Chocolate Banana Muffins

 

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup white sugar

½ cup canola oil

¼ cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

¾ mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Whisk sugar, oil, milk, egg, and vanilla extract together in a separate bowl until smooth; stir into flour mixture until just moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips.
4. Divide batter among the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Notes: These were really good! The banana flavor was there but just right; not too strong. A great use of overripe bananas.

Source: Allrecipes

Creamy Tuscan Chicken

Ingredients

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
3 c. baby spinach
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

1. In a skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add chicken and season with salt, pepper, and oregano. Cook until golden and no longer pink, 8 minutes per side. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. In the same skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes are beginning to burst then add spinach and cook until spinach is beginning to wilt.
3. Stir in heavy cream and parmesan and bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to skillet and cook until heated through, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Serve with lemon wedges.

Notes: This was really yummy! I took leftovers to work and got comments on how good it smelled. Will definitely have this one again.

Source: delish

Overnight Oats: Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt, 2% milkfat
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
6 strawberries, chopped, plus more as needed to garnish
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 cup rolled oats (see Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen)
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. Divide graham cracker crumbs between 2 Mason jars, and press down with a spoon to form a crust at bottom of each jar. 
2. Whisk together yogurt, milk, vanilla, lemon juice, and honey in a bowl until fully blended. Stir in strawberries, chia seeds, and oats. 
3. Transfer mixture to jars, cover jars with lids, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight before eating. Oats can be refrigerated up to 48 hours before serving. 
4. Garnish each jar with strawberries and sliced almonds and serve.

Notes: We've got several overnight oats recipes on this blog now, and this one didn't really catch my fancy as much as others have. It was okay but nothing I wanted to make again immediately. It is nice to have the recipe as an option though.

Source: Food & Wine

Hot Apple Cereal

Ingredients
6 Honeycrisp apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup canned coconut milk
2/3 cup roasted cashews, plus more for serving, optional
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus more for serving
1/2 cup raisins, plus more for serving, optional

Instructions

1. Cut off the sides/cheeks from 1 apple and slice; reserve. Set aside 1/4 cup of the coconut milk.
2. Peel and core the remaining 5 apples and cut into 1-inch chunks. Add the apple chunks, remaining 3/4 cup coconut milk and 2/3 cup water to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced by half and the apples are tender and can be easily mashed with a fork, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and gently mash the apples, making sure to leave some chunks for texture.
3. Meanwhile, pulse the cashews in a food processor until they are completely ground and resemble flour (be careful not to make butter). Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the flaxseed and cinnamon. Fold the cashew-flax mixture and raisins into the mashed apple mixture and stir until well combined.
4. Divide the porridge among 4 bowls and drizzle each with 1 tablespoon of the reserved coconut milk. Top each bowl with apple slices, crushed cashews if using, raisins if using and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Notes: We tried this first with peaches (see here) and I think we actually liked that variant more than this original recipe that uses apples. My kids turned up their noses a bit, especially because of the raisins. But I enjoyed it.

Source: Food Network

Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal Bake

Ingredients

1 cup of canned pumpkin puree
2 cups almond milk (or any milk of choice)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
⅓ cup maple syrup
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Toasted, chopped pecans, optional topping

Cream cheese frosting

8oz light cream cheese, softened at room temperature
⅓ cup maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mist a 9×13 casserole bowl with oil spray. Add the pumpkin puree, milk, vanilla, salt, maple syrup, and eggs (be sure to whip eggs  with a fork before mixing into the entire wet batter). Mix and mash all the wet ingredients together until it’s as smooth as possible.
3. Add the oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and mix everything together so the ingredients are evenly distributed. Bake in oven for about 55 minutes. The top should be firm to touch.
4. Meantime, make the topping: add the cream cheese and maple syrup into a blender and puree for about 45 to 60 seconds, until smooth. 
5. Remove the oat bake from oven and let it sit on the counter for 5 to 10 minutes to firm and slightly cool. Slice into large squares and drizzle cream cheese frosting over the top followed by a sprinkling of pecans and an extra dash of ground cinnamon, if desired.

Notes: I enjoyed this recipe but it didn't really remind me of a cinnamon roll. We baked ours for less time than directed because that's how we like our baked oatmeal.

Source: Joy Bauer