Banana Split Brownie Pie

     This picture definitely cannot do justice for how delicious this pie really was.  I won't say it was the easiest thing to make, but it was definitely worth the work.  This was yet another thing I made while back at home visiting family.  I mean, I surely couldn't have made this here in Dallas or I would have eaten the entire thing myself!  We were headed to my brothers house for a cookout and to see baby Luke, so I thought it would be nice to bring something for dessert.  What I didn't know was that his wife was making these awesome "popsicles" from a cookbook my mom had just given each of us (see picture below)!  So between both of these and the huge burgers my brother made, I am pretty sure none of us went hungry!

Crust Ingredients
2 cups crushed waffle cones (about 12 cones)
6 tbsp. melted butter

Pie Ingredients
1 brownie mix
¼ cup oil
2 tbsp. water
1 egg

Cheesecake Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. flour
1 egg
1 banana, smashed

Topping Ingredients
1 container strawberries, cut in half
¼ cup hot fudge

     Preheat the oven to 350°.  Crush the waffle cones.  I highly recommend using a food processor if you have one. Combine with melted butter and press into a pie pan.
   Mix together the brownie mix, oil, water, and egg.  Carefully spoon brownie mixture over crust.  Do not spread too much or it will mess up the crust.  Bake for 30 minutes.
     While the brownie is in the oven, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, flour, and egg.  Stir in the banana.  Spread on the baked brownie, again being careful not to push into the warm brownie.  Bake for another 20 minutes.  Let cool, then refrigerate.
     Just before serving, top with halved strawberries.  Microwave hot fudge until warm, then pour over strawberries.

Nutritional information per serving; 499 calories, 22 grams of fat, 73 carbohydrates, 6 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber. **Calculations are based on 1/3 fat cream cheese.**

Healthier Banana Pudding

     I am so sad that I haven't had time to share some really great recipes on my blog!  However, I have been busy going back to Michigan to visit family and see my new little nephew, Luke!  We had a blast seeing everyone and I can't wait to go back soon!  I actually made this the day before we left, trying to use up some bananas that would have otherwise been thrown away.  Since getting back, school has started back up and I have been far to busy with lesson plans to do much blogging, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking!  More delicious recipes will be coming your way soon...

1½ cups skim milk
1 box french vanilla instant pudding (3.4 oz)
2 Yoplait Light banana creme yogurt (6 oz each)
4 oz. fat free cool whip (half a container)
24 reduced fat vanilla wafers
3-4 bananas

     In an electric mixer, beat milk and pudding mix on a low speed.  Add in the yogurt.  Use a spoon to fold in the cool whip.
     Place a layer of wafers on the bottom of either individual ramekins or a 9 x 9 baking dish.  Spoon half the pudding mixture over the wafers.  Slice bananas and place over top of the pudding mix, reserving a few slices for garnish.  Add another layer of wafers, reserving a few for garnish.  For the last layer, spread the remaining pudding over the wafers.  Garnish with banana slices and vanilla wafers.  Refrigerate for 3-8 hours before serving.

Tip:  If you don't plan on eating this all immediately, use individual ramekins and just make a few at a time.  Leave the pudding mixture in the mixing bowl in the fridge until you want to make the rest.  If you put the wafers, bananas, and pudding together it will only be good for a day!

Nutritional information per serving: 271 calories, 1 grams of fat, 62 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber.

Nicole's Banana Bars

    Some of you may have noticed I have posted anything new in awhile.  We recently moved into a new apartment, and needless to say most of my kitchen was packed away in boxes.  Thank goodness for frozen pizzas and spaghetti during that time!  But I must admit I am super excited about eating homemade food again, even if it does mean more dishes!  So in celebration of having everything clean and organized in my new kitchen, I decided to make a mess with these banana bars.  This recipe is another that I "borrowed" from my mom  because it is so delicious.  I am always taking all sorts of goodies to school to share with the other teachers in my lunch, but one of the teachers I work with gets upset because she can't eat much of it.  She gets  really severe headaches from chocolate and all sorts of other things, so for her birthday I took these banana bars into school for her (and the rest of us) to enjoy during lunch!

Base:
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2½ cups flour
1 tsp. of baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 cups quick oats (the recipe says you can use old-fashioned oats too, but I don't think it tastes as good)

Filling:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2-3 ripe bananas, sliced
2 tbsp. Crisco
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt

     Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a 13 x 11 baking pan.  Combine the brown sugar, 1 cup Crisco, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat at medium speed until well blended.  Stir in flour, baking soda, salt.  Mix in the oats.  Pour 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan, reserving the other 1/3 for the topping.  Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.
     For the filling, combine the condensed milk, bananas, and 2 tbsp. Crisco in medium saucepan.  Cook and stir constantly over low heat until mixture thickens and resembles banana pudding.  Remove from heat, stir in sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Spread over base.  Sprinkle reserved oat mixture over the top of the filling.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool.  Refrigerate.  Makes about 24 bars.

Banoffee Pie

     I took parts of two similar but separate recipes that I wanted to try and combined them to make this dessert.  The first pie was a banana pudding pie from Lick the Bowl Good.  After I had bought all the ingredients for it, I read the recipe and it seemed like more effort than I was willing to put forth at the time.  The other recipe was for Banoffee Danger Pie from Brooklyn Limestone.  Although the pictures looked delicious, the recipe sounded a bit bland.  So I decided to pull pieces from each recipe (and use some of the ingredients I had bought for the banana pudding pie) to create this Banoffee Pie.  Next time I make this I will probably put another layer of bananas on top before covering with whipped cream and probably make sure I have some chocolate to shave over top of the whipped cream!  Please note that although this recipe is simple to make, it does take over 2 hours for the sweetened condensed milk to cook into dulce de leche.

2½ cups vanilla wafers, crushed (about 50 wafers)
½ stick of butter
4+ bananas
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
½ cup powered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 chocolate bar (optional, for shavings on top of pie)

Ahead of time you will need to make the dulce de leche (similar to caramel) for this recipe.  Remove the label from the sweetened condensed milk.  Place the can in a saucepan and completely cover with water.  Bring water to a boil and continue boiling for about 2½ hours.  It is very important to make sure to keep adding water to the pot, so that the can is completely covered with water at all times.  Remove can from water with tongs, allowing to cool completely before trying to open.

To make the crust:  Preheat oven to 350°.  Place wafers in a large Ziploc bag.  Use a rolling pin to crush the wafers.  Melt the butter.  In a medium bowl, combine the butter and the wafers until well blended.  Press the wafer mixture into the bottom and sides of a pie plate to create the crust.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.  (If you choose, you can skip this step and use a store bought graham cracker crust.)

To make the whipped cream:  In a electric mixing bowl, beat whipping cream on high until soft peaks form.  Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until it has the consistency of whipped cream.  (If you choose, you can skip this step and use cool whip.)

To make the pie:  Slice 3-4 bananas and place in the bottom of the pie crust.  Pour the can of cooked sweetened condensed milk over top of the bananas.  Top with additional bananas if you choose!  Spread the whipped cream over top of the bananas and caramel.  Top with chocolate shavings (optional).  Keep refrigerated.

PB & Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

     My sister had found this recipe on pinterest (where else?) and recommended I try it.  The original recipe comes from Annie's Eats, but my genius sister told me that she added bananas to it.  After just making appleanna bread, I had a few extra ripe bananas so I decided to make these this morning.  My husband was eating the batter (raw eggs and all) before I could even get them in the muffin pan.  Suffice it to say the recipe is a keeper.

2¼ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2/3 cup of brown sugar
6 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
½ cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
¾ cup chocolate chips

     Preheat the oven to 375°.  Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.  In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.  In a separate mixing bowl, mix the butter, peanut butter, eggs, and milk.  Gradually add in the dry mixture, mixing until smooth.  Add the bananas.  With a spoon, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
     Spoon batter into the muffin tips, making sure to fill each cup to the very top.  This is important because it will ensure the tops of the muffins are dome like.  (Note: Even filling to the very top, I had a bit too much batter, so if you have an extra muffin pan you may want to line a few extra cups.  Or just let your husband eat the remaining batter raw!)  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Makes about 15 muffins.

Myrtle Orloff's Appleanna Bread

     I love banana bread, but "appleanna" bread is even more delicious!  This is a recipe that I stole from my mom's collection.  I'm not really sure who Myrtle Orloff is, but one this is for sure...this woman can bake!

½ cup shortening, plus 1 tbsp.
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 very ripe bananas
2 cups apples, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract

     Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease and flour a 9 inch loaf pan with the 1 tbsp. of shortening.  Cream together shortening and sugar until light; add eggs.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt then beat together with the shortening mixture.  Stir in the mashed bananas, apples, and vanilla extract.  Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about an hour, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.