Banana Split Bites!

Today's best seller at the bakery: Banana Split Bites!

These are the result of receiving an order of bananas for banana bread and not receiving the flour along with it!

As a bakery, we obviously have a ton of flour. But, we usually order the amount that we need for a certain recipe, give or take a few bags, along with the other ingredients. And the excess flour we had laying around wasn't enough to make enough banana bread for a profit.

But, we needed something for the daily special!

What you need:

FIRM bananas

Chocolate- whatever kind you want to use; chocolate chips, bars, whatever!

Nonpareils sprinkles or chopped peanuts.

Ice cream- again, what ever flavor you want!

Whipped cream- I suggest canned, because it comes out prettier.

Cherries!

What to do:

Use firm bananas and cut into 1 inch sections. Leave the peel on for easy handling, and with a melon baller, dig a well in the middle of each banana section. 

Melt chocolate in the microwave or stove or however you can, and dip the bottom portion of the banana in chocolate and then dip it once again in either non-pareils or chopped peanuts. To quickly harden the chocolate, place dipped bananas in the freezer for five minutes.

Fill each well with ice cream (I filled mine with vanilla chocolate chip) and top with whip cream and a maraschino cherry. 

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Its carnival season!

Every carnival, fare, Amish market, etc has these delicious cones filled with cinnamon roasted nuts.

And every carnival, fare, amish market, etc, over charges for them.

So, today, I had to break some hearts when I said I wasn't going to buy a cone, or five.

Instead, I said I was going to go home and make some myself since I had every simple ingredient sitting at home, except the nuts. A five minutes grocery store stop and to the kitchen I went!

You can use any nut really, I chose almonds, cause they're my favorite!

What you need:

1 pound almonds (about 3 1/2 cups)

1 egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 250 F.

Separate the egg white from the yolk and discard the yolk. In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg white with a fork until frothy.

Add the vanilla and mix together. Add the almonds and stir well to make sure all the almonds are coated with the egg white/vanilla mixture.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, salt and cinnamon until well mixed.

Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the almonds and stir well until all the almonds are evenly coated. Try to break up any large clumps of coating--or just leave them and enjoy them later after they're roasted.

Lightly grease your cookie sheet either by spraying with Pam or wiping with a paper towel dabbed with oil or shortening.

Spread the coated almonds evenly onto the greased sheet, and gently shake the pan back and forth a few times so they're in one layer. You may need to use two pans if your cookie sheet isn't big enough.

Place the pan in the preheated oven and roast for a total of one hour, stirring twice (at 20 minute intervals).

A wide spatula works well for stirring without knocking too much of the coating off. After each stirring, give the pan a gentle shake to even out the layer of almonds.

After an hour of roasting, allow them to cool. Keep them stored in an airtight container.

Homemade Sprinkles

Ever wonder what I do all day? No? Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway.

Today, I made sprinkles. I made sprinkles for 4 straight hours. Then I put them on a bunch of stuff.

Let me tell you why homemade sprinkles are so awesome:

It’s three ingredients.
It can be made in whatever quantity I want.
It can be tinted to any color I need.
And it actually tastes good!

What you need:

1 cup powder sugar
1 – 3 tablespoons milk (depending on whether you want a thicker or runnier consistency; I prefer a thicker consistency for these, roughly the same as butter cream frosting)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Optional:
Food coloring of choice (I would add 1 to 2 drops per cup of powder sugar, and I highly recommend gel based)
Flavored extracts (about 1/4 teaspoon of extract per cup of icing)

What to do:

Mix everything up in a bowl. The end.

To make the sprinkles, place the icing in a baggie and cut of a very small corner tip to “pipe out” dots onto parchment paper. (At work I use a pastry bag with a #3 tip, if you just have one laying around..). Each row takes roughly 15-20 seconds. They dry and are ready to be used after a few hours.

I did eight rows of 18-20 dots (roughly 160 dots) per sheet of parchment paper.

Taco Salad!

Taco salad for two!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 can chili beans, undrained
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 can sliced ripe olives, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups corn chips
• 4 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato

 

Directions

1. In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add taco seasoning, following directions on package. Stir in the beans, green pepper, onion, olives and salt. Set aside to cool. (Adding hot meat mixture to the lettuce with make in wilt faster).
2. On your plate, layer the corn chips, lettuce, beef mixture, cheese and tomato. 

 

 

I know you may be thinking that I left one big ingradiant out- salad DRESSING! Well, you don't nessiscarly need dressing for this salad. You can use some homemade salsa and some sour cream as dressing.

But, if you really want to mix in some dressing, here's what I recommend a chili-lime vinaigrette, or ranch with a little lime in it.

Enjoy!

Pancake jokes are for tossers.

Good Morning!

I love pancakes. I LOVE pancakes.

This is the recipie I use for FLUFFY pancakes. You can add in fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, powdered sugar,  etc.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. 

 

I put a little butter and syrup on mine. Its a good way to start a Saturday :]

Tomato Stuffed Tomatoes

This is a great snack on a hot day! And its the simplest fix, ever.

Ingredients:

(This is a "by-taste" recipe, so there aren't really any measurements)

• Tomatoes- one per person.
• Mayo
• Crackers
• Salt + Pepper

Directions:

1. Rinse tomatoes and cut off the tops.
2. Scrape out all insides of the tomatoes and place in a bowl.
3. Mix the tomato insides with mayo (to taste, add a few spoonfuls, then taste. add more if needed).
4. Crush up the crackers (Again, a few at a time, until you like the taste) and mix in.
5. Add a bit of salt and pepper.
6. Refill the hallowed out tomatoes with the filling.

And you're done!

You can stuff tomatoes with whatever you want. Tuna-fish salad with GREAT in tomatoes!!

Man-Approved Burger

It's starting to get warm out! Fire up the grills!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
• 1 package Lipton onion soup mix
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat grill for medium high heat and lightly oil grate.
2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion soup mix, egg, hot sauce and oats. Shape into 6 patties.
3. Grill patties over medium high heat for 10 to 20 minutes, or until done.