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Best Banana Bread

February 28, 2010 By Kate 3 Comments

Banana bread is one of my favorite comfort foods. I love it warm with a small smear of cream cheese. But since I could easily eat a whole loaf in one day, I don’t make it as often as we’d all like.

When I do though, I always rely on the same recipe because it’s just that good. The bread stays  moist and dense inside with a nice crispy crust. And the banana flavor is great.

Best Banana Bread

  • 3 c. flour
  • 2 t. baking soda
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/2 t. cinnamon
  • 1/8 t. nutmeg
  • 1 c. butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 2 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 2 c. mashed bananas (about 4 bananas)
  • 1 c. walnuts or chocolate chips

1. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the melted butter and sugar until sugar is mostly dissolved. Add eggs and beat until batter is a custard color/consistency.

3. Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla until combined. Slowly add flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Fold in walnuts or chocolate chips.

4. Divide batter evenly among two greased loaf pans and bake at 375 degrees for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This bread is going to make a great start to our week when we all have it for breakfast tomorrow morning. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for the first day of 3 Moms, 3 Kitchens, 31 Days.

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3 Moms 3 Kitchens 31 Days: A Month In My Kitchen

February 25, 2010 By Kate 12 Comments

Back in May of 2008, I spent the month blogging all of my family’s daily meals, recipes, menu planning and grocery shopping tips.  With me on that adventure were Joy from Five J’s and Toni from The Happy Housewife. We called our cross-blog series “3 Moms, 3 Kitchens, 31 Days.”

I have the fondest memories of that month. Not only was it fun to share on the blog every day, but it really cemented some wonderful friendships that continue to this day. It also led to lots of new relationships with readers that followed along throughout the whole series.

That is why I am ecstatic to tell you that the 3 Moms, 3 Kitchens, 31 Days series is being reborn!

Beginning on Monday and throughout the entire month of March, you can follow along with the 3 Moms as we share all of our kitchen adventures. The 3 Moms this time are Toni from The Happy Housewife, Jen from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and myself. (Our wonderful friend Joy is busy designing fabulous blogs, so she had to opt out this time around.)

It’s definitely going to be an interesting time around our house. There are lots of things up in the air right now and life is pretty hectic. But, we all still have to eat. So I’ll be keeping it real and sharing everything right here.

In addition to daily recipes, I’m also planning to share my grocery shopping methods (once a month), cooking habits (batch freezer cooking), scratch-cooking pantry tips, and an up close and personal look at our grocery budget.

I hope you’ll join us on this adventure. If it’s anything like last time, it will be a lot of fun!

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Peanut Butter M & M Cookies

February 24, 2010 By Kate 23 Comments

I am of the firm belief that there is no such thing as too many cookies. And judging by how quickly my family gobbles them up, I’d have to say that they agree with me. I bake so many different kinds of cookies that I honestly can’t choose just one or two that are family favorites.

I think that’s a good thing though. It keeps me from getting stuck in rut, just making the same cookies over and over again until we’re all tired of them. It also means I have free reign in experimenting with cookies and different combinations.

For these cookies, I took a favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, tweaked it a bit so the baked cookies would turn out thicker, and tossed in a few handfuls of M & M’s. Simply put, can you ever go wrong with a peanut butter and chocolate combination?

Peanut Butter M & M Cookies

  • 1/2 c. butter or margarine
  • 3/4 c. peanut butter (I prefer to use chunky in baked goods, but you can use your favorite.)
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 t. vanilla
  • 1 c. flour
  • 3/4 t. baking soda
  • 1 c. M & M’s

1. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, peanut butter and sugars until creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.

2. Add the flour and baking soda and beat just until combined, being careful not to over mix. By hand, stir in the M & M’s.

3. Using a rounded tablespoonful of dough, drop balls of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. (15 minutes for softer cookies; 18 minutes for crunchier cookies.)

Serve with a tall glass of milk if you’re so inclined and enjoy. Personally, I haven’t been able to drink a glass of milk since I was about 10 and had to drink one too many glasses of warm milk. I do love the idea of cookies and milk though. And I’ve somehow managed to raise a family who happily dunks away. Am I the only one the forgoes the cookies and milk route?

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