Pinterest All-Star Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

As many of you know, when it comes to Ryan's eating habits he can be a little... what's the word... ah! Yes! Par-ti-cu-lar. Add bananas to the list of what Ryan is "particular" about. Mr. Particular will only consume bananas at their optimum: right before they are ripe and not a second before or after they reach the "right before they're ripe" stage. Meaning, if they are a little too green or a little too yellow it's just a "little too much" of something for Mr. Particular to consume. So, what does this mean for me? Well it means two things. One, I have a clear 24 hour window (if I'm lucky) in which Ryan will consume bananas. And two, it is up to me to figure out what to do with over two pounds of bananas once that window closes.

I know what you're thinking, Claud, why don't you eat the bananas? Well, because, while I'm not very particular when it comes to food, there are a couple of things I dislike and a handful of things I will just not do. For example, goat cheese. I don't do goat cheese. As Paula Deen so eloquently likes to say "I'd sooner eat shit and die" before I'd eat goat cheese. Goat cheese tastes like a little something I like to call "farm farm." Farm Farm is that unique flavor you get when you walk out to the barn during the high heat of summer, get down on all fours,  and lick the bottom of the barn yard floor. That's what "farm farm" is and that's what goat cheese tastes like.

As far as bananas are concerned, I do "do" bananas. They're not my favorite so I am a little particular about how I like to eat them. I like them green and only eat them when they're green. I'll take one for the team from time to time and eat them ripe if I have to (unlike goat cheese), but I don't like it. So there you have it. Claud won't eat them ripe and Ryan will only eat them after they have been gingerly touched by the hand of God -not a second before and not a second after. So, what is a desperate housewife to do? Make bread of course! And how do I get Ryan to eat it? Put Reese's Peanut Buttercups in it! They're his favorite.

This bread was very delicious! Really moist, peanut buttery, and best of all chocolatey! Don't worry, it's still very banana-ey (?) for those of you who LOVE banana bread. But the best part is it's easy to make! Now, the only thing I did differently is I used the Reeses Miniature Peanut Butter Cups instead of the Reese's Peanut Buttercup Minis. I quartered the peanut butter cups, but I think next time I would half them instead and use more of them. I also cooked it at a lower temperature, because I was using a dark coated pan and I ended up loosely tenting it half way through cooking because it was in danger of over browning. People, it was perfect! If you're afraid of baking, try this. I swear it's nearly foolproof.

What did Ryan think? Well... that man never ceases to amaze me. Here I thought he would be jumping over the moon for the bread, but he wasn't. I know Ryan isn't a Carbosaurus Rex like me, but heck it had his favorite candy in it, he should have been all over it. I should have known better. He found it strange. Strange in a dumbfounded kinda way. The mixture of flavors was too much for Ryan. It confused his palate. In his words, "It's peanut buttery, but banana at the same time... and chocolate... uh... I don't know... it's... strange."Once, he told me that it made perfect sense (well, perfect sense when it comes to Ryan) why he wasn't over the moon about it. That doesn't mean he didn't like it, he was just... well, dumbfounded.

Me, I still think this All-Star is a winner and a must try for all! I will write the recipe as I made it, but please click on "Cookies and Cups" for the original recipe. Her pictures are to die, unlike mine ;)

Update: I just had a brilliant idea! This would be perfect for using up that extra halloween candy! Seriously, people, it's like I tell Ryan all the time, "Heavy is the head. Heavy is the head..."

Pinterest All-Star Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread
by Cookies and Cups

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
15 Reese's Miniatures quartered or halved (as previously mentioned I would use more miniatures next time)

How to Make

Preheat oven to 325

1. Grease your loaf pan (I used an 8 x 4 pan) with butter.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In a large bowl stir together your bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.
4. Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter will be lumpy. DO NOT OVER-STIR***.
5. Fold in your Reese’s Mini cups and spread batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake for approx 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
7. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the pan with a knife and remove from loaf pan, transferring bread to a cooling rack.

Notes

*If you notice the bread browning too fast, loosely tent it with foil. I did after 30 minutes. It was perfect!

**Also, some readers (from her blog) noticed that if you over-stirred the batter the texture would be crumbly, so make sure not to over-stir! I was deathly afraid of this so I only stirred until I could no longer see the white of the flour. It was not much. Don't be afraid, like I said before it turned out awesome!

P.S. Thanks Cookies and Cups for this great recipe!

Cheater Chipotle-Bacon Cornbread Muffins

Yes, this is another crappy picture -I'm on a roll!

Had it not been for my friend Julie in Chicago who gave me the heads on a this Cooking Light recipe I would have never made this. Now, I have never liked cornbread for one and two I could never see the attraction of having it with Chili, I just couldn't. But since I was having Mom, Dad, Marisa & Doug and Aunt Trish over I decided to make cornbread just in case they liked their Chili with cornbread.

I didn't want to make regular old cornbread so I turned to the Cooking Light recipe which had two of my favorite things Bacon and Chipotles. But I have to admit they weren't exactly "home made". Sure they we made and they were made at home. So technicaly speaking I guess they were "home" "made". This time I wanted to make this dinner low maintenance but I think next time I make these, and there will be a next time, I'm going to make them per the Cooking Light recipe.

Anyway I really liked them, they were savory and the chipotles just added a nice smoky flavor that wasn't spicy at all!

Cheater Chipotle-Bacon Cornbread Muffins

Adapted from Cookinglight.com

Ingredients:

1 Package of Marie Callender's Cornbread Mix

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Cooking spray

Preheat oven and prepare batter per package directions. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Spray cupcake pan with cooking spray and fill each 2/3 of the way with batter. Check after 13-15 minutes of cooking, insert toothpick into center of "muffin" and if it comes out clean it's good to go! Remove from pan and cool on cooling rack.

Note: In the spirit of "full disclosure" I didn't get 2 full pans out of the mix. I got more like 1 1/2, but then again I am pretty recipe retarded so I proably did something wrong.