chocolate chocolate chip banana bread

I should probably have titled this post chocolate chocolate chip banana bread disaster, because it really was. Ultimately though, the bread was delicious, so that would have been slightly misleading. Let me explain...



Yeah...that's what I meant by disaster. What happened was I put the loaf pan on top of an insulated baking sheet to keep the bottom of the bread from overcooking (good idea). Then when it came time to check if it was ready, I pulled the bread out by the baking sheet underneath the pan (bad idea). The uneven weight caused the loaf pan to slide gracefully off the baking sheet and onto the kitchen floor, oops.

So what did I do? I decided that instead of letting all this food go to waste, I would embrace the second law of thermodynamics and accept that the disorder of this universe is constantly increasing, and it just so happened in my kitchen. I slid the pan (that was obviously face down) onto the baking sheet, flipped it back right side up, scraped off the top layer, and put it back in the oven for a little to finish cooking/kill any germies i didn't scrape off.

In the end, it was good. It would have been a lot prettier had I not encountered that little mishap, but can't judge a book by it's cover, right?

So if you trust that this baby is good enough and have not been completely grossed out by the fact that part of this banana breads journey was on my floor.. then here's the recipe for disas...success!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup cocoa powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed

• 3/4 cup buttermilk

• 1/2 bag bittersweet chocolate chips (or as much as you please!)
  

Little Trick: If you don't have buttermilk on hand you can add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup of regular milk, and let sit for 10 minutes. This is what I did this time.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl
3. In a larger bowl use an electric mixer to beat the room temperature butter until soft
   
4. Beat the brown and regular sugar into the butter until soft
5. Add eggs, again beating until smooth
   
6. With reduced speed, beat the mashed bananas into the mixture
   
7. Add the dry ingredients into the mixture gradually (about 1/4 of it each time) mixing until they disappear into the batter.
8. Add the buttermilk and mix thoroughly into the mixture
   
9. Add in your chocolate chips (you can also add nuts if you like)
   
10. Put in a greased 9x5 loaf pan, put the pan on top of an insulated baking sheet, and place in the oven for 30 minutes (this will keep the bottom from overcooking)
    
11. After 30 minutes cover the top of the bread loosely with aluminum foil (this will keep the top from overcooking). Leave in for about another 40 minutes.
12. Check to see if ready by sticking knife in center of bread and seeing if it comes out clean.
    
13. Take out, NOT by pulling out the baking tray from underneath the loaf (for reasons already established) and let cool for about 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the pan and taking out the banana bread.
14. Enjoy while still warm, gooey, and delicious.

See, in the end it came out quite good, despite the technical difficulties. I don't know if this picture fully conveys the chocolatey-ness and moistness of the bread, more like cake.

Banana bread is just the perfect thing to make when your bananas get all brown and too ripe, why throw them out when you can make this? Especially in summer when the transition seems to happen twice as fast. I guess that means I'll be baking twice as much banana bread. Mmm.. I'll leave it on that optimistic note.

Eat two and call me in the morning.
- your pre-med chef

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carrot cake cuppies with cream cheese frosting

Tomorrow is my boyfriends birthday. So naturally, it's a perfect excuse to bake something up. It was between red velvet and carrot. I didn't feel like getting all involved with red food coloring, so I went the more wholesome, natural, and (in my opinion) even more delicious route.



Let's see.. carrots, apples, raisins, walnuts...what is this, a granola bar?!
Not quite.

I told you I could convince you that breaking out those cupcake trays does the body good. But really, 2 cups of carrots, 2 apples, 1 cup of raisins.. what better way to have your fruits and veggies? So hurry up and get out your mixing bowl, doctors orders.

Carrot Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 cups finely grated raw carrots
• 1 cup grated apples
• 1/2 cup of nuts (i chose walnuts but pecans could work too)
• 1 cup of raisins
  

Note: You can use applesauce instead of dealing with putting the apples in the food processor. I personally try to use all whole foods, weeding out as many preservatives and chemicals as possible. Hey, if I'm having sugar, I want the real deal.


Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 8 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature as well)
• 2-3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Note: 2 cups of sugar is enough to get the right taste and consistency of cream cheese frosting, but the more you add, the "thicker" (for lack of a better word) the frosting gets. More sugar makes it prettier for decorating, it seems more smooth and is less likely to start melting and drooping. I used two this time.

Now that you're all prepared.. let's make some cake.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.
3. In a larger bowl whisk the sugar, eggs, and oil until thickened.
4. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the sugary mixture until smooth.
5. Fold grated carrots, apples, raisins, and walnuts into the mixture.
6. Put in your cupcake tray and bake for about 20 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let stand on cooling rack until completely cooled.

While your pretty (and so nutritious) cuppies are baking, why not make the icing!

1. Whisk together butter and cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add the powdered sugar into the mix gradually, whisking until light and fluffy.
   
3. Add vanilla extract, whisk it all together some more.
   
4. Scoop some out with your finger and taste, delish.

Once your cupcakes are cooled off, you can go ahead and ice them. I like to actually put mine in the refrigerator for a little before icing them so that the frosting doesn't melt. I finished it off by garnishing with some chopped walnuts.

Then you should probably go ahead and eat one. Or two.

These came out great, so moist and cakey, and the sweet yet slightly tart cream cheese frosting complimented it perfectly. A classic.


So Happy Birthday, Nate! Sorry I started to dig into the cupcakes before I gave them to you, I had to taste them to make sure they weren't, you know... poison.

May the beta carotene, calcium, fiber, omega 3's, and vitamins (A. B,C and E) that are packed in these adorable little cups of joy bring you a healthy and happy birthday and many more to come.

Eat two and call me in the morning.
- your pre-med chef