA, on St. Patrick's Day. Then a trivia teammate shared with me ones she had made. That was the clincher. I had to make them--and here they finally are, in all their glory. The waffle dough isn't sweet at all, but the sugar pearls add just the right sweetness and crunch on the outside. 

Be sure to read the cleaning note at the end. These make a mess of your waffle iron. 

Shoutout to the blog Whipped for sharing the recipe.

Liege Waffles
Adapted from Whipped

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup Belgian pearl sugar

Instructions:

• To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Then stir ingredients with whisk to blend completely.
• Add the water and mix on low. 
• Add eggs, one at a time until they are all completely incorporated. Then mix in vanilla.
• Slowly add the melted & cooled butter, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally to make sure it's evenly mixed.
• Tidy up the dough by scraping the sides with a silicone/rubber spatula.
• Cover with a tea towel, plastic wrap, or a clean plastic grocery bag, and allow to sit and rise for about 1 hour.
• Once dough has doubled, add the pearl sugar and fold it in gently, making sure to evenly distribute the pearls.
• Allow dough to sit again for about 15 minutes. 
• After dough has sat for 7-10 minutes, plug in your waffle iron (a Belgian style waffle iron is best for this because you get the thick waffles).
• When the dough and waffle iron are ready, scoop 1/4 to 1/3 cup blobs of dough onto the hot waffle iron. Close and allow to cook until medium golden brown, or browned to your liking. My waffle iron has number settings, and I set mine to 3.5 out of 5. It beeps when they're perfectly browned. 
• Use tongs or two forks to carefully move the cooked waffles to a cooling rack to cool. The sugar pearls have melted and you don't want to burn your fingers on the molten sugar.
• Allow waffles to cool about 5 minutes before enjoying. Repeat waffle cooking until all dough is cooked.
• Store uneaten cooled waffles in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also freeze these. Reheat by toasting on a light setting. 

Makes about 19 smaller waffles or 9-10 medium sized waffles

Re: Cleaning the waffle iron

While the waffle iron was still hot, I unplugged it and then I poured in water to cover the melted sugar and go up the sides about halfway.

After a few minutes I started using a paper towel held by my pair of mini-tongs to wipe it. I then used the same paper towel to soak up the water. I had to wring out the paper towel several times, but it was sturdier than I thought.

The waffle iron has never looked cleaner.

Homemade S'mores Ice Cream

I had some heavy cream in my fridge that needed to be used, and I also had some leftover pecan praline butter and salted caramel sauce. So I decided to make some ice cream with all those things. It was pretty tasty, but I didn't let my ice cream maker drum freeze long enough, so the ice cream never really froze properly in the ice cream maker. 

So, of course I needed a do-over. I also had all of the ingredients for s'mores, so I decided to make a s'mores ice cream. One of my kid's favorite frozen desserts is the s'mores Blizzard from Dairy Queen. They haven't had it lately, and the Ben & Jerry's S'mores Ice Cream wasn't satisfying, so the only logical thing to do was make a batch of s'mores ice cream at home.

So here we are. 

I think it tastes pretty good, but my family likes it even more than I do, which is just as well since I also made two pavlovas yesterday. I might be out of control again. 

If you're in search of a relatively simple homemade s'mores ice cream recipe I think this will work. Please let me know if you try it. I'm curious like that.

S'mores Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk (I used Fairlife)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 12-13 large marshmallows
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
• 3 graham cracker sheets, cut/broken (about 1/2 cup)

Instructions:

Note: You will need an ice cream maker for this project.

• Preheat your oven's broiler.
• In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, start heating the milk and cream while you prepare the marshmallows.
• Grease a non-stick brownie pan with the 1/2 teaspoon butter. Then place the marshmallows in a single layer in the pan.
• Broil on high until marshmallows are puffed and toasted to your liking. Keep an eye on this.
• When marshmallows are done, carefully slide them into the milk/cream mixture. Stir until the liquid is hot, but not boiling. Stir and/or whisk occasionally to completely dissolve the marshmallows.
• While the marshmallows are cooking/dissolving in the liquid, place the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons sugar in a heat-proof bowl, preferably with a pouring spout. Whisk until incorporated and slightly lighter in color.
• When the marshmallows are all melted and the mixture is hot and steamy, gradually pour the hot liquid into the egg/sugar mixture, whisking the entire time. You want to slowly bring those egg yolks up to temperature rather than cook them into a scrambled mess. You will have black or brown flecks from the toasted marshmallows. Do not be alarmed.
• Return the liquid to the saucepan over medium-low heat, stir/whisk, until the liquid reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Quickly wash and dry the heat-proof bowl and return the liquid to the bowl. Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Cover partially and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before covering completely and setting in the refrigerator to cool completely. This will take at least 6-8 hours.
• Freeze the ice cream according to the ice cream maker's manufacturer instructions. Scoop the frozen ice cream from the ice cream maker tub to a freezer container. Add the chocolate and graham crackers and stir to distribute the mix-ins. 
• If the ice cream is firm enough, you can enjoy some now. Otherwise, cover and freeze, and enjoy when desired.

Makes about 5-ish cups of ice cream

Toasted marshmallows in the milk & cream jacuzzi

Ice cream base ready for the refrigerator.

I wish I'd gotten a better pic of the churning, but you get the idea.

Mixing in the mix-ins

Ta-da!

Caramel Coconut Pecan Praline Pavlova

Every once in a while I get some crazy idea that works. Complicated, but delicious, this is one of those ideas. It's a conglomeration of parts of different recipes: pecan praline butter/paste and caramelized pecans from Cupcake Jemma's Vanilla Pecan Cinnamon Buns, salted caramel sauce, pavlova base, and stabilized whipped cream.

I only made this because I was making a key lime pie for my husband's birthday, and I had some extra egg whites. I also had the leftover pecan praline butter and caramelized pecans from the last time I made the Vanilla Pecan Cinnamon Buns. Aaaand I was trying to use up some heavy cream in my fridge and I had just made a bunch of salted caramel sauce. So as strange as it may sound, making this dessert just made sense to me--maybe the package of Girl Scout Samoa/Caramel De-lite cookies sitting on the counter also influenced this decision. 

It's pretty sweet, but the caramel and praline elements add just a touch of bitterness that balance it all out. Mmm. The pavlova is crisp and a little chewy, and the whipped cream is there just doing its creamy thing. I wanted to have just a touch of chocolate to give it the Samoa/Caramel De-lite vibe. Like I said, it works. 

At any rate, this is so complicated I wasn't going to bother with the recipe, but I want to have it on hand in case I want to make it again. So I'm going to try to put it all together below so that it makes sense to me and to anyone else. If you give this a go, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

*Note: You will end up with twice as much pecan praline butter and caramelized pecans as you need. You can either save those for another time, or you can make Cupcake Jemma's Vanilla Pecan Cinnamon Buns, or you can double the recipe for the other parts (pavlova merengue, caramel coconut, and whipped cream) and make one big pavlova or two of the regular ones. Just saying.

Caramel Coconut Pecan Praline Pavlova

Caramelized Pecans

    Caramelized Pecans Ingredients:

• 25g light brown sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons water
• pinch salt
• 180g toasted pecans

    Caramelized Pecans Instructions:

• Roughly chop the pecans.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
• Place a nonstick pan over medium low heat and add the 25g brown sugar and 1.5 tablespoons water. Stir and then add the 180g chopped pecans and salt. Cook and stir over medium low heat until sugar looks dry on the outside of the pecans. Pour caramelized pecans onto a parchment lined pan to cool.

Pecan Praline Butter/Paste

    Pecan Praline Butter/Paste Ingredients:

• 150g toasted pecan halves
• 150g light brown sugar
• pinch salt

    Pecan Praline Butter/Paste Instructions:

• Line another baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. 
• Add the 150g light brown sugar. Heat sugar until it melts. You can stir it with a silicone spatula, but be careful to scrape off any sugar build up along the way. Sugar needs to be completely liquid. 
• Add the 150g pecan halves and pinch of salt to the melted sugar and stir to coat the pecans. 
• Once pecans are basically covered in molten sugar, carefully scrape all of it onto a parchment-lined pan and allow to cool completely.
• Once praline is completely cool, break it apart into the bowl of a food processor, and process until you have a relatively smooth paste. Scrape into a bowl or clean pint size mason jar and set aside.

Salted Caramel Coconut

    Salted Caramel Coconut Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup toasted sweetened coconut, divided*

    Salted Caramel Coconut Instructions:

• Place cream in the small saucepan over low heat. Once it's hot, you can turn it off. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't boil.
• Place the clean mason jar on the stove to stay a little warm while you make the caramel sauce.
• Pour the sugar into the large saucepan set over medium heat.
• It will take a while, like 5-8 minutes before you start seeing the sugar start to melt. When you start seeing melted patches, start gently swirling the pan to evenly distribute the sugar and prevent any burned spots. 
• Continue melting and swirling the sugar until it's a deep amber color. Once it's deep amber, remove from the heat and pour in about half of the cream, which will bubble up violently. 
• Whisk the sugar and cream together, making sure to get any sugar in the corners of the pan. 
• Whisk in the remaining cream, and then the salt. Whisk until smooth, again paying attention to the corners of the pan. 
• Pour the caramel sauce into a heat-proof bowl and allow to cool a bit.
• Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the toasted coconut for the garnish. Then stir the rest of the coconut into the caramel sauce.

    *To toast the coconut, preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread coconut evenly on a baking sheet and bake until deep golden brown, about 5-8 minutes Take care not to burn it because it goes from light golden brown to burned pretty quickly. You may need to stir it once if the edges are browning more quickly than the center.

Pavlova

    Pavlova Ingredients: 

• 2 large egg whites (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

    Pavlova Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl, mix the cream of tartar and cornstarch and set aside for later.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium high until soft peaks form.
• While the mixer is still on, slowly add half the sugar and beat for 30 seconds. Then slowly add the remaining sugar. Once aded, turn mixer to high speed and beat until glossy stiff peaks form. This will take about 2 minutes.
• Add vanilla and beat for another minute. Continue to beat on high until peaks are very stiff. 
• Fold in the cream of tartar/cornstarch mixture using a silicone/rubber spatula.
• Scoop the mixture onto the parchment-lined pan, and using the back of a spoon, spread it out to make a 6 to 7 inch circle. Make the edge slightly taller than the center portion. 
• Place the pan in the oven and then immediately reduce the heat to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave the oven door closed and bake until the pavlova is firm and dry, about 90 minutes. 
• Turn off the oven and allow the pavlovas to cool inside the oven. 
• Move the baked pavlova to a cooling rack and allow to come to room temperature. 

Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting

    Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin powder
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar

    Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting Instructions:

• Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small bowl to soften. 
• Scald 2 tablespoons of the cream (this means you put the cream in a pan and bring it to a simmer on the stove); pour over gelatin, stirring till dissolved.
• Refrigerate until consistency of unbeaten egg white. (This takes about 10-15 minutes.) Then, with a whisk, beat until smooth. 
• In a stand mixer with a whip attachment, or with a hand beater, whip remaining cream and sugar just until soft peaks form; whip in the smoothed gelatin mixture, stopping to scrape the bowl twice. Whip until stiff peaks start to form, but be careful not to over beat. You will probably only need to whip it another 10-20 seconds before it's done.

Topping Ingredients Not Yet Named

• 35 grams (about 1.3 ounces) dark chocolate

Assembly

• Melt the chocolate by placing in a microwavable dish and microwave on high for about 30 seconds. Stir. If  not melted with one minute of stirring, microwave another 10-15 seconds and then stir until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.
• Move the cooled pavlova to a serving plate. 
• Carefully spread half of the pecan praline butter (which is about 1/2 cup) over the top of the pavlova, leaving about a 1/2 to 3/4 inch border around the edge.
• Spread the salted caramel coconut on top of the pecan praline butter layer. 
• Spread the stabilized whipped cream on top of the salted caramel coconut.
• Drizzle melted chocolate over the top and then sprinkle with the caramelized pecans and reserved toasted coconut. 
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Cover and refrigerate leftovers.