Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I had some bananas that turned overripe very quickly on me this week- so what else to do but make banana bread! I used Alton Brown's Recipe from his baking cookbook, but adapted it a bit because my husband is allergic to nuts.



Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

3-4 overipe bananas
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted then cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup oat flour (I used whole wheat graham flour instead)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350, and prepare a loaf pan, or muffin tin
1. mash bananas with the sugar
2. mix butter, eggs, and vanilla together, then add to bananas
3. sift flours, and baking powder, and salt together
4. mix in the wet ingredients, then fold in the chocolate chips
5. spread batter into pan, then bake for 50 min to an hour for a loaf, or about 30 minutes for muffins.
6. remove from oven, let rest 15 minutes, then slide out onto a rack to cool.

This was our dessert- although I meant it to be for breakfast! Even my 10 month old was begging for more!

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls (Alton Brown's)

We had Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast this morning! I watched the episode of Good Eats in which he made them a while back and finally gave them a try myself! Link to his original recipe Food Network
I made half of his recipe, and do not own a stand mixer yet, so used the hand mixer and then the food processor- which actually works pretty well to mix up dough! My halved recipe version follows:

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
2 egg yolks at room temperature
1/2 whole egg room temperature (kind of hard to do...)
1/8 cup sugar
3 ozs buttermilk
1/2 pkg instant dry yeast
3 tbsp unsalted butter melted
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter melted

Icing:
1/8 cup cream cheese softened
1 1/2 tbsp milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Add yeast to 1/8 cup of warm water (100-115 degrees) with 1 tsp. of sugar set aside
2. Whisk eggs, sugar, melted butter, and buttermilk until well mixed.
3. Add 1 cup of flour
4. Transfer to food processor (or use your stand mixer with dough hook) add 1 more cup of flour, and pulse until all flour is mixed in and dough is a moist ball that is not sticky. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for a couple minutes. lightly oil a bowl, transfer dough to it, lightly oil top of dough, cover, and let double in volume (this took about 2 1/2 hrs.)

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and set aside

Butter a glass baking dish. turn dough onto lightly floured surface, and shape dough into a rectangle, roll out. brush dough with melted butter, and sprinkle filling over dough, lightly pressing it into the dough. Firmly pinch the seam, and cut into 1 1/2 inch rolls (should make six, but mine made 8) arrange rolls in dish, and cover with plastic wrap. refrigerate overnight or up to 16 hours.

In the morning, place rolls in the oven turned OFF. fill a shallow pan with boiling water under the rolls, and let rolls rise for 30 minutes.

Remove rolls and water, and preheat oven to 350.
Bake rolls for about 30 minutes, until they are golden brown (Alton wants the interior temperature to be 190.)

While rolls are cooling, mix cream cheese until creamy. add the milk and mix until combined, then add your sugar and mix. Drizzle over your rolls and serve.

These were yummy, although I prefer a bit more cinnamon sugar filling, and may add some vanilla extract next time.

Quinoa Porridge with Fresh Fruit

I adapted this recipe from a recipe I found at Noshtopia
Here is my version:

Quinoa Porridge with Fresh Fruit

1 1/4 Cups cooked Quinoa (I used Red Inca to give it some color)
3/4 Cup cooked Amaranth
1/2 Cup cooked Millet

Information on cooking whole grains can be found at Whole Grains Council

2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Cups Vanilla Hemp Milk
3 Tbsp. Agave Nectar (you could also use honey)
2 Tbsp. Brown Rice Syrup (a nice substitute for corn syrup or sugar... but is not quite as sweet)
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Fresh Fruit ( I used Bananas and Blueberries)

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Melt butter, brown rice syrup, and agave nectar (microwave or saucepan)
3. Combine melted butter, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, hemp milk, cinnamon, & vanilla, mix
4. Add quinoa, amaranth, and millet
5. Place in baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. (my oven is off, so I had to bake mine longer....I took it out after 35 minutes, removed the foil, and baked for another 20).

Cool, and put in dessert dishes if serving for dessert, and top with a drizzle of agave nectar and fresh fruit before serving. Another great way is warm with a drizzle of heavy cream and fresh fruit.

We ate this for breakfast, a great way to start out your day, with whole grains, fiber and lots of protein. Yum!

I don't know how to put pictures on the computer yet, but when I figure it out (hopefully soon) I will start posting pictures.