Go Bananas!

Why is it that even if you buy green bananas, they are all ripe...or over-ripe at the exact same time?  If your family is anything like mine, the minute there is a brown spot on the peel, no one will touch them.  They are not diseased, they are ripe and waiting to be made into something delicious!

Banana bread is a staple in my house.  I often times stir in some nuts or some chocolate chips for a quick brunch or dessert offering.  About a year ago, I happened to have some blueberries in the refrigerator and decided to stir them into my bread, and a star was born!  So moist, a little tartness from the blueberries, a little sweetness from the bananas...just down-right yummy.

This banana bread recipe is dairy and gluten free, but you can certainly just use butter instead of oil and all purpose flour instead of GF flour and it will turn out just as delicious.

Banana Bread
2 cups gluten free maestro flour blend
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
3 bananas, mashed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray bread pan with non-stick spray and then lightly coat with GF flour.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip eggs and banana until smooth.  Add honey, oil, lemon juice and vanilla bean paste until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Stir in optional ingredients.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes for mini loaves or 50-60 minutes for a regular loaf.  Loaf should be golden brown and a knife inserted in the center should come out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn loaf out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Optional recipe variations:

1. Banana nut bread: stir in 1/2 cup walnuts before baking
2. Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: stir in 1 cup chocolate chips before baking (I like dark chocolate chunks)
3. Blueberry Banana Bread: Stir in 1 cup blueberries before baking

Pumpkin Scones with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

I am still around, believe it or not.  I have been traveling for that day job, so have been absent from my kitchen and from you all...but fear not, I am back where I belong, in my kitchen doing what I love, feeding and serving my family!

It is going to be a cool fall weekend and what better way to start a chilly Saturday morning than with a nice cup of coffee, your sweetie and a warm Pumpkin Scone.  Scones are one of those comfort foods and why pay that famous over-priced coffee shop $3 for one scone when you can make a dozen of them to enjoy in a matter of 30 minutes start to finish.  So get out that mixing bowl and enjoy!

Pumpkin Scones with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (can use all-purpose flour for those without allergies)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup canned organic pumpkin puree
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 chopped pecans
additional gluten flour blend

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  Cut in butter using a pastry blender or you can process it all in a food processor until you have pea-size dough pieces (just like pie crust dough).  Add the pumpkin, buttermilk and egg and combine.  Add additional flour until dough can be handled, but still slightly sticky.  Fold in pecans and knead dough into a ball.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Using the heal of your hands, work dough into a round disk about 1 inch thick.  Use a biscuit cutter to cut round scones or you can just slice your disk into 8 slices like a pizza.  Place scones on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush all scones with an egg wash (1 egg beat with 1 tsp of water).  Bake in a 425 F oven for 15-20 minutes or until evenly browned.  While scones bake, prepare icing.

Maple Cream Cheese Icing 
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 oz cream cheese, cold but softened
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and sugar until mixed.  Add cream cheese until combined and creamy.  Slowly add syrup until you having an icing-consistency.  Stir in vanilla.  Place icing in a ziploc bag.  Cut corner off of bag and drizzle icing over cooled scones.

Depending on the size of your cutter, recipe yields 8-15 scones.

Pears...the other fall fruit

Pears are often passed over in favor of apples this time of year.  What a shame, as pears can be delightfully married with so many different flavors, from savory to sweet.  So, to help you see the great possibilities with these delicious little gems, the next few postings will be all about pears.

We are heading out of town for a couple of days for a family funeral and I had four pears that were ripe and would be bad if left until Saturday.  We were in need of a snack for the car, so I made this lovely Pear Bread with Cinnamon and Ginger.  Cinnamon, ginger and honey marry really well with pears due to their mild flavor.  This is a nice alternative to zucchini, banana and apple bread, which we all tend to make a lot of this time of year.  So go ahead, give pears a try...I think you will be pleased with the result!

Pear Bread with Cinnamon and Ginger
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (all purpose flour for those without allergies)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon peel zest
3/4 cup honey
1 cup shredded or chopped pears, moisture squeezed out
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat bottom and sides of loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl.  Combine honey, pears, oil and egg in a stand mixer bowl.  Mix at medium speed until well combined.  Add dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Fold in chopped almonds.

Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan and sprinkle course vanilla sugar (or raw sugar) on top.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean, but still moist.

Cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes in pan and then turn loaf out and cool completely.  Slice and enjoy!

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles

So with fall comes pumpkins...yum!  Although I did not intentionally plant pumpkins this year, I ended up with a rogue pumpkin plant in with my zucchini and yellow squash...a pleasant little surprise!  So, we now have organic pumpkin in the freezer awaiting Thanksgiving, but I had to keep a bit out and make something with the fresh pumpkin.  Many years ago, my husband and I stayed at this bed and breakfast that looked like it was straight out of Gone With the Wind.  They made us the most delicious Sour Cream Belgian Waffles I had ever had in my life and were gracious enough to give me the recipe.  Well, last weekend, I modified that recipe to include that fresh pumpkin, and if I do say so myself, they were super yummy.

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles

4 eggs, separated- hold whites

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbsp. vanilla (I use vanilla bean paste)

8 ounces sour cream

4 ounces pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend (you can use all purpose flour if you are not gluten-free)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp. honey

Mix egg yolks, buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla, sour cream and pumpkin together.

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add to the pumpkin mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.

Add hot water to your batter a little at a time, until batter is the consistency of cake batter (should be thick, but pourable).  Fold in egg whites.

Bake in your waffle iron to desired crispness.  Top with butter, pecans and maple syrup.

Granola

I have been very absent from the kitchen lately due to my day job and required travel.  Coming home, I am ready for fall.  I love fall!  There is nothing better than cool days, a warm sweater and warming everyone you love from the inside-out.  One thing that definitely speaks fall to me is maple syrup, so the recipe today is homemade granola.

I love granola and had assumed it was a thing of the past when I went off of gluten.  Much to my delight, I discovered gluten free oats and made some delicious granola at home.  Homemade granola, warm from the oven is divine.  If all you have had is that dried out stuff that costs a fortune from the store, you are missing out.  Once you have made your own granola, you will never buy it again- trust me!

Granola
3 cups gluten free rolled oats
1 cup Irish oats
1 cup natural almonds
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup other dried fruit of your choice (I like mixing cranberries and blueberries)
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (for dairy free, use 1/2 cup canola oil)
1/3-1/2 cup good quality maple syrup

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Spray a large sheet pan with nonstick spray.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add the maple syrup until the mixture is slightly moist through out, but not saturated.  Spread mixture out evenly on sheet pan.  Bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, turning the mixture with a spatula every 20 minutes until mixture is an even color.

Let cool in sheet pan.  The mixture crisps as it cools.  When cool, use a spatula to scrape granola from pan and break it into chunks.  Store in an airtight container.  Enjoy granola atop Greek yogurt with fruit.