1 cup yogurt
I recently cleaned out my fridge freezer; waaaay too many gooopy bananas in there! I usually make Banana Bread but well, I had enough for Banana Bread AND something else. My Cookie Jar has been empty since the Christmas Bake Off so I thought this might be a good time to fill it up again. Google to the rescue…again.
I found this recipe for Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies over at AllRecipes, clicked on it, was NOT phased by all the ingredients listed by metric weights, owing to the fact that I have a lovely lil digital kitchen scale that I ALWAYS use to measure butter and shortening and anything I don’t like scraping out of a measuring cup!
Did I mention that I had oodles of gooey banana muck in the freezer? Enough to double this recipe and still have a bit leftover for a lunchtime smoothie; I really must remember to use up my frozen bananas more often! This particular recipe might just be the answer! The cookies are crunchy and yummy like a peanut butter cookie while also being chewy like a perfectly baked chocolate chip cookie….oh yea, I added extra Chocolate Chips and a handful of Butterscotch Chips to the recipe…Yum!
250 g (1 cup) mashed Banana
260 g (1 cup) Peanut Butter
140 g (1/2cup)Brown Sugar
200 g (1 cup)Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
330 g (1 1/4 cup) Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
80 g (1/2 cup) Chocolate Chips
50 g (1/3 cup) Butterscotch Chips
* My conversions to standard cup measures are APPROXIMATE – for best results, please do use the metric measures on a kitchen scale.
Line 4 baking trays with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 375F. (190C)
In small mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
In standard mixing bowl, on low speed, mix together banana and peanut butter until well blended.
Add brown sugar, sugar and vanilla; beat for 2 minutes.
Stir in dry ingredients until no flour remains.
Fold in chocolate and butterscotch chips.
Using a #3 scoop, drop cookie dough onto prepared baking trays.
Bake in 375F oven for 12 – 15 minutes, rotating trays half way through baking time.
Allow cookies to cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 3 dozen large cookies
I used Weekend Bakery’s conversion chart to estimate the standard measurements.
I make Pulled Pork quite often and end up with tonnes of left over Pulled Pork; there are only so many Pulled Pork Sandwiches Luke can consume! I was delighted when this recipe for Easy as Tamale Pie from Kitchen Meets Girl came through Ay Sontespli’s Kitchen !
I used to make a Tamale Pie from a recipe that I found in one of those Canadian Living Mini Cookbooks that, for a limited time, you used to be able to get when you filled up at Petro Can…I have long since lost the cookbook, to my dismay; I have tried a few times to make Tamale Pie from memory which meh, sort of worked? Anyway, I do think my problem has been solved with the discovery of this recipe.
3 ounces Butter, melted
1 cup Cornmeal
3/4 cup Flour
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk*
1 (440ml) can Tomato Sauce
1 Tablespoon Epicure’s Poco Picante Salsa Mix
1 1/2 teaspoons each: Oregano, Basil, Parsley
1 teaspoon ground Cumin
2 cups shredded pork
1 Tablespoon Epicure’s Poco Picante Salsa Mix
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese or Tex Mex Cheese
Chopped Cilantro
Chopped Green Onions
Preheat oven to 400F.
Lightly grease a 9″x9″ pan; set aside.
In a large bowl combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
In another bowl whisk together eggs, buttermilk and melted butter.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined, the batter may be lumpy.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
Bake for 20 minutes.
While cornbread is baking, combine tomato sauce, Epicure’s Poco Picante Mix, oregano, basil, parsley and cumin together in a small bowl or large measuring cup; set aside.
In another small mixing bowl combine shredded pork with Epicure’s Poco Picante Mix; set aside.
Remove cornbread from oven after 20 minutes; it won’t be quite set in the centre….that’s okay.
With a fork, poke holes all over the top of the cornbread.
Pour tomato sauce mixture over crust.
Evenly spread shredded pork over tomato sauce topped crust.
Top with shredded cheese; cover with foil and return to oven for an additionally 20 – 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and cornbread is cooked through. (test by inserting clean knife in the middle, it should come out without goopy cornmeal on the end of the knife)
Remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven, top with chopped cilantro or chopped green onions and allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
Serve with Tossed Green Salad, Guacamole and Sour Cream
* if you don’t have Buttermilk on hand, pour 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice into a measuring cup then add enough milk to measure 1 1/2 cups; let sit for 10 minutes.
Serves 6
Another Meatless Monday inspired choice. It was a COLD and WET Monday that demanded a pot of hot soup. Luckily Two Peas & Their Pod were on the same page; their recipe for Black Bean and Sweet Potato Soup came through my feed at Ay Sontespli’s Kitchen and I think I had most of the ingredients in my pantry? Well, almost and that was good enough for me.
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Red Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 large Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed
1 each Red Pepper, Yellow Pepper, diced
4 cups Water
2 McCormick’s Vegetable Stock Cubes
1 can (796ml) Diced Tomatoes
1 can (440ml) Black Beans, rinsed
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Pepper, to taste
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Cumin, ground
Dash of Chili Flakes
1/2 bunch Cilantro, chopped
3 Green Onions, chopped
Grated Cheddar Cheese, garnish
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over med-high heat.
Add onion and cook until tender, about 3 minutes.
Stir in garlic and continue cooking for another couple of minutes.
Stir in sweet potato and chopped peppers, stirring to coat all; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add water, McCormick’s cubes, canned tomatoes, black beans, salt, pepper, chili powder, chili flakes and cumin; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer over med-low heat; cover and cook for about 30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft.
Toss in cilantro, stir and serve.
Garnish with Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Chopped Green Onion