The Best Easy Banana Bread recipe with Cinnamon Swirls

I'm not gonna lie, I made this Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread months ago and I have been withholding it from everybody.  Yea, I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway.  This is seriously the best banana bread I have ever had.  It even beats out my mom's banana cake...but don't tell her I said that.  The best part about it? It's damn easy to make.  It honestly took me about 10 minutes to throw it all together, and then you just throw her in the oven and let her bake.  Done and done.

My analysis on the situation is that I think the coating of cinnamon and sugar on the top sort of hardens and forms a crust which in turn holds the moisture in and makes it cake-like and not so much bread-like.  Bread to me means dry and bland.  Cake is moist and sweet and delicious.  Throw some cinnamon and sugar in there yet and I think we found ourselves a winner.

Anyway, I got this recipe from Lovin' The Oven who I think got it from somewhere else.  Please, keep sharing.  This recipe deserves to be popular.

cinnamon swirl.
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 TBSP Cinnamon

1.) Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

2.) Combine cinnamon and sugar together; set aside.

3.) Generously flour and butter a 9x5 bread pan; set aside.

bread.

3-4 over-ripe bananas (mine were huge, so I only used 2)

Now that's a big banana. (Heh, I couldn't resist)

1 cup sugar

1 egg (beaten)

1/3 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

dash of salt

1 1/2 cups flour

4.) In an electric mixer, beat the first 5 ingredients together.  

5.) Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the top of the batter; mix.

6.) Slowly add the flour; beat until it is just incorporated, don’t over mix here.

7.) Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan

8.) Sprinkle half the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the batter.

9.) Pour the other half of the batter over the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

10.) Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture over the the top of the batter.

11.) Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until you can insert  a toothpick into the center and comes out clean.

Easy Fruit and Cheese Danish Recipe

So the fat kid in me was really craving a cheese danish the past couple of days.  I'm not really sure why, I rarely eat pastries but I couldn't stop thinking about cheese danishes for at least 3 days...ha.  I don't really know of any good bakeries near me and I had some Pillsbury Croissant dough in my fridge, so I decided to make them.  This is a pretty dangerous because you only need 3 ingredients and 11 minutes and they are really good.  The best part about it is that you can make them any flavor you want really, because I just put jam in the center for the flavoring.  I used rasberry jam.  My grandmother made it for me and I don't otherwise eat jam but it turned out to be the perfect ingredient for these danishes.

rasberry cream cheese danishes.
pillsbury canned instant croissant dough
1 tsp jam (your choice of flavor)
1 tsp cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat but not like it matters, there isn't really any way these are low fat)

1. Break open can of croissant dough and unroll.
2. Tear along dotted lines into 4 squares (2 croissant triangles per square)
3. Place 1 tsp of jam and 1 tsp of cream cheese in the center of each square.
4. Fold four corners of each square into center and pinch to close.
5. Bake in oven according to directions on can.

Thats it. You're done and it and looks like you spent tons of time on these put you're really just a cheater.  But nobody needs to know that. 

Low Fat Sausage, Egg and Cheese Calzone

This was another Cooking Light recipe that I found in one of my older magazines.  My version probably wasn't so low-fat but the original recipe is actually really good for you. I used hot Italian sausage where they called for Chicken Sausage and I didn't use low-fat cheese, but in theory, you could make this really healthy can low fat. I've been doing p90x which is this extreme workout program where Tony Horton (the "trainer"), kicks my butt every night when I get home from work and NEVER shuts up.  They have a really strict diet that goes with the program and I'm pretty sure if you made this the low-fat way, it would be acceptable for the program.  It also called for pre-made pizza dough. I used Pillsbury Thick Crust pizza dough but I'm sure you could find a lower fat version? Maybe not.  Anyway, this was super amazing and definitely kept me full until well after lunch time.  Enjoy!

low-fat sausage, egg and cheese calzone.
1  (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
cooking spray
1  tablespoon  olive oil
1/4  cup  chopped onion
4  ounces  chicken sausage with jalapeño peppers, chopped (I used hot italian sausage)
2  large eggs, lightly beaten (substitute 4 egg whites for a lower fat version)
1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4  cup  shredded cheddar cheese
1/4  cup  chopped seeded jalapeño peppers (I didn't have any jalapeno's..boo, so I used red and yellow sweet peppers)
1  large egg white, lightly beaten

1.  Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 15 x 10–inch rectangle.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in eggs; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until set. Remove from heat.
4. Sprinkle Monterey Jack lengthwise down center of dough, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch border on each side. Spoon egg mixture evenly over cheese. Sprinkle cheddar over egg mixture; top with jalapeño peppers.
5. Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Arrange strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally over filling. Press ends under to seal. Brush with egg white. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits with Chunky Potato-Crab Chowder

Here is another score for the 'Baked' boys.  These biscuits were awesome and complimented the Chunky Potato Corn Chowder that I made wonderfully.  They were super easy to make and the smell was amazing.  Chipotle has a really smokey peppery smell and it tastes the same way (ha).  These are definitely going to be my new 'go to' for soups...tomato soup with these would be amazing.  Plus, they taste impressive and are really easy to make.

chipotle cheddar biscuits.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chipotle powder*
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups grated and tightly packed sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
Kosher salt for topping

*I looked everywhere for chipotle powder.  I had actually never heard of it before this recipe.  I ended up finding it in a Safeway grocery store but it was $7.49. That's expensive, but I will definitely add this to other recipes and it is really good and flavorful, so definitely worth the price.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pepper, chipotle powder, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and the 1 teaspoon of salt.
3. Add the butter and, using your hands or the back of a wooden spoon (I used my hands, I think it would be difficult with a spoon), work the butter into the flour mixture.  The mixture should look like coarse sand.  
4. Add the cheese and stir to thoroughly incorporate it into the dough.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg.  Add to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated.  As always, don't over mix.
6. Use a small ice cream scoop or 1/4-cup measuring cup (I used the measuring cup and got perfectly sized biscuits) and scoop the dough into mounds on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
7. Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes (mine took exactly 20 minutes...these 'Baked' boys are so good). Rotate the baking sheet halfway through the baking time.  Biscuits should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. 
8. Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack. Serve slightly warm.*

*I would try to serve them after they cool a little and are still warm.  They taste okay when they cool but they are definitely better warm.  I put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds the next day and they were pretty good but they lost that crispness to the outside.  

leftovers: sour cream blueberry banana bread

So I was really stoked to make angel food cake the past few days and just haven't been able to get around to it. My brother-in-law is in town, so I was hanging out with him, plus Glee was on last night and I was not going to miss that, not to mention I am taking 2 classes and working 11 hour days at my job, 13 hour days if you count my commute. Needless to say, while my life is passing by at record speeds, I've got almost rotting bananas, sour cream, and blueberries that are waiting to be baked into something delicious...hence, sour cream blueberry banana bread. Based on the circumstances, I think I am going to call it "my life is out of hand and I am about to have a minor meltdown bread"...heh, just kidding. I think I'm just tired.

Needless to say, I did a Google search for all of the over ripe items in my fridge and found sour cream blueberry banana bread from a website called bakespace.com. The woman who posted the recipe said she got it from Cooks.com. There was no picture attached but the recipe sounded completely fine to me and I was determined to use up the ingredients I had So here it is, sour cream blueberry banana bread, pictures and all.

 sour cream blueberry banana bread.
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I used 1 tsp...cinnamon is good.)
1 cup buttered, softened
3/4 cup sugar*
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup pecans ( I omitted these, as I said before, I don't really like nuts in my food)

*In hindsite, I would probably add a little bit more sugar.  The bananas made the bread sweet enough, but I prefer sweeter. 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Grease and flour a 9x5" bread pan
3. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy
4. Add the eggs, banana, and sour cream.  Beat until well blended.
5. Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed, until batter is smooth
6. Fold in the blueberries and walnuts
7. Bake for 1 hour*

*My oven usually bakes things faster than what a recipe calls for, but I actually had this bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I was so nervous that the top was going to be too well done but this bread is really heavy and the darker crust was a nice touch.  It was like a container for the moist delicousness inside. 

Want more blueberry recipes? Try my Blueberry and Cream Cupcakes.