banana chocolate chip muffins

Another ugly sorry-looking bananas sitting at our kitchen counter this morning and waiting for me to decide on their fate. In the past their only destination would be the garbage bin but after i baked my first ever basic banana bread more than a year ago, i never looked at overriped bananas the same way again.

So what's a pretty girl to do? transform them into banana chocolate chip muffins! So simple, fun and easy to make. yum-my!

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIPS MUFFINS

Basic banana bread recipe is from Simply Recipes.  I just made it into muffins and added chocolate chips. :)

Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2.  Using a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
3.  Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.
4.  Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
5.  Add the flour, mix.
6.  Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips, mix. 
7.  Spoon mixture into a muffin tray (i use ice cream scoop) and sprinkle the top with the rest of the chocolate chips.
8. Bake for 25 minutes. 
9.  Remove tray from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.
10. Remove muffins from tray and transfer to cooling rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

To make a loaf bread, pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour.  Cool on a rack then remove from pan.

For mini-loaf bread (3x5 inch), bake for 40-45 minutes.

If you don't like chocolate chips, just disregard it.  You can also substitute chocolate chips with nuts and dried fruits.

LOVE-A Cake

It was during our 2nd week together as a dating couple that Fil and i got hooked to this french classic - moelleux au chocolat.   We were at Figaro in Davao City having coffee and sharing a dessert we absentmindedly ordered from the shelf. With its warm chocolate sauce oozing out of the center like a lava coming out of a volcano, we finished it in record time. The whole time we were feasting on it, we talked about nothing else...just how delicious and irresistible it was. Fil swore it tasted the same as the one he had in Paris. As for me, surely i have had this dessert in the past but it was on that very day that i officially became a fan. Since then, it has become our favorite dessert. We've searched everywhere for it but nothing tasted as perfect as that one we first had. Others were just too dry or too bitter or too sweet.

But no more searching now 'coz I have learned to bake it myself. Never too late to learn a new skill, eh? I'm so surprised at how simple it was to make it. In just about 30 minutes (prep + bake time), i can come up with a magic dessert that would make Fil do whatever i say hehehe. We personally love it as is or sometimes we pair it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Imagine the hot lava and the cold ice cream exploding in your mouth. Sinfully delicious!

Pardon the lack of art in my photo but i was too excited to eat it i didn't have the patience to compose the shot. Take this as my gift to you this Valentine's...kahit picture lang :-)

Stay happy and in love!

Lava Cake
(Adapted from famousfrenchdesserts.com)

Ingredients

6 oz. 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate (i use Ghirardelli brand)
6 oz. Unsalted Butter (diced, room temperature) plus more for ramekins
3 Large Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour

How to Make It:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Butter 4 individual ramekins starting from the bottom to the sides
3. Melt chocolate on low flame in a double boiler. When melted, stir in diced butter until it melts.
4. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
5. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
6. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
7. Cook for about 11 minutes.
8. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.

Enjoy!

mommy-made baby food

i've been making racrac's food for about 2 weeks now. we started him with rice cereal when he was 5 1/2 months old and a couple of weeks later gave him commercially-prepared pureed vegetables and fruits. one time when i was about to give him his first serving of squash, i read the Gerber jar and the ingredients were simply squash and water so i thought "hmmm, that's easy...why can't i just cook it myself?"

from the farmer's market

to frozen baby food, good for 1 meal per container

since then we have been going to Sunday farmers' market to buy organic veggies and fruits and here's how i prepare them:

carrots - peel, cut into small chunks, steam until soft then place in blender to puree. i add a little water to smoothen the consistency.

green beans - snap the ends off the beans and wash them, steam until very tender, puree using blender and add any left over water for thinning out the beans.

butternut squash - cut the squash in half, scoop out seeds, place an inch of water in a baking pan then place squash halves "face" down, bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes or until the skin puckers and halves feel soft then scoop squash “meat” out of the shell. Place squash "meat" in the blender for pureeing and add water as necessary to achieve a smooth, thin consistency.

sweet potatoes/white potatoes - wash and poke holes in sweet potato with fork, wash again 'coz the water that will go through the walls will help cook them, wrap sweet potatoes in tin foil, place in a 400 degree oven and bake for 30-60 minutes or until soft, place in blender and puree. add water to smoothen consistency.

banana - very easy! peel banana, throw into the blender and puree.


i put them in small containers, each container enough for one meal, and freeze. i usually serve them with rice cereal and milk. racrac loves it! sulit ang pagod ng mommy! :-)

i still give him some Gerber products, though, to expand his solid food repertoire. he just turned 7 months last week and i'm very careful about what i feed him 'coz i don't want him to choke or something. alam nyo naman, first time mom so medyo takot pa...