Light and Fluffy Banana Cupcakes

"I had some bananas that were going bad, so..."

How many times have you seen that as a preface to a blog post about banana bread or banana cake? Well that was the case at my house a few days ago. My grandkids were coming, and I didn't want to make the usual banana bread (although I have made and blogged about banana bread at least half a dozen times). I wanted it cake-like, and I wanted it to be light, not dense.

My previous attempts at a light textured banana cake have not been successful; then I stumbled upon this recipe (on a blog that is no longer active). It is not only the best banana cake recipe ever, it is one of the best cupcakes I've made. I made it even better by adding cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter.

I had one plain, and it was just sweet enough, moist, tender, and just the light texture I was seeking. And my grandkids loved them!

Light and Fluffy Banana Cupcakes
Made 15 for me

1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup melted butter
1-1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cupcake liners into wells of muffin or cupcake pan.

Whisk together cooled melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla; set aside. In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make well in center and add banana mixture. Stir until smooth but do not overmix. Spoon batter into cupcake liners.

Bake about 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool. Spread with favorite frosting, such as this one:

Light and Fluffy Frosting
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/3 - 8oz package cream cheese (about 3 oz) softened
2-1/2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese for about 2 minutes at medium high speed. Whisk together sugar and cinnamon. Gradually add sugar mixture in 1/2 cup increments, beating about a minute each time and scraping down bowl frequently. Add vanilla and mix another minute.

Sugar-Crusted Greek Yogurt Pound Cake

My hubby had a few days off last week, so I decided to celebrate with a little cake. Allrecipes has a good recipe for a pecan pound cake that I made for his birthday a few years ago, so I halved it, left out the pecans, and used lowfat Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream. Sprinkling the prepared pan with sugar lent a sweet crunchy crust, and with some fragrant strawberries from the local HEB and light Cool Whip, it made for a simple and delectable dessert.

Here is my halved and lower fat version of the recipe, with a link to the original.

Sugar-Crusted Greek Yogurt Pound Cake
adapted from Allrecipes.com

1-1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup salted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White sugar for cake pan

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 8 or 9-inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle generous amount of sugar into pan and shake to evenly distribute throughout greased area; discard excess and set pan aside. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. In measuring cup, whisk together Greek yogurt and vanilla; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture alternately with Greek yogurt mixture. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Pecan Toffee Bars

I showed my husband a photo of these goodies from A Southern Grace, and at his insistence, 20 minutes later they were in the oven! Waiting for them to cool was the hardest part. They are insanely good - caramel, chocolate, and roasted pecans with a buttery crust.

I modified the recipe only slightly, using my preference of ingredients, and my changes are reflected in the recipe below. I used an entire bag of milk chocolate chips for extra decadence, and I always use salted butter. My pecans, which I purchased at HEB and toasted in the oven, are grown in Texas and so delicious. I have no idea what variety they are, but they are slightly sweet, crunchy, and have a rich pecan flavor.

Chocolate Pecan Toffee Bars

Crust:
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Caramel:
2/3 cup salted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

Topping:
1 - 12oz bag milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place crust ingredients in food processor and process until fine crumbs. Pour into an ungreased 9x13 inch baking pan and pack very firmly and evenly to form crust.

Cook 2/3 cup salted butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar over medium heat until mixture begins to boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Pour over crust. Bake 18-22 minutes, until entire caramel layer is bubbly. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips. Let set for 2-3 minutes, then spread melted chocolate chips with knife. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, pressing nuts gently into chocolate.

Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Vanilla Roasted Pears

These vanilla-infused pears were tender, fragrant, and totally satisfied my sweet tooth. I found the recipe on the blog of An Edible Mosaic, whose author, Faith Gorsky, has a cookbook being published this fall. I used a combination of Bosc and Red pears, and I found the Bosc to be superior for baking because they were tender yet retained their firmness. The red pears, while delicious, were almost reduced to sauce.

I barely changed the recipe, using lime juice in place of lemon (simply because that's what I had), salted butter (because I always think sweet needs just a touch of salt), and a whisper of cinnamon.

Vanilla Roasted Pears
adapted from the blog of An Edible Mosaic
Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped out
6 medium (about 2 lb) pears, any firm variety
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons salted butter, diced
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Combine sugars and vanilla seeds in small bowl and set aside; reserve vanilla pod.

Peel pears or leave them unpeeled if the skin is unblemished; cut in half lengthwise, scoop out core. Arrange pears cut side up in baking dish.

Drizzle lemon juice over pears, dot tops with butter, and sprinkle on cinnamon. Pour water into dish and place vanilla pod in bottom.

Roast until pears are tender and caramelized and sauce is slightly thickened, about 35 minutes, depending on ripeness of pears. Flip pears midway through baking and occasionally basted wotj juices from bottom of baking dish.

Pour pan juices into small pitcher and serve with pears.

I saved my leftovers and pureed them to use in muffins, which I will blog about later this week.

An Edible Mosaic