Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I always seem to buy bananas at the store and it seems like (quite often) we don't seem to get them all eaten before they turn really ripe!  Well, I was in that same boat again today.  I hate to admit that I have often just thrown them away but decided to make some yummy muffins since it is a long weekend and then I won't have to worry about breakfast!

I went online and found a recipe on www.allrecipes.com but tweaked it a little as I didn't have all of the ingredients they suggested.  Feel free to try them sometime!


Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cups light brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 mashed, ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips  (and a few extra to top the muffins with, if you'd like)

Instructions:

1. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a small bowl.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, sour cream and vanilla.
3. Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened.
4.  Fold in bananas and chocolate chips.
5. Fill paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 of the way full and sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips over top.
6. Bake @ 350 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes.
7. Let cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes and then remove and place on a wire cooling rack.

**Alternatives: The original recipe called for plain yogurt instead of sour cream and white sugar instead of brown sugar.  One review on the website where I found the recipe suggested using a flavored yogurt such as strawberry or vanilla to add to the taste!  You can also add nuts to the recipe if desired.  You can also bake this in a loaf pan for banana bread.

ENJOY!

Catching up!

I am a little behind with some of my postings and I am posting one blog with all of the cakes I have done recently.  I hope you enjoy!

The cupcake above and the "16" cake below are both a fun, new creation I made.

We tried a new flavor combination that was a red velvet cake and a cheesecake flavored cake together.

I used buttercream frosting to top both the cake and the cupcakes.  If I were to make this combination again, I would likely use a cream cheese frosting to get the full "red velvet cheesecake" flavor out of the cake! Yumm!

 

 

 The cake below is a simple white cake and chocolate cake topped with buttercream frosting.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Monkey "Smash" Cakes

I have to say that this was probably the most nervous I was for making a cake so far.  I knew in my head that I could do this cake but coming down to the day to bake and decorate, I got pretty nervous and doubted my abilities.  Why was I so nervous? I have no idea because I was SUPER excited with the results.

Enjoy the pictures!

Picture to the left:  Main cake  decorated with the little guy's favorite cartoon show to include Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and of course the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  The cake is half white and half chocolate, decorated with vanilla buttercream frosting.

Picture Below:  The small smash cake was designed to match the shirt the little guy was wearing on his 1st birthday.  Of course this was a banana cake with vanilla buttercream frosting!

Grandma W's 85th Birthday!

You Only Turn 85 Once!

I wanted to be sure to have a special post to show the cake that I made for Grandma Waneta's 85th Birthday party.  First, let's just say that this is such a special lady who has touched so many people during her life.

 

I wanted nothing more than to make her a cake that was super girlie and super fun to celebrate her special day.  I baked a white cake with buttercream icing and then surrounded it with red velvet cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting.

 

Of COURSE everything had to be pink and then I topped the cake with these fun jewels hanging down.  You should have seen her face when she saw it all put together.  Priceless memories!

July Cakes

I haven't updated the blog in quite sometime, unfortunately.  For once it's not because we're "busy" either.  I simply haven't taken the time to do it!  SO... for that reason, I'm going to just simply post a bunch of pictures of the recent cakes I've done.  If you have any questions, let me know!

Mr Auggie's Birthday Cupcake

I think little Auggie liked his 1st Birthday cupcake... just a little!  I will post pics of his cupcakes and cookies soon... I forgot to take some so I hope his mommy will send them to me!  (Video courtesy of Uncle Dave)

May Cakes!

 Top Picture: banana mini-cupcakes with caramel frosting and 

chocolate mini-cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

Second Picture:  red velvet double layer cake with cream cheese frosting

 

Third Picture:  white cake with chocolate frosting

A Drama-Filled Birthday

Well, okay... not THAT type of drama!  I made this cake for a fun friend of mine.  Tyler just loves theater and he wanted a cake that had his name in lights!  I happen to not really care for the taste of fondant myself so I did what I could by making the decorations with this cake in buttercream frosting.  Everything was done with a stencil or freehand on this cake.

Baptismal Cake

I actually can't believe how long it has been since I've posted pictures on here!  Our lives have been exceptionally busy over the last two months so I'm going to be posting a lot of pictures tonight so I can catch up...

This cake was so much fun to make.  This was a chocolate cake with chocolate icing (one of my favorite combinations, hehe!) and decorated with white and light blue frosting.

Cake Flavors & Fillings

I have to be honest that I am a pretty picky eater and because of that I tend not to venture out on flavors when it comes to baking.  I can ALWAYS try something new but if I don't like it....how do I know if it's good?

I did test a new flavor this week for a cake that I took to work and it got fabulous reviews.  I always have people asking me about flavors so I thought I'd dedicate this post to some of my favorite flavor combination's.  So, here it goes......

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Chocolate.....  This is the newest flavor (and probably my favorite at this point) that I have added to my recipe box.  I started with a standard chocolate fudge cake.  Prepared a tasty, creamy peanut butter filling by combining peanut butter, cream cheese and a few other ingredients.  The peanut butter filling was spread between two layers of chocolate cake and the entire thing covered in a chocolate butter cream frosting.  What could be better than chocolate and peanut butter together?  This could also be done with cupcakes. 

Banana, Caramel..... Another one of my favorites.  I have to thank my grandma for making me a banana cake lover when I was younger.  This is the go-to cake when she wants to bake me something special.  This cupcake is pictured at the top of this post.  It is a moist banana cake, topped with a caramel butter cream frosting.  To make these cupcakes extra special, I then drizzle caramel over and top with chopped walnuts.  I have only done this in a cupcake form due to the consistency of the frosting.  I must add that for me, this frosting is addictive.  I am not a "frosting/icing person"....but this....wow!

Vanilla, Strawberry Cream, Cream Cheese/Vanilla.....  Another favorite of many of my cake customers is the strawberry cream filling.  It really is a great summer flavor but suitable for any time of year.  I have used this mostly with a french vanilla cake or cupcake.  I fill the layers of a cake or fill the cupcake with a strawberry cream filling.  The filling is made with strawberries and real heavy cream that is cooked until thick.  When I make cupcakes the I mostly use a cream cheese frosting.  It adds just the right amount of sweetness to the cupcake.  I have used a traditional vanilla butter cream frosting frosting when I make a cake with these flavors and I have to say it's just as delicious! 

Red Velvet, Cream Cheese....  I found a fantastic recipe for red velvet cake that has received a thumbs up from lots of people!  If you remember from my post back in 2010, I made red velvet cupcakes for my dad and Sue's wedding.  People went crazy over them.  I have always used a cream cheese frosting with the red velvet cake and it's just perfect.

Those are some of my favorite, fun flavors but I constantly get requests for the good old.... chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream...... white cake with either vanilla or chocolate butter cream....and even have had some requests for lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting (another of my favorites!).

I have tons of recipes that I have found that are sitting, waiting for me to try them but time always seems to be an issue!  As I try some of these new flavors, you will definitely be the first to know how they turned out!

Cheesecake time!

Cheesecake happens to be one of my favorite items to bake!  I've had some who think I'm crazy for that comment.... but there's something about the smell mixing melted butter into graham cracker crumbs, pressing it into the spring-form pan, and then pouring in a yummy creamy mixture of cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla (amongst other ingredients) into the pan and baking it!  Yumm-O!

Well, I wish I was able to sample this one and tell you just how scrumptious it is...but I can't!  I should find out tomorrow when it's sampled by some of my co-workers.  I put a different spin on my ordinary cheesecake and turned it into a turtle cheesecake.  

Now....don't get me wrong, I make a fabulous (or at least I've been told) turtle cheesecake with an oreo crust and the whole thing but this time I wanted to use my good ole stand by cheesecake recipe and doctor it up!  From the looks of it.... I think it turned out fabulous!  AND.... anyone who has ever taken the time to bake a real cheesecake, you can appreciate my excitement when I opened the oven after allowing it to set for 3 hours (I got a little antsy...it's supposed to set for 5) and NO CRACKS!

So here are a few pictures of my turtle cheesecake, complete with mini chocolate chips sprinkled throughout the cheesecake itself.  The top is drizzled with caramel, melted chocolate and sprinkled with pecan pieces and mini chocolate chips!

MMMMmmmm.....!  And yes....I do sell these also!

Three Birthdays!

I'm going to make this one blog entry.  Over the last two weeks I have been one busy little baker!  I have made three different birthday cakes (all for different people....all of different ages) and another decadent dessert (which will be featured in my next post).

Baking is one of my favorite things to do but I find myself getting stressed, hoping the customers like what I've created for them.  These three cakes that I made were fairly easy.  Two of my customers didn't have any particular requests and the other wanted a very simplistic design.

Here are some pictures of my creations!

This first cake is a very simple white cake with vanilla butter cream frosting.

This is a delicious chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream frosting! Yumm... this is one of my favorite flavors.  I'm told that Raegan loves chocolate and loves the color pink so this was the creation I came up with!

The next two pictures are for little Tyson who turned a year old this weekend.  Complete with a cake for the party-goers and one for the little man himself!  I was actually super excited I was asked to make a cake for his first birthday party because I baked some super cute cupcakes with little rubber ducky cookies on top for a baby shower we hosted at work for him when he was a "wee" little guy!

The "1" shaped cake is a devil's food cake with vanilla butter cream frosting, while the smash cake is a white cake with vanilla butter cream frosting!

So.... to all of my customers from these cakes... I hope you enjoyed!

Not a cake blog tonight.... It's a Craft Blog!

As much as I love to bake, I also love to try out lots of fun "craft" projects.  A little over a year ago now, I decided to make a cute little blanket for a special little girl named Murphy.  The first blanket I made, did require a little help from my grandma and mom to figure out how to sew it together.  My first problem was that I had owned my sewing machine for over a year and hadn't actually used it. I needed a quick lesson on getting it started. On top of that, I was also baking (surprise, surprise) and running out of time! Grandma stepped in and offered to help out a little. 

Since then, I have made three more of these fun little blankets. Everyone who I have given them to, seems to really love them! I thought I would share a few pictures with you....unfortunately I don't think I took any pictures of the two boy blankets that I have made.  So for now you get to see the girl ones!

...Cupcakes & Cookies...

I know it's been quite some time since I've posted but with the holidays, I wasn't able to take very many orders in November or December.  Now, February is turning out to be quite the busy month! I should be posting more through the month.

A couple of weeks ago I made some sugar cookies and cupcakes for a baby shower.  The host of the shower actually didn't want anything that was too baby-ish for the shower so we went for brown and lime green.  How fun, right?  Take a look at these adorable little sugar cookies and cupcakes.  On top of it, I used a new royal icing recipe for the sugar cookies that turned out to be fantastic.

Today I also just finished some other cupcakes for another little girl's birthday party.  They are pretty simple but fun colors! 

 

Happy Anniversary!

I was asked to make a very special Anniversary cake (yes, I'm very behind on my posting) but I am finally getting around to putting my pictures up for everyone to see!  Believe it or not, this is the last cake I have done & it was over a month ago.  I have been super busy concentrating on the holidays for the last month.  

 

I really enjoyed making this cake for several reasons.... it is so enjoyable making cakes and goodies for people who I love.  Mark & Teresa were like another set of parents to me when I was growing up.  I spent many, many hours at their house and I will admit...most of the time spent there was harmless but us girls did cause a little trouble from time to time! 

And then....it is great after the cake is delivered & the party is over to get so many wonderful compliments on the cake.  

This cake was a red velvet with buttercream frosting.  Red velvet seems to be a favorite lately with my family and friends. 

So, again to Mark & Teresa, Happy 30th Anniversary....what an accomplishment!

Happily Ever After!

This post is mostly going to be about the pictures.  Today I completed my very first wedding cake.  It wasn't just any wedding cake though, it was a cake for my Dad's wedding!  I am so happy that my Dad has found love and even more so happy that I love the lady that he married.  She is a special person and truly makes my Dad happy....that's all that matters to me!  So....this post celebrates a perfect day.......perfect wedding.....and hoping for a perfect life together!  Love you guys!

Catching Up On A Few Events...

 

It's been such a long time since I've updated my blog so I'm adding several pictures all at once!  My adorable little nephew Auggie was baptized earlier this month.  I put together this cake for everyone to enjoy after the baptism.  His mom & dad had all of the family to their house to enjoy lunch after the baptism.  

 ---French Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Frosting--- 

This cake was accompanied by 50 cupcakes for a baby shower.  The colors for the shower were pink & brown.  This was the first time I used ribbon to decorate a cake.  It turned out well I thought!  

---French Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Filling and Vanilla Frosting---

This last picture is just a picture of some cute little "fall" looking cupcakes.  I'm becoming a big fan of cupcake decorating anymore.  They are so cute and easy to make!  I am having fun also with the cute little cups you can find to bake them in.  It's actually becoming an obsession of mine!  Every time I am in Michaels, Hobby Lobby or ANYWHERE that has baking supplies I am on the hunt for cups to bake cupcakes in! SO many cute designs out there! 

---Chocolate with Vanilla Frosting and French Vanilla Cupcakes, Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Frosting---

My First Baking Contest

This weekend I entered into my very first baking contest.  As you have probably already seen on Facebook... I won "Grand Champion Cake".  I was pretty excited.  Let me start from the beginning...

Friday evening when I checked my email I realized I had an email from that morning from a lady from my community, with the details on the baking contest which was Saturday morning at the Atlanta Fall Festival.  Friday I had emailed Joyce and explained how much I had going on this weekend and that it just wasn't going to fit in.  She also had a lot going on but was going to take her items in the morning and drop them off as well.  So I decided that there really wasn't any excuse for not participating.  I had all of the rules (thanks to her) and just needed to go and get my ingredients.

After supper Friday (at about 6:30pm) I decided to head to Lincoln to get my supplies for baking two different items for the baking contest.  Let's just say that the whole baking event started off terribly because I forgot two ingredients.  But what does any good cook do? I improvised.  I managed to scrounge enough ingredients from my cupboards to make a home-made chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and home-made banana cupcakes with caramel buttercream frosting, still my favorite frosting by the way!

I finished baking by around 9:30pm and got up at 7:00am on Saturday to make icing and "throw together" my creations.  All entries had to be in Atlanta by 10:30am.  I managed to make three different flavors of icing, decorate cakes, shower and have myself ready to walk out the door by 9:30am.  (amazing if you know me well)

Off to Atlanta I went!  I tend not to think that I live in the middle of nowhere, Illinois because I have been in places in Illinois that are even more in the middle of nowhere than I live.  The whole drive to Atlanta (if you can imagine) I was slightly worried about my cake or cupcakes shifting in the car and getting messed up.  Out of nowhere there was a chicken in the road! Yes, a chicken.  Can you imagine? Pulling up to drop off this cake and having to explain that it got messed up on the drive over because I hit a chicken.  Don't worry, I swerved around the chicken who did start to come into the road and missed him!

Anyways, the cake and cupcakes made it safe and sound.  I won 1st in the chocolate cake division, 3rd in the "childrens cupcake" division for my banana cupcakes (don't ask because I have no idea) and then Grand Champion overall cake from the event! Very exciting.

The items that were brought to the baking contest were auctioned at the end of the night and the proceeds went to the Atlanta Fall Festival as their fundraiser as I understand.

 

Oh... apparently I know why the chicken crossed the road.  He was eating! (maybe it was a "she" I really don't know my farm animals that well)