Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars - made November 12, 2022 from The Baker Mama 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4 medium, ripe bananas)

1 cup chocolate chips

Streusel

1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13" baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together oats, baking powder and baking soda. Add the oat mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Fold in mashed banana and 1 cup chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
5. Streusel: in a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, brown sugar and oats with a fork until crumbly. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

I'm not sure how I feel about this recipe. It's easy to make and it doesn't contain flour so it's gluten-free if you use gluten-free baking powder. 

I wasn't actually trying to make a gluten-free recipe; it just worked out that way. I saw this on pinterest and thought the original blog's pictures looked great. My niece's boyfriend is a peanut butter lover so I thought it would also be good to try out recipes with peanut butter.

What I got wrong is I focused too much on the peanut butter oatmeal part of the title and underestimated the "banana bread bars" part. Yup, the banana flavor pretty much overwhelmed the peanut butter flavor.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just a case of my (incorrect) expectations not being met. 

As a relatively healthy bar chock full of peanut butter, oats, bananas and chocolate chips (feels like an Elvis dessert), this delivers. especially when eaten warm. 

Unfortunately, for my baking purposes which is mostly for care packages to deployed troops, I think these are too moist to be sent safely overseas, even vacuum sealed. 

They're not that sweet, even using overripe bananas so if you wanted a chewy bar cookie that isn't too rich or sweet, this is a good option. It's not overwhelmingly peanut butter-y though so this would probably speak more to banana bread and/or oatmeal lovers.

Brown Butter Ginger Molasses Brownies from Two Peas and Their Pod

Brown Butter Ginger Molasses Brownies - made November 9, 2022 from Two Peas and Their Pod

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup unsalted butter, melted, browned and cooled slightly

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup molasses

Sparkling sugar or sanding sugar, for sprinkling on the bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together browned butter and brown sugar, until well combined. Add in egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and molasses, beating until combined.
4. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing on low speed after each addition, until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Pour into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake. Cool completely before cutting.

I'm not normally a ginger molasses fan but 'tis the season, right? I don't dislike the flavor combination but it isn't my favorite. I don't mind the ginger but oftentimes I find the molasses a little overpowering.

So I was pleasantly surprised how well these turned out and that I actually liked them. I didn't have sanding sugar so I used regular granulated sugar. I think they would've been better with sanding sugar to get the big sugar crystals. But still, these were pretty good, both in terms of taste and dense texture. If you want them a little more cakey, you could bake them a little longer but I prefer the dense chewiness of a brownie. It ships better and takes longer to dry out in transit.

Crumbl copycat Pink Velvet Cookies from Cooking with Karli

Crumbl copycat Pink Velvet Cookies - made dough October 30, 2022 from Cooking with Karli

1 1/2 cups salted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons cake batter flavoring

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

pink food coloring

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

milk to thin if needed

1. Cream together butter and sugar until well combined, light and fluffy. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
2. Beat in eggs and cake batter flavoring until combined. Add two drops of pink food coloring.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Add in 3 additions to butter-sugar mixture, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Add a few drops of food coloring as you mix until desired color is achieved.
4. Scoop dough into 1/3 cup portions and roll into balls. Flatten slightly into thick discs. Cover and chill while oven preheats.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Evenly space chilled dough discs on baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until middles no longer look raw. Do not overbake. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
6. While cookies are cooling, make frosting: in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and cream cheese until well combined and creamy. Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating after each addition. Thin with milk, a teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved. Frost cooled cookies.

As you can tell from the pictures, I didn't make the frosting recipe I included above and instead kept these cookies (or rather, this cookie as pictured since it was the taste test cookie) as plain/unfrosted. Mainly because I planned to mail the rest of the batch in care packages and I can never send cream-cheese-frosted cookies anywhere that's going to take more than a day to arrive, even in the coldest temps of winter. Too much risk of it going bad before arrival.

These cookies also turned out more pink than I intended. I was going for a pastel pink and overshot it by a couple of drops. When coloring your dough, try to add the food coloring early in the mixing process, primarily before you add the dry ingredients. The subsequent mixing helps spread the food coloring more evenly throughout the dough. You just can't have too heavy a hand (oops). 

Regardless, I loved this cookie. I don't know exactly what pink velvet is supposed to taste like - I said the same thing when I tried the original Crumbl version - but if it means a damn good sugar cookie that's colored pink, then here you go. I liked the thickness, the slight crispness at the edges and, best of all, the soft chewiness and texture of the middle. I'm sure this would taste good if it was frosted but it holds its own without the frosting as a great cookie.

A Roundup of Thanksgiving Desserts

We're a week out from Thanksgiving (my head just exploded) and I haven't done a recipe roundup in awhile so I thought it'd be apropos to do one now for Thanksgiving, in case anyone is still thinking about what to make and wants to do some grocery shopping this weekend. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it's also got the best food, yes??

So here are my favorites of the season with links to the recipes for your ease of use:

(Okay, cornbread isn't technically a dessert but this Sweet Potato Honey Cornbread is so good, I would gladly swap dessert calories for an extra piece of this. And considering what a dessert fiend I am, that says something.)

Sweet Potato Honey Cornbread

Butter Pecan Tartlets 

(better than pecan pie in my opinion and cuter to boot)

Pumpkin Upside Down Cake with Caramelized Pecans and Cranberries 

(a good alternative to pumpkin pie, seriously)

Apple Cobbler 

(a perennial fall and winter favorite dessert, Thanksgiving or not - don't forget the ice cream)

You'll notice that none of these are pies. And you'd be right. I have yet to master the art of the flaky pie crust. This year, I'm going to Dominique Ansel's bakery for pie (stay tuned).

Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies from Butternut Bakery

Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough October 27, 2022 from Butternut Bakery 

2 1/4 cups (290 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (220 grams) unsalted European-style butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (150 grams) dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup (160 grams) dark chocolate

3/4 cup (130 grams) milk chocolate, chopped

Flaky sea salt for sprinkling

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla, beating for 2-3 minutes until well combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl to keep mixture even-textured,
4. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chunks.
5. Portion dough into 6 ounce balls (3/4 cup each), shaping tall. Chill overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls and bake 13-16 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired. Cool for several minutes on baking sheets before transferring cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

If you want large, thick, chewy, awesome chocolate chip cookies, here you go. I've tried a couple recipes from Butternut Bakery and her Chewy Sugar Cookies are still one of my favorites for sugar cookies.

I have a high (think Olympus heights) bar for chocolate chip cookies, considering how many I've made over the years. I'm happy to report this is a good one. They're made to be big so the recipe only makes 6 large cookies.

You can make them smaller, of course, but I like making them large when called for as it does bake up differently, based on the size. You get that soft, chewy middle while the edges are crisp which happens more easily with larger cookies since the middle bake more slowly while the edges turn golden. 

Brown Sugar Refrigerator Cookies

Brown Sugar Refrigerator Cookies - made dough October 25, 2022 from Golde's Homemade Cookies by Golde Hoffman Soloway 

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, beaten slightly

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup nuts, chopped, optional

1. In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix to combine. Whisk the flour and baking soda together then add to creamed mixture, mixing until just combined. Add vanilla and mix to combine. Fold in nuts if using.
2. Shape dough into 2-inch thick logs, about 12 inches long. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and chill or freeze.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Slice logs into 1/4-inch thick slices and evenly space on baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden. remove to wire rack to cool.

I thought these would be distressingly plain and they kind of are. Or at least they would be if you ignored the random brown sugar splotches in some of the cookies, a sure sign there were brown sugar lumps in the dough that melted during baking.

Rookie issue, right? But, in my defense, my brown sugar bag must've had some kind of air hole in it (thanks, Target) so the brown sugar dried more quickly. I didn't want to throw the bag out so I microwaved it slightly and broke up as many hard, dry lumps as I could before adding to the butter and beating the heck out of it. As you can see, I didn't get them all.

However, the saving grace of these cookies is they tasted pretty good. Light, airy and crisp with a great brown sugar flavor. Yes, they're plain and would blush against fancy cookies plus they spread more than I liked but they're good if you want plain and delicious. They would also be good as sandwich cookies with a vanilla, Nutella or cookie butter filling.

Another Arroz Caldo recipe

Another Arroz Caldo recipe - made October 26, 2022 modified from Salu Salo

2 pounds skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
salt and pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-size ginger, cut into strips
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice, washed and drained
1/8 teaspoon saffron
7 cups chicken stock
4 soft-boiled eggs
chopped green onion, for garnish

1. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. 
2. Heat oil in heavy pan over medium heat. Fry garlic until browned then add onion and ginger. Cook, stirring constantly, until onion is softened.
3. Add chicken and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.
4. Add fish sauce and stir. Add rice and saffron. Stir to combine.
5. Add chicken stock and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and rice is cooked. If mixture becomes too thick, add more water or chicken stock as needed.
6. Add soft boiled eggs. Season with taste with fish sauce or salt. Serve hot, garnished with chopped green onion and lemon wedges.

I modified this slightly as I only had bone-in chicken thighs, not boneless, and I didn't have any onions, not even a dusting of onion power in my Penzey's spice drawer. And I'd given my jar of saffron to my mom. Plus I didn't have any green onions on hand or any fresh ginger, just powdered ginger. Okay, fine, I modified it more than slightly.

Fortunately, unlike my sweet tooth which insists on picky heights of culinary dessert snobbery, my bar for savory foods is much, much lower. As in, arroz caldo, or Filipino rice porridge with chicken and soft-boiled eggs, is a perennial favorite and it's hard to make it badly. Even my culinary talents extend to cooking chicken and rice in (powdered)ginger-infused chicken broth and letting it boil until aforementioned chicken and rice are done. Comfort food at its finest.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Cookies from Crazy for Crust

Triple Chocolate Oreo Cookies - made dough October 23, 2022 from Crazy for Crust

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

8-10 Oreos, chopped, about 1 1/2 cups

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing until just combined.
2. Beat in melted chocolate and cocoa powder until just combined. Add salt, baking soda and flour, mixing on low speed until just combined. Stir in milk chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips and chopped Oreos, until evenly dispersed.
3. Portion dough into golf-ball-sized dough balls, cover and chill for 1 hour or more.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls. Bake 8-9 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Mine didn't look as good or as chubby as the ones on Dorothy's (Crazy for Crust) blog but I imagine they tasted the same because her recipes are always good and so were these cookies.

Light and crisp at the edges and satisfyingly chocolatey-chewy in the middle. I could've made them more dressy by pressing Oreos chunks and chocolate chips on the outside once they came out of the oven but since I was packaging these for mailing, it was better to keep the chunks and chips inside the cookies.

Chewy Brownies from Bigger Bolder Baking

Chewy Brownies - made October 26, 2022 from Bigger Bolder Baking

1 cup (8 ounces, 2 sticks) butter, melted

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (177 grams) dark brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (227) granulated sugar

4 large eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup (142 grams) all-purpose flour

1 cup (115 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix melted butter, oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla on high speed with an electric hand mixer or on medium high speed in a stand mixer.
3. Add flour, cocoa powder and salt, mixing on low speed until just combined. Fold in half of the chocolate chunks.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Generously top with remaining chocolate chunks.
5. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center of brownies come out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

You know how I've been waiting and waiting until the weather cools down before I put in a bulk order for unsweetened chocolate so it could survive the mail without arriving as a melted mess? Well, it finally cooled down enough for me to order but when I went back to my usual sources for high quality unsweetened chocolate, it was to find they've all gone markedly up in price. As in, I'm better off financially buying Bakers unsweetened chocolate from Target, 4 ounces at a time, for a few bucks than trying to buy 5 lbs of unsweetened chocolate for $100. Eek. All that waiting for nought.

Fortunately, I found this recipe from Bigger Bolder Baking that uses unsweetened cocoa powder and is amazingly like my go-to brownie recipe in terms of rich chocolate flavor and firm, dense, fudgy-but-not-fudge texture. Seriously, the pictures don't do this one justice. 

I'm thrilled I have an alternate recipe for great brownies that uses cocoa powder. I'm usually skeptical of cocoa-powder-only brownies as they tend to be more cakey or not taste as good. But this one breaks all my prejudices against cocoa brownies. Honestly, it was so good I made it twice in one week for care packages. Plus it bakes up nice and thick as well. If you don't want to break the bank on buying high quality unsweetened chocolate, this is a perfect alternative. Further plus is unsweetened cocoa powder (the good kind) isn't as expensive and is easier to source as fair trade. 

Dream Cake Bars

Dream Cake Bars - made October 24, 2022 from Golde's Homemade Cookies by Golde Hoffman Soloway

Pastry

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Topping

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (I used toasted almonds)

3/4 cup coconut, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8 x 8 pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, butter and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Knead into light dough. Press gently into pan and bake for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs lightly with a fork. Add the remaining topping ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread topping over partially baked pastry. Return pan to oven and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before cutting.

I'm still making my way through this particular baking book I've had forever and rarely used. So far the recipes have just been "okay". Not bad, not particularly excellent but literally "okay".

I had hoped this one would break the okay barrier since it has the elements I like in a bar cookie: shortbread crust, brown sugar and coconut. I substituted toasted almonds for the walnuts since I don't like walnuts so as to increase its chances of meeting the approval of my picky taste buds.

Alas, to no avail. They weren't bad but they weren't spectacular either. The brown sugar flavor was good and I like the coconut-almond combination. The shortbread crust was a bit too floury and dry rather than being shortbread like the crust on my favorite lemon bar recipe. So this still goes into the "okay" column in my book.