Banana Cookies

Have you ever bought bananas thinking "oh yeah! Those are going to be delicious in my tummy." Then a few days pass, and they are slowly dying. Yep, that has happened to me! Today, in fact, I had some aging bananas giving me the stink eye for leaving them to sit. So, I decided to make something out of them, give them new life so to speak. Haha.

I didn't want to do yet another banana bread, so I went on the lookout for an alternate recipe to use my brown bananas. Well, guess what I found? *Drumroll please* a banana cookie recipe! I was very excited, I have never made banana cookies before...could it even be done? What is this sorcery?

So I set out to make them and oh my goodness! These little bite size cookies are delish! They are moist, banana-y, and very easy to make.

I found the recipe on Pots Pans & Parkers, there is even a delicious looking frosting that goes on top. I didn't want these to be too sweet so I omitted the frosting, but, head on over there if you want to try it out.

Banana Cookies
yield 45 cookies (1" cookie scoop)

3/4 cup    Shortening or Butter
3/4 cup    Sugar
1    Egg
1/2 tsp.    Vanilla
2    Mashed Bananas
1/4 tsp.    Baking Soda
2 cup    Flour

Place shortening (or butter) and sugar into a bowl.

Mix until creamy and combined.

Add the egg, bananas (as you can see I did not mash mine, they were pretty soft), and the vanilla.

Mix together, doesn't that look yummy? :P

Add in the flour and baking soda in a few additions. Mix until combined.

Using a 1" cookie scoop, I put 15 on each sheet pan (I sprayed my pans with cooking spray, feel free to use parchment). The cookies don't spread too much.

Bake at 350F for 8-10 mins. Bottoms will be golden brown, like the picture below.

Enjoy!

Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread

Let me start this post by saying that I never liked cornbread when I was younger. Something about the crunchy corn kernels inside just didn't do it for me. Lately I have been trying "new" things that I hated when I was a child.

This is where cornbread comes in...Now, when I found this recipe on allrecipes, I was quite surprised. It had 3,661 reviews and it was still given a 5 star! I immediately decided to try it out. This recipe is ah-mazing! It is sweet and moist, not at all dry with crunchy bits of corn in it! I was converted, I am happy to say that I am a cornbread eater now. :)

I did want to note, this is a sweet cornbread, if you are looking for a more authentic southern style cornbread you will probably be disappointed.

Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread
Yield (1) 8 or 9" square pan

1/2 cup    Butter
2/3 cup    Sugar
2    Eggs
1 cup    Buttermilk
1/2 tsp    Baking Soda
1 cup    Cornmeal
1 cup    A.P. Flour
1/2 tsp    Salt

Grease (and flour if you'd like) square pan

Melt butter in a pot.

Remove from heat and add sugar, stir to combine.

Add eggs, mix well.

(not shown: mix together buttermilk and baking soda)

Pour buttermilk mixture into pot, stir to combine.

Add cornmeal, flour, and salt, mix until only a few lumps are left.

Pour into prepared pan. 

Bake at 375F for about 30 mins

It will be a nice golden color on the outside, and a toothpick will come out clean when tested.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Bundt Cake

Let me start out by saying I love strawberries, in cakes, pastries, pudding, yogurt, smoothies, shakes, anything. So it was only natural that I start searching for a delicious strawberry cake. Now, this cake is not a strawberry cake but a plain moist cake with fresh strawberries in the batter. Now without further ado. Here is the original recipe.

Strawberry Cake
1 Cup (2 sticks)    Butter, Softened (I used salted, so I omitted the salt)
2 Cups    Sugar
3    Eggs
1 Tbsp.    Lemon Juice
Zest of 1 Lemon
2 1/2 Cups    A.P. Flour (Keep 1/4 Cup to the side)
1/2 tsp.    Baking Soda
1/2 tsp.    Salt (omit if using salted butter)
8 Oz.    Plain or Vanilla Greek Yogurt (I actually used sour cream)
12 Oz.    Fresh Strawberries, diced

Glaze
1 Cup    Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp.    Lemon Juice

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 375F, Grease and flour a Bundt Pan (10 In)

Place sugar into mixing bowl and cut butter into chunks.

Cream together, as you can see I did not fully cream together and the cake turned out beautifully.

Sift together 2 1/4 Cups of flour, baking soda and salt (if used), stir in the lemon zest.

Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then stir in 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice. Mix in the flour mixture and the yogurt (or sour cream) alternating between the two, only mixing until incorporated.

With the remaining 1/4 Cup flour, mix in with the strawberries. (I just used my hand)

Fold into batter.

Place into prepared bundt pan.

Turn the oven down to 325F, and bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 20 mins in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack.

For the Glaze.

Whisk together 2 Tbsp. lemon juice and 1 Cup powder sugar until smooth.

Wait until completely and drizzle over the top of cake.

Enjoy!