Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins- Regular and Minis

These are the boys' favorite muffins. I made them twice this week. The first time I made them as minis and baked the left over batter in a mini loaf pan. The second time I made regular sized muffins.  They are easy to make. Sometimes I bake them the night before and the boys can easily eat them for breakfast when they get up the next morning.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 12 regular sized muffins or 24 mini muffins and 1 mini loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk (I use soymilk)

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/6 cup vegetable oil

1/6 cup unsweetened applesauce

3/4 cup mashed bananas (about 2)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/2 cup semi- sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, beat egg, milk, oil, applesauce, and mashed bananas together.

4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Swiss Buttercream

Dagan came up with the idea to make these cupcakes. We were at home on New Years Eve, just the two of us and he exclaimed that he wanted to bake! Planning, measuring, mixing, piping and sprinkling we had such a great time. We even took some over to share with our neighbors.

Oatmeal Raisin Scones

Caramel Ice Cream with Cinnamon Star Cookie

Holiday Baking with Kids

Soft Pretzels

 

Cookies for Santa

 

Cookies for Family and Friends

We baked pretzels because we were studying Germany during the month of December. The boys shaped them and then later came up with ideas of what they looked like- a spaceship, an acorn, a face, to name a few. 

We baked sugar cookies using the cutters I grew up with as a child. The boys accidentally used bread flour instead of all purpose. We decided it was a good opportunity to experiment. We made another batch using all purpose flour. The bread flour cookies were darker, took longer to bake and were a little more dense with a slightly wheaty taste. The all purpose cookies were lighter, darkened at the tips, and the vanilla flavor more prominent. I liked the traditional recipe better but I don't think many people would even tell the difference unless you told them.

Sea Salt Caramels (Taramels)

I've made these quite a few times and now they are a holiday tradition in our family. I used to be one of those people who bit into chocolate and upon finding caramel in it, promptly gave it to someone else. I now realize that not all caramel is the same. Soft, buttery, melt in your mouth caramel, yes please. Hard or chewy caramel, no thanks. The boys have become my little elves, placing the salt on each piece and wrapping them in parchment paper.

Chocolate Pie

I made this pie for Thanksgiving since nobody in this family likes pumpkin. It was inspired by the chocolate and vanilla pudding pies from Sunnyside Bakery in Wahiawa. The crust is made from scratch using a classic butter recipe. The filling is made with whole milk, eggs, and Lindt 70% chocolate bars. The pie was deliciously smooth and rich but did not set well until the following day. I suggest leaving the pie in the refrigerator overnight for the best results.