Roasted Banana Bars with Browned Butter-Pecan Frosting

Take me down to paradise city...Roasted Banana Bars with Browned Butter Pecan Frosting

From: Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2009

2 cups sliced ripe banana, about 3
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbs. butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2 1/4 cups cake flour (I didn't have any and used a flour/cornstarch substitute and it turned out ok, but I could tell it made a difference)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 lg. eggs
Baking spray with flour

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I didn't have any and they were still great but I think they would have been good with them too.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To prepare bars, combine banana, brown sugar and 1 Tbs. butter in an 8 inch square baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes, stirring after 17 minutes. Cool slightly.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl. Combine banana mixture, buttermilk, and 1 tsp. vanilla in another medium bowl. Place 1/2 cup butter and sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs to sugar mixture, mix well. Add flour mixture to the sugar mixture, alternating with the banana mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into a 9x13 pan coated with baking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small sacuepan over medium heat; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Combine browned butter, powdered sugar, cream cheese and 1 tsp. vanilla in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled bars. Sprinkle with pecans.

Cranberry Scones

This was seriously the most delicious thing ever. I wouldn't recommend making it unless you have plenty of people to share with, because it'll go straight to your hips. I'm fairly certain, this is what we'll be having for breakfast on Christmas morning.



(The above picture does not contain the orange glaze. I hadn't put it on yet.)
I do have to give a shout out to my friend Sarah, the source of this delicious recipe. Thank you for bringing this obsession into my life.

Cranberry Scones
2 c flour
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, at room temperature

Mix till crumbly.

1/2 c milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Mix in small bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Mix just until everything is moistened. DO NOT OVERMIX.

Spoon onto a greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheet in a circular mound. Lightly press 1 pint or less of fruit into the surface of the scone. (I used cranberries, but you could use blueberries, etc.)

Streusel
1/4 c flour
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T butter
1 tsp orange zest
1-2 T chopped pecans

Pour onto the top and lightly press all around onto the mounded scone. Cut into 8 pieces before baking. Bake at 400 degrees for 22 minutes.

Orange Glaze
1 T butter
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1-2 Tsp orange juice
2-3 Tbsp milk

Combine ingredients to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over scone when it comes out of the oven. Try not to die of gluttony.

Cake Pops of Joy and Love

These have been widely blogged about, but I finally got around to trying them. I thought they were delicious, but my friend Melinda thought they were too sweet. Too sweet? Is there such a thing?

You really need to check out this stream on Flickr to see all of Bakerella's incarnations of these. She's amazing.



Cake Pops

from Bakerella

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) - I used a Red Velvet cake.
1 can frosting (16 oz.)- I used cream cheese frosting.
Wax paper
candy melts in assorted colors (1 lb. pkg.)
Lollipop sticks - You definitely want the shorter skinnier sticks.
Any other sprinkles, etc you want to decorate with.

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon)Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50).
4. Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)
5. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)
6. Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.
7. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don't tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.
8. Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

I made some of my cake pops square, instead of round, for fun.

Texas Sheet Cake aka Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

My best friend in the world (if your bring over treats, you too, can earn this title), Melinda brought over a piece or two (or 6) of this cake last week and I was beyond smitten. And apparently, scarfing her pieces just wasn't enough for me. I had to have my OWN.

It was so good that I made an entire 9x13 pan and FORCED my husband to take all but 4 pieces to work the next day. I ate 3 of the aforementioned left home pieces.

Texas Sheet Cake
from Melinda (she claims it comes from the Betty Crocker cookbook)

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c butter
1/3 c cocoa
2 eggs
1/2 c buttermilk
1.5 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
1/4 c butter
3 T cocoa
3 T buttermilk (I might use a bit more)
2 1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cake:
Grease a 15X10X1-inch or jelly roll pan or a 13X9X2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. With an electric hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat chocolate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in a 350° oven about 25 minutes for the 15X10-inch pan or 35 minutes for the 13X9-inch pan, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Pour warm chocolate frosting over the warm cake, spreading evenly. Place cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly before cutting.
Makes 24 servings.

Frosting:
In a medium saucepan combine 1/4 cup butter or margarine, 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, and 3 tablespoons buttermilk. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add 2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth. If desired, stir in 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans.