Banana Coffee Cake

In light of Friday's events, I am going to keep this short and sweet. Also, because I can't seem to break away from holding my boys for longer than 3 minutes...

Only 9 days left until Christmas now! And just in case you still haven't decided what to make for breakfast for the little ones (and Santa!) here is a great idea.

Everything comes together fairly quickly and you could even throw everything together and toss it in the fridge Christmas Eve and simply bake it in the morning. Whatever your floats your boat.

Oh and also... Would you take a second and follow my blog on Instagram? I'm just starting out, so there are only a few pictures up, but I will add more... promise. Here is the link:

http://instagram.com/morningnoonight/

Happy Sunday everyone. Make sure to hold your kids close this week (and every week). Love you all!

For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large)
1/2 cup whole milk

For the Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 Tablespoons cold butter in chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9" round cake pan.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs in, one at a time. Mix in the vanilla and mashed bananas until well blended.
Add the flour mixture into the butter-banana mixture, alternating with the milk. Make sure you end with the flour mixture. Beat until smooth and pour into the prepared pan.

For the topping, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, cut in the butter until crumbly (I like larger pieces of butter here). Sprinkle the topping over your cake batter and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy! (Is it bad that I turn into Gwen Stefani every-time I spell bananas!?)

Blackberry Macaroons

 

Ginger this, peppermint that, ugh... I needed a break....

I honestly haven't made macaroons since I was 10 years old. 

And I bet even then they were amazing (because I like to toot my own horn!). 

But these? These cookies right here...They take the cake. Or cookie. 

The chewy coconut with dark chocolate top and tart berry in the middle.... Amazing!

Make these for your cookie exchange and for yourself... Trust me!

For the Macaroon:

(makes 12 cookies)

4 large egg whites

1/3 cup sugar

3 cups

2 teaspoons vanilla

12 blackberries

Chocolate Ganache:

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1 tablespoon butter

heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large, heat proof bowl, combine the macaroon ingredients and stir. Place a pot of water, 2 inches high, over medium low heat and bring to a low simmer. Place your bowl over the water and stir until the Macaroon ingredients are thickened and hot to the touch. Around 7-9 minutes. You want the mixture to stand up on its own when placed on a cookie sheet without pooling. 

Take a tablespoon of the macaroon dough and make a well in the middle. Place the blackberry in the well and cover with another tablespoon of dough . Place cookie mound on a prepared baking sheet. Continue doing this until all the dough is used.

Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes or until set and golden around the edges and tops.

Let cool completely on wire rack.

In a microwave safe bowl combine the chocolate chips and butter for the ganache. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir then another 15 seconds until completely melted. Slowly add in the heavy cream, stirring until glossy and smooth (this is about a tablespoon of cream). 

Dunk the tops of the cooled macaroons into your chocolate and cool until hardened.

Enjoy!!

Peppermint Truffles

It's peppermint season!

But I have to admit... I think mint is gross. I can't stand super minty toothpaste or breath-mints. The point where you feel like your mouth is frozen, I'll pass.

But it's that touch of mint that I absolutely love. I'll shovel those little butter mints in my mouth like there's no tomorrow. It's that little kiss that cools your throat and tickles your taste buds.

These truffles provide just that. There is no peppermint extract just the delicious crunch of peppermint Andes. YUM.

I should have made them smaller, as I only got about 16 truffles, but I obviously have size issues...

You will need:

12 ounces chocolate (I used semi-sweet but you can vary these from bittersweet to white chocolate if you prefer)

8 Tablespoons heavy cream

Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

Melt your chocolate and heavy cream either in a double broiler, or in the microwave. If you choose the microwave method then heat, on high, for 1 minute. Stir, and continue cooking in 15 second intervals until all of the chocolate is melted and heavy cream is completely incorporated.

Pour your chocolate mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan or baking dish and cover the top with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Let the truffle mixture come to room temperature for 5 minutes. During this time, slightly chop up your Andes Peppermint Crunch and place in a small bowl.

Now, using a melon baller or tablespoon, scoop the chocolate mixture and roll into a ball with your hands. The warmth from your hands should melt the chocolate slightly, making it easy to roll. Drop the truffles into your Peppermint Crunch and roll around, then roll again in your hand gently to push the chips into the truffle.

Place on to a baking sheet. Continue this process until all of your truffles are complete.

Let chill until ready to serve.

The pretty gold wrappers are from Wilton and make the perfect addition to give as gifts.

Seasons Greetings everyone!

Ornament Wreath

Christmas is in 24 days people...TWENTY-FOUR.

Is anyone finished with their Christmas shopping yet? Oh you are? Please don't tell me then, you do-gooder-shop-in-September types freak me out.

Just kidding, I'm just jealous.

This wreath though, would make a great host/hostess gift and can be made with any color ornaments. This one though, comes straight from the Dollar Tree.

Grand total you ask? 11 whopping dollars! And only because I had to buy all of the ornaments. Oh how I love a steal...

You Will Need:

-You need about 80 various sized Ornaments in total (I bought 4 packages of 12 piece ornaments and 6 packs of 5 piece)

-A Wire Hanger ("NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!")

-2 inch wide decorative ribbon

-Your handy dandy glue gun

And patience...

I should have photographed the process more so bear with me.

Unhook your wire hanger by untwisting directly under the hook and shape the hanger into a circle form. I bent and shaped mine for a little while to get it even.

Glue the top hooks on the ornament to the ball, when necessary, as you don't want them to come loose.

Now start stringing each ornament, varying the direction until your wreath is full. Don't stress at first if the ornaments just hang there, the more you place the tighter it will get (make sure the ornaments are as close together as possible)! Also, it is important to change the size to fill in the gaps. Once your wreath is full, re-twist the top of the hanger together and please, bust out your pliers if you need to. 

To hide the hanger hook (uhh right?) tie a pretty bow around it that is about 2 inches wide.

Hope this tutorial was easy enough, trust me if I can do it... So can you! And please link up your wreaths in the comments section... I'm kind of obsessed!

Happy Holidays!!!

Lemon Meltaways

Oh my gosh you guys, I have like 5 bajillion recipes I want to share with you all.

There's so many ideas running through my head I don't even know where to begin.

Have you guys ever felt that way? Well that feeling for me also comes with extreme anxiety...

Can I be honest with you all? I'm the type (if there is a "type" for me) of girl who writes down what she's going to say before she calls someone, or when I read a text before I get in the shower, I rehearse my response in my head and if I don't reply the second my hands are dry... Anxiety hits!

So I've been rehearsing all of these recipes and crafty things for you, but I honestly need to show patience. And I'm creeping up on my 100th blog post... I can't believe it! So I want it to be super spectacular and amazing.

This is a great recipe and a change from all things peppermint this time of year.

Try it at your next cookie exchange :)

For the Cookie:
(makes 12 sandwich cookies)
1 cup salted butter, room temp
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

For the Filling:
1/4 cup butter, room temp
2 ounces softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
A few Tablespoons of milk, depending on desired consistency

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and grease a cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add in the vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Mix until combined, scraping down the sides as you go. Sift in the flour and cornstarch and beat on your low setting until just combined.

Take Tablespoon sized scoops and roll into balls, continue until you have about 24 cookies. Placing them 1 inch apart on your cookie sheet. Press the cookies gently with a fork to imprint. Bake for 20 minutes and cool completely.

While your cookies are cooling, combine all of the filling ingredients. Use a knife to spread on one side of the cooled cookie then sandwich them together. Try to match up the sizes as evenly as you can.

Enjoy!

I think the next time I would make these cookies a tad smaller as they tend to be a little doughy. You could almost get away with 1/2 of a Tablespoon size here. However, they melt well in your mouth and have the cheek tingling lemon taste!

Cookies-n-Cream Brownies

I'm kind of nervous y'all...

I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled out tomorrow (I know, how old am I right?!) I've been pushing it back, and I finally had to just buck up and do it. Ugh...

Soft foods for a week? Don't you know I'm a FOOD BLOGGER... She didn't seem to care. But I've never been under anesthesia, I've never even had surgery!

I briefly ran through the "what if's" with my husband. I mean, what if I'm allergic to anesthesia and puff up like a lion seal? He promised he'd still love me.

Or what if I'm under and they make the split second decision to pull all my teeth?

I think at this point he wasn't really listening... but HONESTLY PEOPLE! This is scary stuff....

So I had to make something extra delicious before I'm stuck eating cotton swabs for the next week...

These didn't photograph as well as I wanted, I thought the red would be pretty for the Holidays, but it doesn't really give off that generic "cookies-n-cream" vibe.

Oh well, they taste delicious and whip up fast.

Happy Monday everyone!

For the Brownies:
1 box brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker fudge)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

For the Frosting:
4 oz softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon milk

Around 10 crushed Oreos

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 11x7" pan.

Make your brownies according to the package directions and toss in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).
Let the brownies cool completely.

With a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until creamy. Add in remaining ingredients and beat (feel free to add more or less milk to get your desired consistency).
Frost the cooled brownies and sprinkle with crushed Oreo's.
Cut and serve!

Enjoy everyone. Promise me you will eat delicious food for the next couple days... Just don't tell me about it :)

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone... And I'm pretty sure I've gained 10 pounds. Probably from this cheesecake alone. But who cares right? That's what New Years resolutions are for.

Did you all have a nice Holiday? Did anyone venture out for Black Friday?

I attempted Walmart to get ONE thing for my boys and it was gone before it was even time to pick them up. What happened to honesty and manners? Out the window when play kitchens are involved I guess...

Anyways, if you had to deal with Black Friday crazies or your strange Uncle Bill this holiday season, this cheesecake will make you feel alllll better!

Enjoy and Happy late Thanksgiving everyone :)

(recipe adapted from bakeorbreak.com)

For the Crust:
1 3/4 cups Vanilla Wafer Cookie crumbs (I bought the ones from Trader Joes.... TO. DIE. FOR.)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Pecan Pie:
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla

Brown Sugar Cheesecake:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
4 eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Start by making the crust.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Pulse cookies (about 30) into fine crumbs in your food processor. Pour crumbs into a bowl and measure out 1 3/4 cups. Place crumbs along with brown sugar back into the food processor. Pulse to combine. Pour in melted butter and pulse until crumbs are coated. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" spring form pan. Bake for 6 minutes, set aside and cool.

Start the pecan filling. Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes. Make sure to stir constantly. Pour filling into prepared crust and set aside.

Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees. With your hand mixer and a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add brown sugar and flour and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat the vanilla and cream on low.

Pour cheesecake mixture over the pecan pie filling and bake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave the cheesecake inside with the door closed for another hour.

Remove pan from oven and run a knife to loosen the edges. Let cool completely then transfer to the fridge for 6 hours to overnight.

Bring to room temperature before enjoying!