Banana Bread Two Ways: Strawberry and Chocolate Chip

Here are two variations to the best banana bread recipe. Virtually any ingredient can be added to enhance this banana bread, such as walnuts, dried cranberries, or even peanut butter to create a mouth watering loaf even Elvis would have lusted over. Serve warm and slather with salted butter if you wish. Enjoy.

Silky Smooth Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding

If you like chocolate, and the majority of people do.. well this is a perfect pudding, and definitely fulfills any chocolate craving. This pudding has no thickener, (like cornstarch) the egg yolks, cream and bittersweet chocolate thicken it nicely. Making a pudding this way keeps it much smoother, it takes longer to thicken, but is well worth the wait. Yum!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

These are simple, so moist and delicious. This recipe includes walnuts and rum soaked raisins, so good, I made it healthier by adding whole wheat flour. Carrot cake is made with oil and not butter, which adds to their fluffiness, I used almond oil. The cream cheese icing is not so sweet, and includes vanilla bean. I love seeing the black specks!

Recipe for The Real Oreo Cookie

As requested, here it is. Enjoy.

The Cookie

1c unsalted butter, melted
3/4c sugar
1t vanilla extract
1c bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 egg
1 1/2c all purpose flour
3/4c dark cocoa powder
1t salt
1/2t baking soda

In a bowl, whisk butter and sugar well. Add vanilla, melted chocolate and egg. Mix well.
In another bowl sift all the dry ingredients together, including the cocoa powder.
Add the dry slowly to the wet in thirds.
Roll batter into parchment paper, shape into a log. Chill at least one hour, reshaping into a log every 20 mins.
Cut 1/4inch slices and bake at 325F, about 15mins. they will spread a bit, so put 2 rows on your baking sheet.

The Filling

1/2c unsalted butter
1 2/3c powdered sugar
1t vanilla extract
1T milk
pinch of salt

Whisk everything together until smooth and light in color. Put into a piping bag with any tip you like. Use immediately, if it sits it will appear less smooth, so just re-whip. Fill cold cookies, press together gently.

Lemon Pudding Cake

What? A cake AND and pudding in one? Yes! This dessert is splendidly light with a lot of satisfying flavor. A cake like top, and a delicious custard on the bottom You can substitute lemon juice for orange, or tangerine juice too. The secret with this is to bake it in a water bath for about an hour. This will make the custard nice and smooth.

Minneola Orange-Rum Marmalade

Minneola oranges are a cross between an orange and a tangerine. They are sweeter and seasonal. This marmalade is delicious, but it takes the longest. It has to simmer for about 3-4 hours with other ingredients to get the bitterness out of the skin of the orange. There is a little bit remaining when it is finished, but a pleasant amount. In the pot I sliced the oranges thin, the thinner, the faster they will simmer, and it will look prettier in the glass. I also added sugar in the raw, agave syrup, which is a natural sweetener, cinnamon sticks, vanilla powder, vanilla extract and finally rum, adding another layer of flavor.

Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat Pancakes

We like to use just as much whole wheat flour in our products and white flour, it just adds another layer of flavor. These pancakes are very fluffy and get very airy. Nothing like chocolate chips to liven up any dish.