Peanut Butter and Banana Bread

Recently for my Dad's birthday, I borrowed a container off my Mum, filled it up with baked goodies, wrapped it up and gave it to him as a gift. 

Last week my Mum gave me the container back and later on that night when I realised it was actually her's to begin with, I sent her a txt message informing her of her error. 

The answer - We were giving it back so you could fill it up again! 

The cheek! 

They are lucky I love them and I thought that was a fabulous idea! 

So this weekend I got to baking. I had some peanut butter in the cupboard leftover from making this Peanut Butter and Jelly Slice and I had a hankering to pair it with banana bread. And that is exactly what I did! It smells incredible and the sneaky nibble I had (sorry Mum and Dad!) backed up my theory that it was amazing. To be honest, they nearly only got half a loaf.....but I know that I would have sat down and demolished it slathered in butter in one sitting and that would possibly scar Mr B for life so we just won't go there. 

Peanut Butter and Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1.5 cups plain flour
3/4 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1/2 tspn ground allspice
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 tbspn Cinnamon Sugar (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 180C and grease and line a 9x5inch loaf tin.

In the bowl of your electric mixer add the banana, peanut butter, caster sugar and brown sugar. Beat until combined.

Add the remaining ingredients, except for the cinnamon sugar. Beat well.

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and smooth the surface with a spatula. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top.

Bake for 45-50 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 mins before removing from the pan to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely....or cut yourself off a slice and enjoy it fresh out of the oven while it's still warm!

Enjoy!

Mrs B x

Banana and Raspberry Bread

When I first came across this recipe, it was called 'Best Ever Banana Bread.' Now really that is a pretty big call because banana bread is not only one of my favourite induglences, but I mean this recipe had raspberries in it....there was only one thing to do - make it and see if it stood up to the name (which by the way, it totally did!)

Banana and Raspberry Bread

You will need:

1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 tspn ground cinnamon
3 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tspn vanilla essence
125g fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 150°C and brush a 7cm-deep, 10 x 20cm loaf pan with melted butter. Line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flours, sugar, coconut and cinnamon. Add the eggs, banana, oil and vanilla and beat until just combined. Gently fold in the raspberries.

Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the surface using the back of a spoon or a spatula. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Set aside in pan for 20 minutes to cool before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely. Now this bread is going to smell incredible, you are going to want to dive right in and cut yourself a huge big piece of it and slather it with butter....and I mean if you really want to then go ahead, but I highly recommend waiting for the bread to cool before you slice it and serving it at room temperature...still slathered with butter of course!

 

Mrs B xx

Waffles with Strawberries, Banana and Cream

On a Monday you need dessert. End of story. But dessert doesn't always have to consist of ice cream straight from the tub or indulgent chocolate puddings or decadent cheesecakes, dessert can consist of fruit and still be satisfying and delicious....don't believe me....check these waffles out and tell me I'm wrong. 

This recipe makes 2 of the waffles shown in the picture. 

.6 cup of plain flour
.6 tspn baking powder
1 tbspn caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
30g butter, melted
1/2 cup strawberries sliced
2 small bananas sliced
whipped cream

Pre-heat your waffle maker.

Combine the flour, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Stir through the egg, milk and melted butter.

Pour half of the mixture into your waffle maker, close the lid and cook for 4-5 mins or until golden.

Repeat with remaining mixture.

Serve topped with strawberries, banana and whipped cream.

I just adore banana and whipped cream and with the addition of strawberries and a freshly cooked golden waffle, it is the perfect dessert. I also love that it's a lovely light way to end a meal, plus it looks really specky so it makes you feel like you are indulging in a decadent dessert without leaving you with that heavy 'oh i've over eaten' feeling!

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Strawberry Cheesecake Slice

This weekend Mr B and I discovered 'Click and Collect' groceries which basically is where we can do our groceries online and collect them the next day at no extra cost! Every weekend I get increasingly frustrated at the amount of time it takes to do the shopping list, go to the supermarket, pick everything up, come home and unpack, but I did have some concerns regarding the freshness and quality of the goods we could receive, so on Thursday night, Mr B and I sat down and did our order online and when we rocked up at the supermarket after work on Friday, there were our groceries all ready to go! We were really impressed, the fruit and vegies were all good quality and everything was well packed, plus it has made such a HUGE difference to our weekend! We have had so much extra time which equals lots less stress and lots more quality time. It has been fantastic!

And to celebrate, I made Mr B one of his favourite snacks for his lunches this week.....Strawberry Cheesecake Slice!

You will need

1 packet of Lattice Biscuits
125g of cream cheese
125g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 tbspns strawberry jam
2 tspns gelatine
1 tspn vanilla essence

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, sugar and butter. Beat until smooth, creamy and pale.

Dissolve the gelatine in 1/4 cup of hot water and add to the cream cheese mixture with the strawberry jam and vanilla. Beat until thick and creamy.

Line a baking dish with baking paper and then layer half of your lattice biscuits, shiny side down, in the dish.

Spoon the cheesecake mixture over the top of the biscuits and smooth with the back of a spoon or a spatula.

Top with the remaining biscuits and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Cut into squares and serve!

Anyway, I best be off, I have Apple Pikelets cooking away and I need to get ready because tonight Mr B and I are kicking off a month of celebrations for Mr B's birthday (against Mr B's will, but I love any excuse to celebrate!). We are heading out to dinner and then to a Johnny Cash Tribute Show so it should be a really good night....not to sure how we will go at work tomorrow, but we will worry about that later!

Mrs B xx

The loaves of my life.....

I apologise for the corny title...I really do....

Today Mr B and I sat at the local market from 7:30am until 2:00pm trying to sell some of my clothes so I could make enough money to buy 'sensible' clothes to take to Europe with me....

Yesterday I brought my first ever (yes I am 26....) pair of sensible adult jeans....no big flarey bell bottoms, can be worn with sneakers without dragging through across the ground....it was all very scary, but after wearing them all day today I've come to the conclusion they actually look better with heels then all my flarey jeans did...so said flarey jeans subsequently spent the day on the market table (sorry flarey jeans....we had some good times, but I just can't do it anymore, I will always remember you fondly)

Anyway, so that explains why I am slightly exhausted and delirious at this stage, but it doesn't explain how I nearly got eaten alive by duckies yesterday....that is a story for another day....

What I will explain to you is how I came to bake these two incredibly smelling (and hopefully tasting) loaves on Friday night!

You see I get home from work and no matter how tired I am, I want to drop my bags at the door and get up to my elbows in flour and butter and baking goodness. I was meeting up with my best friend on Saturday (who I previously mentioned has just told us she is pregnant so I am in a constant state of over excited baking frenzy for her and bubba choppa) and one of the ladies I work with has recently brought her first home and moved in only last week so to me, that is 2 amazingly good reasons to come home and bake a loaf (or 2) of goodness!


First off we went with the Banana and Honey Loaf for Ali as it has very little sugar and let's be honest, who doesn't love a good banana bread??

You will need:

100g butter
1/3 cup honey
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 ripe bananas, peeled, mashed


Preheat oven to 180°C and grease and line a loaf tin.

Combine the butter, honey and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until melted.

Sift flours, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the milk, egg, banana and butter mixure. Stir with a metal spoon until just combined.

Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. This loaf does rise quite a bit so just watch where you put it in the oven! Cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes before lifting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

And for my second trick I made this Date Loaf

All you will need is:

125g pitted dates
1.5 tspns bicarb soda
1 cup water
50g butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and grease and line a loaf tin.

In a microwave safe bowl combine the dates, water, bicarb, butter and sugar.

Cook for 4-5 mins or until the dates are well and truly softened and the mixture is thickened. Allow to cool for 2-3 mins.

In a bowl combine the flours and egg.

Pour over the date mixture and stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for around 40 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

And most importantly, share them with someone you love....or steal a quiet moment to yourself and enjoy them whilst curled up with a book and a cuppa!!

Mrs B xx

Caramelised Banana Crumpets

So whilst being a married couple may not feel a whole heap different to being an un-married couple, I firmly believe in starting something the way you intend to continue. And I intend to be a damn good wife, I want Mr B to feel like the luckiest guy alive because he makes me feel like the luckiest girl alive :)

So here we are, 3 weeks in and things are going pretty well, honestly we should have got married a long time ago if I'd known it would be like this! Maybe it is just the honeymoon phase, but I don't care, I like it. And to celebrate all things going well I made Mr B this specky brekkie :)


Caramlised Banana Crumpets

These aee so quick and easy and talk about making your taste buds get up and do a happy dance, they are to die for!!

All you will need is:

60g butter
1 tbpsn maple syrup
1/4 tspn cinnamon
1 large banana sliced
2 crumpets
2 tbspns brown sugar

Now if you can, the night before you make this combine the butter, maple syrup and cinnamon together in a bowl and place in the fridge. Doesn't matter if you can't though, it can easily be done in the morning :)

In a fry pan over medium heat, add the banana, 1/3 of your butter mix and the brown sugar. Leave to caramelise for 5-10 mins stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, throw on a cup of tea or a pot of coffee and chuck your crumpets in the toaster.

When the crumpets are done, spread with the remaining butter mixture.

The bananas should be done by now, they will be nice and soft and the caramel sauce will be thick and golden. Spoon the bananas over the crumpets and pour over any remaining sauce. See what I mean about being quick and easy!?

Such a decadent and delicious breakfast and without a doubt the new favourite in our house! If you really wanted to go all out, you could top with a dollop of cream too :)

So what are you going to do to show your loved one you care this weekend?

Mrs B x

Ta-Da!!!

Ok so after more or less a week of sitting around feeling sorry for myself and a particularly bad night on Friday, I got out of bed Saturday determined to knock this stupid mood on the head. I was supposed to go to my 10 Year High School Reunion that afternoon and you know I was not looking forward to it one little bit. At school I was the fat nerdy kid with frizzy hair, not alot of fashion sense and even fewer friends. I'd like to think I've changed dramatically since then, I've lost a heap of weight, I'm confident, on the odd day I think I look hot and I have some fantastic friends...plus I discovered high heels and hair straighteners! But just the thought of being back there with the same people made me feel ill. Nonetheless, Alice twisted my arm and we decided to brave it together and you know it really wasn't as bad as I thought. The reunion was held at the school and we went for a bit of a tour to see how much it had changed and then we headed to the nearest beer garden because it was such a beautiful day and we weren't quite finished catching up. Occasionally I still felt like that fat akward little girl, but then I remembered we are all adults and just went and started talking to someone. That was one of the great things about it, people who never said boo to each other at school were all of a sudden having in depth conversations, people who used to think they were better then everyone else all of a sudden looked like hell and people who used to be shy and akward all of a sudden could hold their heads high :)

That was step one....step two was getting my motivation back. No more moping, no more sitting around. I went for a huge walk in the sunshine on Sunday and will try and keep it up. Walking makes me feel great, not only for the exercise but I find it relaxing and a nice way to de-stress at the end of the day. I also got a heap of things crossed off my to do list, including having a play in the garden...and look what I found when I was out there...my first flower :) now if that doesn't make you smile, nothing will!


And the thrid and final step....get back in the kitchen!! I have always always always said baking is good for the soul, it makes me happy, it clears my head, it makes me feel calm and peaceful and I missed it. So on Sunday afternoon when I had done all my other bits and pieces, I put my pjs on, I put the radio on and I cooked my little heart out. Nothing overly exciting, just some things for OH's lunches when he comes home next week and I started making the frostings for a wedding cake I'm doing this week :)


OH, me and our sheep!


Caramel Banana Rice Bubble Slice
Ohhhh now this slice is very simple and very easy....melt 150g butter with 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbspns banana topping and 1 tbspn honey. Combine with 2-3 cups of rice bubbles until they are well coated and press into a lined slice tin. Refrigerate overnight and then cut into slices. If you wanted you could drizzle these with some melted dark chocolate too :)

So basically the general theory is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, put on your highest pair of heels, your sexiest outfit and do something that always makes you smile and before you know it, you won't be able to stop yourself :) And a big hug (thank you Netty) is always good to throw in there too :)

Em x

WW Card File Challenge #7 Beef Curry

....with apples and bananas?? OH was going through the card file looking for something to make this week and this one was just too weird to pass up! We have made a mango chicken curry with apples before, but a beef curry with apples and bananas sounded very interesting and we just had to try it!


It was actually dead easy and one of the tastiest curry sauces we have had for a long time, not to mention the beef was melt in your mouth tender!!

And this is how it's done....

500g beef steak cut into cubes (2cm x 2cm ish)
1 tbspn butter
1 x onion diced
1 x apple diced
1 x banana diced
1 tbspn curry powder
2 tbspns plain flour
1.5 cups water
1 beef stock cube
2 tspns brown sugar
Salt and Pepper
Pappadums and Steamed Rice to Serve

Spray a fry pan with oil and add the beef. Cook over medium high heat until browned. Remove the beef from the pan and add the onion and butter, cooking for 1-2 mins.
Add the onion, banana and curry powder. Cook for a further 2 minutes before adding the flour. Stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the water, crumbled stock cube, brown sugar and season with salt and pepper. Bring rhe sauce to the boil, stirring well, until it thickens. Add the meat and simmer for 30-40 mins until the meat is tender.

Serve with steamed rice in pappadums!

Yum yum yum, did I mention this is one of the nicest curry sauces I have tried?? This would be a perfect sauce for curried sausages too as it is nice and thick, not to mention packed full of flavour....it does have a bit of kick to it though so be warned, but the sweetness of the apple kind of off sets that. I will say though that it was a bit hard to tell the banana was in there as it breaks down and disappears during cooking, but I think it adds to the creaminess of the sauce maybe? Either way, this dish is a great way to hide fruit and vegies from fussy kids (and adults!).

Hope you all had a fantastic Monday and are all set for the week ahead of you!

Em x

Did someone say self saucing pudding???

No? Ok so maybe it was just me? Or maybe it's ringing in my ears and permanently embedded on my brain seeing as we have had so much of it in the last week! Winter is definetly here in Tassie so cold winters nights means self saucing puddings.

OH is stuck on the traditional chocolate fudge....


Whilst I felt the urge to try some lemon...


Chocolate Fudge Pudding

1 cup self-raising flour
1.5 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
.5 cup milk
2 tbspn butter (melted)
2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Combine flour, half the sugar and half the cocoa in a medium bowl. Add the milk and butter and stir until well combined. This recipe should serve 8 and you can make it in a big dish if you want but for OH I make it in 4 individual ramekins coz I think there is just something about self saucing pudding in individual dishes - anyway pour the mixture into your preferred dish / ramekins.

Sift the remaining sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Sprinkle puddings with sugar mixture. Gently pour in boiling water.

Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until a cake-like top forms and a skewer inserted halfway into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Serve immediately - this pudding is awesome, it has a thick fudgy delicious sauce that is just heaven with good dollop of cream :)

Lemon Self Saucing Pudding

.5 cup self-raising flour
.25 cup caster sugar
.25 cup milk
1 tbspn butter (melted)
.5 tspn vanilla
1/3 cup caster sugar (extra)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup boiling water

This makes 3 good sized puddings in lil ramekins :)

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Combine first two ingredients in a bowl. Stir in the butter, milk and vanilla and pour into your prepared dish / ramekins.

Sprinkle puddings with the remaining sugar.

Combine lemon juice with boiling water and gently pour over puddings.

Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until a cake-like top forms and a skewer inserted halfway into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Serve with cream, ice cream, whatever you want really....although personally I love digging a little hole in the middle of my pudding and filling it with cream...mmmmmmmmmm and this pudding was so yummy, it had a beautiful thick lemon sauce and was a nice change, lovely and fresh :)

With all of these puddings keep in mind that if you make them in smaller ramekins instead of one big dish, the cooking time will be less so just keep an eye on them.

And as always, enjoy!!

Em x