I know, it doesn't seem as practical or sane to make a cinnamon roll as it is to buy one of those nice tubes in the refrigerated section and bake them.  I'll tell you why.  One day I wanted a cinnamon roll, but being a new mother, I still haven't gotten a good hang on going to the store with my little guy.  He's only slightly more patient than his father when it comes to shopping, and then there's all that baby gear, like the diaper bag, the car seat, and either a carrier or stroller.  By the time you get loaded and unloaded, you've spent almost as much time going to the store as you would making these cinnamon rolls, and you wouldn't have nearly the quality.

3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted, divided
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-ounce package)
1/4 cup warm milk (105–115°F)
1 tablespoon mild honey or sugar
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup canned pure pumpkin
2 large eggs, divided, plus 1 yolk
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon water

Butter muffin cups with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Stir together yeast, warm milk, and honey in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

Mix flour, salt, pumpkin, 1 whole egg, yolk, orange zest and juice, and remaining 5 tablespoon butter into yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a soft dough forms. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, dusting surface and your hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is elastic and smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Form dough into a ball.

Put dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve. Roll half of dough on a lightly floured surface with lightly floured hands into a 12-inch-long log (keep remaining half covered with plastic wrap).

Cut log into 6 equal pieces, then cut each piece into thirds. Roll each piece into a 1-inch ball by cupping your hand and pushing dough against work surface as you roll in a circular motion. Put 3 balls side by side in each of 6 muffin cups.

Make more rolls with remaining dough in same manner. Cover rolls with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until dough is about 1 inch above rim of muffin cups, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

Whisk together remaining egg and water and brush on tops of rolls. (You will have leftover egg wash.)

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.

recipe note:
Rolls are best the day they’re made but can be frozen (cool completely, then wrap well) 1 month. Thaw, then reheat on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven until warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.

They freeze well and can make a nice homemade gift.  It comes together easily and is so good.

Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Southview Bapt. Cookbook/Joyce Riley

3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. chopped pecans
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tb. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1- 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prep either two loaf pans, two muffin tins, or a tube pan by spraying with oil or cooking spray and coating with flour (or in the case of muffin tin, use liners).  In a large bowl, stir or sift together dry ingredients (flour- cinnamon).  In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, mix together the eggs, oil, sugar, and extracts.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.  Stir in the pecans, zucchini, and pineapple.  Pour the mixture into your pan(s), distributing the batter evenly throughout the chosen pans.  Bake loaf pans for approx 1 hour, muffins 18-20 minutes (or longer, depending on your oven), or a tube pan for around 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Bread is done when lightly browned and a tester comes out clean.

Notes

• The original recipe called for a full cup of oil and 2 cups of sugar.  In an effort to reduce the greasiness of the bread, I decreased the oil, and have found about 3/4 cup to be a good amount.  You may need to go up or down depending on your own tastes and preferences.  Same with the sugar.  
• I added almond extract where it was not previously included in the recipe, and reduced the vanilla extract.  The original recipe calls for 2 Tb. vanilla and no almond.  I think the almond helps increase the sweetness while reducing the overall sugar content.  

This time we enjoyed success.  Delicious, wonderful success.

Grilled Pizza

Pizza Dough
Shredded or Sliced Cheese
Sauce (we used both pesto and tomato sauce)
Toppings- veggies, meat, etc.  We used zucchini, mushrooms, roasted bell pepper, and onion

Prepare your grill for direct heat.  Preheat the stone on the grill.

Prepare your dough by shaping into a flat disc- keep it small-ish, around 10 inches in diameter.  I prefer extra thin crust so make it as thin as possible, but that's up to you.  If you use the recipe I mentioned above, you will probably get 3-4 small pizzas.  We made 3 pizzas and cheesy bread.  Delish!  Also, get your sauce and toppings together on a tray so that you can quickly assemble the pizzas.

Remove the preheated stone to a heat-proof surface and grill the dough, about 3 minutes total, flipping halfway through.  Remove to a cooling rack.  Replace the stone onto the grill.  Assemble the pizza and place it on the pizza stone.  Grill, covered, 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and it looks perfect.

Let cool for a minute before cutting.  Enjoy!

A Couple Pizza Ideas
Slather the crust with pesto.  Top with mushrooms, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses.  Grill, and after removing or toward the end, add halved grape tomatoes.

Top the crust with regular pizza sauce.  Top with onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and cheese.

Brush a crust with olive oil and top with cheeses.  Grill until cheese melts and slice into strips for cheese sticks.

It all started when I wanted to learn how to make morning buns.  I didn't know about the morning buns at San Francisco's famed Tartine bakery; I knew about the morning bun at Starbucks.  I tried it one morning when they didn't have a pumpkin muffin on hand, and I fell hard.  At some point, though, paying $2.50 or so for 1 item is not sustainable.



That's why I make a lot of what I make- to save money.  Anyway, so as I researched morning buns, I realized they were made from laminated dough, much like croissants.  Most of the bloggers who had tried recipes commented that they would next time use their favorite croissant dough, so why not just kill two birds with one stone and make the croissant dough?  Then I can make some of the dough into croissants and some into morning buns.

I sort of get on these quests for the holy grail of whatever recipe.  Please tell me I'm not the only one.  The cinnamon roll holy grail recipe quest is not yet ended, but this one is definitely a top contender.  First I tried out Peter Reinhart's Cinnamon Rolls, and they were very good.  They were a more substantial bread than these were, which is why my quest continued.  The cinnamon roll recipe has to be one of the absolute most popular Pioneer Woman recipes, and PW and others have created a lot of great variations.  This recipe makes a flip ton, and Pioneer Woman was right, if you give these as gifts, the recipients will want you to make them again.  This could be my fault, but they spread out/rose more than I'd expect the Holy Grail Recipe to do, which is why my quest continues.  Still, if I stopped here, I'd likely not be disappointed.

The dough- all rolled into a long rectangle.

 

The mess after.

This recipe is simple, and I halved the recipe because of its magnitude.  I still got something like 4-5 pans of cinnamon rolls.  Sometimes playing with baking ratios, even halving things, can mess with it, so as I said, I could be to blame for the bread to filling ratio not being exactly what I want.  Either way, do try this.  Regardless of my ratio comment, these are wonderful.  Especially the topping.  The topping is oh-so-good and to die for.  One good thing is that you can break the whole project up into stages, making for less to do on the day you want to serve them.  Serve these with a nice cup of coffee.  Or another cinnamon roll.



I am posting the halved recipe, as I made it.  Visit PW's website- the recipe title is the link- for her full recipe, beautiful step-by-step photos, and variations.

PW Cinnamon Rolls (original recipe)
from Pioneer Woman

2 cups Whole Milk
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Sugar
1 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets (about 2 tsp yeast)
4 cups (Plus 1/2 Cup Extra, Reserved) All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
 Plenty Of Melted Butter
1 cup Sugar
 Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
 _____
 MAPLE FROSTING:
1 box (4 cups) Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
1/4 cup Milk
2 Tb Melted Butter
2 Tb Brewed Coffee
Dash teaspoon Salt

For the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a boil. Set aside and cool to warm. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.
Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined, then cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a relatively warm place for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 cup flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. Use the dough right away, or place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for up to 3 days, punching down the dough if it rises to the top of the bowl. (Note: dough is easier to work with if it’s been chilled for at least an hour or so beforehand.)
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the pan/bowl. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30 x 10 inches. The dough should be rolled very thin.
To make the filling, pour 3/4 cup to 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly. Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Don’t be afraid to drizzle on more butter or more sugar! Gooey is the goal.
Now, beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly towards you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful to keep the roll tight. Don’t worry if the filling oozes as you work; that just means the rolls are going to be divine. When you reach the end, pinch the seam together and flip the roll so that the seam is face down. When you’re finished, you’ll wind up with one long buttery, cinnamony, sugary, gooey log.
Slip a cutting board underneath the roll and with a sharp knife, make 1/2-inch slices. One “log “will produce 20 to 25 rolls. Pour a couple of teaspoons of melted butter into disposable foil cake pans and swirl to coat. Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to overcrowd. (Each pan will hold 7 to 9 rolls.)
Repeat the rolling/sugar/butter process with the other half of the dough and more pans. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cover all the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 20 minutes before baking. Remove the towel and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Don’t allow the rolls to become overly brown.
While the rolls are baking, make the maple icing: In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt. Splash in the maple flavoring. Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter, or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency. The icing should be somewhat thick but still very pourable.
Remove pans from the oven. Immediately drizzle icing over the top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top. As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing’s moisture and flavor.

Thanksgiving for us Americans is such a time honored tradition, and I'd bet that most of you already know what will be on your table, and who will make what dish.

For my side of the family, there's always my grandmother's dressing (that's stuffing for those of you in other parts), there was until last year my great grandmother's green beans, a turkey prepared by my parents, sweet potato and broccoli casseroles by my aunt, and pies by Sarah Lee, with the occasional wild card dessert or bread thrown in by me.  It's a true feast and honestly a day of unabashed gluttony.



What food traditions do you hold and look forward to each year?

I'd like to submit a new classic:  Rachael Ray's Apple and Onion Stuffin' Muffins.  I first made this recipe 8 years ago, for a staff Thanksgiving lunch at my first "professional" job.  It was a total experiement and they were the guinea pigs.  Thankfully it turned out great, and is pretty foolproof, which is good for a then novice like me.  This is a good recipe for any skill level.  I have since made these little guys 1-2 other times, and the latest was for my office building's Thanksgiving lunch today.



This recipe is easy, relatively quick, and can be made ahead of time.  The ingredient list is not ridiculous and the flavors are close enough to standard to not rock the boat while being innovative enough to reinvigorate your dressing/stuffing routine.

The recipe title is also a link to the original recipe.  I am posting as I made it.  If you're more a visual learner, there's a video link near the top of the page that will allow you to see Rachael Ray making the stuffin' muffins (which is a concept that Sunny Anderson has adopted with vigor).

Apple and Onion Stuffin' Muffins
makes 12-24 muffins, depending on your scoop size and tin

2 Tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 stick butter, divided in half
1 bay leaf (original calls for fresh; I used dried)
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 med-lg onion, chopped
3 apples, chopped
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 tsp each dried marjoram, dried parsley, and dehydrated onion (or 2 Tb poultry seasoning)
8 cups stuffing mix (such as Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing)
2-3 cups chicken stock

Preheat an oven to 375 and butter the cups of 1-2 muffin pans.  In a wide pot with sides (dutch oven, saute pot), heat oil and butter over medium to med-high heat.  Add in bay leaf, celery, onion, and apple and season with salt, pepper, and other herbs/spices.  Allow to cook and soften, approx 5-6 mins.

Add stuffing mix into the pan and stir.  Moisten the entire pan with chicken broth, so that the bread and other ingredients are softened and moistened but not wet (not soupy).

Use an ice cream scoop or cup measure to scoop out stuffing and mound into the muffin tins.  Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until browned on top.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  These can be made ahead and reheated.

Notes

• Original recipe called for McIntosh apples, which I can rarely find around here.  Use your favorite "cooking/baking" apple.  I used gala, and they worked well.
• Original recipe also called for poultry seasoning, which I didn't have and didn't want to buy.  I looked up a couple DIY recipes online and improvised using what I had on hand.  Still good!
• I used approx 2 cups chicken broth.  

Have you tried making your own bread yet?

If you haven't, what's your biggest reason?  Too difficult?  Too tricky?  Too time consuming?

This particular recipe dispels all those concerns.

I don't make bread often, but love homemade bread when I can get it.  There's just something about the feeling of accomplishment when you pull out a loaf from the oven, hot and crackly, nicely bronzed and smelling like perfection.  Homemade bread doesn't always yield perfect results, especially in smaller, home ovens, but with a few techniques, you can get closer to that thick, crispy crust encasing fluffy, soft bread.  It's also a huge savings over store bought bread.  I haven't personally done the math, but I know that 6 cups bread flour costs less than $1, and yeast is probably $.10 when purchased in bulk (if not, it's still about 1/5 of a packet).  That's less than $1 total for a huge loaf that would likely cost $5 in a bakery or even grocery store. 

I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and tried it over the long weekend.  It worked well, and was easy and maintenance free.  Love that!  I am linking to the original pinned site.  To see all I've pinned, click here!

No-Knead Artisan Bread
adapted from Jim Lahey

6 cups bread flour (recommended) or all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 t. instant or active-dry yeast
2 1/2 t. salt
2 2/3 c. cool water

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and stir until all the ingredients are well incorporated; the dough should be wet and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 12-18 hours on the counter at room temperature. When surface of the risen dough has darkened slightly, smells yeasty, and is dotted with bubbles, it is ready.

Lightly flour your hands and a work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice and, using floured fingers, tuck the dough underneath to form a rough ball.

Generously dust a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with enough flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran to prevent the dough from sticking to the towel as it rises; place dough seam side down on the towel and dust with more flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran. Cover with the edges or a second cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

After about 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot, such as a cast-iron Dutch oven, in the oven as it heats. When the dough has fully risen, carefully remove pot from oven. Remove top towel from dough and slide your hand under the bottom towel; flip the dough over into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough looks unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes, until the crust is a deep chestnut brown. The internal temperature of the bread should be around 200 degrees. You can check this with a meat thermometer, if desired.

Remove the bread from the pot and let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Notes

• I used the stretch and fold method a little on the dough after the initial rise, but am not sure that I really needed to. 
• This was such a huge loaf!  I cut it into four wedges and froze 3/4 of it. 
• This technique of using a dutch oven will likely work with any round loaf you want to try.  Pizza stones are also great!
• Bread flour is a very high protein flour and is pretty widely available, but if you don't want to purchase bread flour, just add 2 Tb per cup more flour.  So, for 6 cups of bread flour, you'd use 6 cups of all purpose flour plus 12 Tb (or 3/4 cup).  

This blog post is brought to you by Pinterest and my love for almost anything involving pesto.  To me, pesto is a quintessential summer flavor, but transcends seasonality at the same time.  It's great with a bowl of tomato soup on a cold winter's night or spread over spring and summertime vegetables.  Those Italians really know what they're doing.



While playing around on Pinterest one day, I found this recipe and almost ruined my keyboard drooling over it.  Just kidding, but I knew I had to make it, and soon.  I had some pesto I had made several weeks ago, just sitting in the fridge, waiting for this recipe.  I also had leftover grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese from where I made the pizzas. 

I served this with parmesan crusted chicken breast (highly recommended) and warmed up some marinara sauce for dipping.  Drew and I ate practically the whole loaf by ourselves.  In our defense, it was a smaller loaf than originally called for, and that counts, right?



This recipe, since it involves bread that is already baked, is quick and easy, and I have a feeling that if you made this with guests around, they'd think you had Giada de Laurentis in your kitchen. 

Cheesy Pesto Bread
inspired by this pin

1 boule (round loaf) of bread
1/4-1/2 cup pesto (varies based on loaf size and your own love of pesto)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or italian blend cheese (or more, depending on loaf size and your own love of cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Using a serrated or bread knife, cut your bread into one inch cubes, stopping about 1/4" short of slicing all the way through the bread.  In other words, you want to almost cut all the way through it but you want it to still stay together.

Spread the pesto in beween the slices/cubes and then sprinkle the cheese between the cubes and on the top of the bread.

Wrap in aluminum foil and bake 10-12 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned and cheese is melted and bubbly. 

Serve while still warm, plain or with heated marinara sauce for dipping. 

This is the crust recipe I used for my most recent homemade pizza venture.  Besides the cheesesteak pizza, we made a marinara sauce based pizza with cheese, zucchini, sliced roast beef, peppers, and onions.  It, too, was quite yummy! 



I usually use Emeril's recipe for dough, and it serves me well, but I have wanted to try an overnight- rise dough for a while now.  I have two, so I chose to try Peter Reinhart's Neo Neapolitan Pizza Dough from his book, Artisan Breads Everyday.  I hate to say it, but as far as taste and texture are concerned, I didn't really notice much difference between Emeril's and Peter Reinhart's.  One thing I do like about this particular dough recipe is that it makes enough dough for five pizzas.  Last week we made three pizzas and I was able to store two dough balls in the freezer for later use, which is kinda nice. 



If you are newer to making your own doughs, this one is not hard to start out with, but in comparison to other doughs I've made, this dough was a lot wetter and more slack (as in, didn't keep its shape), and so I am left feeling like maybe I've done something wrong.  If you know, please post in comments or contact me!  Either way, the end result was pleasant, so I'm not complaining.  I'd definitely use this recipe again.



Neo Neapolitan Pizza Dough
from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Everyday

5 1/4 cups (24 ounces by weight) unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons (0.5 oz.) kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons (0.14 oz.) instant yeast (or 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast dissolved in the water)
2 tablespoons (1 oz.) olive oil (optional)
1 tablespoons (1/2 oz.) sugar or honey (optional)
2 1/4 cups (18 oz.) room temperature water (less if using honey or oil)

You can mix this by hand with a big spoon or in an electric mixer using the paddle (not the dough hook).

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl and mix for one minute, to form a coarse, sticky dough ball.  Let the dough rest for five minutes, then mix again for one minute to make a smooth, very tacky ball of dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, rub a little oil on your hands, and fold the dough into a smooth ball. Let it rest on the work surface for 5 minutes and then stretch and fold the dough into a tight ball. Repeat this again, two more times, at 5 minute intervals. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and immediately place in the refrigerator. The dough can be used anywhere from 6 hours to three days after it goes in the fridge.

When ready to make the pizzas, pull the dough from the refrigerator two hours prior to when you plan to bake. Divide the dough into five 8-ounce pieces (if there is any extra dough divide it evenly among the dough balls). With either oil or flour on your hands, form each piece into a tight dough ball and place on a lightly oiled pan. Mist the dough balls with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap or place the pan inside a large plastic bag. Give the dough at least 90 minutes before making the pizzas. If you don’t plan to use them all, place the extra dough balls inside of an oiled freezer bag and keep in the refrigerator (for up to three days) or in the freezer (for up to three months).

If using a pizza stone in your home oven, preheat the oven to the highest setting
one hour before you plan to make the pizzas. If using a wood-fired oven, you know what to do for your particular oven. If you do not have a baking stone you can bake the pizzas on a sheet pan.

Top with your favorite toppings--this dough can be stretched thin (12-13 inches) for Roman-style pizzas, or 10-11-inches for Naples-style.

Bake at the highest setting your oven will allow for 10-15 minutes until your pizza crust is golden brown and your toppings are nicely cooked.

Fall is a time that apples, pears, pumpkin, and butternut squash take center stage.  Many times I want them in the form of something slightly sweet that will be utter perfection with a cup of coffee. 



I have had this recipe for a long time now, and finally got around to making it this weekend.  I am so glad I did; it's definitely one for your muffin repertoire. 



They're more like a muffin ought to be than so many other muffins around.  They're not cake in disguise; they're lightly sweetened and their texture is just a little more muffin like (I should be paid to write such amazingly descriptive prose).  It's soft but sturdy.  My own descriptive shortcomings aside, these are wonderful muffins.  They're moist and full of apple chunks, and if you do lightly sprinkle the brown sugar on top, you have a nice crunchy-soft contrast that doesn't form a shell that will crumble and end up in your lap, but instead is quite a pleasure to munch.



Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
from King Arthur Flour, via smittenkitchen.com

1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour (or line) 18 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.



Notes

• I tried to be extra careful, and the mixture still curdled.  I forged on ahead and still came out with a great muffin.  I am unsure as to how this may have affected texture or outcome. 
• Maybe it was me, but the batter was very viscous and "fluffy" but did not rise a ton.  That said, you can almost fill these muffin cups up and get a perfectly sized muffin.  I filled most of my cups about 2/3 full and ended up with 21 small muffins.  Next time I will take the smaller number and bigger muffin. 

So I rarely have any leftover bananas, let alone enough to make things with almost overripe ones.  Imagine my glee when, after a Zumba Fitness event, I was able to take home a whole bunch of bananas!  I let them sit on my counter all week to ripen, and on Saturday, I made banana bread.  Having had your standard, run of the mill banana bread, I wanted to diversify a little, and decided to turn to last August's issue of Cooking Light, where they featured at least three or four variations on banana bread. 



The recipe comes together fairly easily and like most other quick breads, via the muffin method.  I think this bread is better after one, maybe even two days, which I know sounds crazy, but the first day I couldn't really taste banana or peanut butter.  The bread wasn't my favorite, though- it has that sort of low fat texture that can tend toward the more rubbery side of things.  It did, however, remain moist through about five days, when the last piece was eaten, and I liked the incorporation of the ground flax seed.  I am posting it because maybe you're looking for a lower fat alternative, or maybe you will love it.  To each his own, right?



I also learned the lesson the hard way that my oven is...hard to deal with.  I should have turned it down about 25 degrees lower than what it specified and then watched the time as well.  As it is, I baked it about 8 minutes less than what the recipe suggested.  At 50 minutes total baking time, the outside was done and too brown while the center was still very wet.  Sigh.  Either way, this isn't a bad recipe, so feel free to try it if you want your banana bread with a low fat twist. 

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
from August 2010 Cooking Light

Bread:

To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.

To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.