Category Archives: sweets

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted in breakfast, sweets, things we like to eat by

My Daughter and I- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Two summers ago, we went to an outdoor showing of The Endless Summer. There were booths, a history of surfing exhibit, a band and food. We met some friends there, and we all brought picnic dinners to share. One of our friends brought frosted banana bars- something that I’d never tried before- and we all absolutely loved them. Ever since then, Mrs. Smith’s banana bars have been floating around in the back of my mind as a recipe that needed to be tried. Last week, I finally got around to making a similar recipe, and they did not disappoint!

We love our banana bread recipe, so normally, if we have over-ripe bananas on the counter, that’s our go-to dessert. This banana cake with cream cheese frosting was another hit- the cake itself is moist, and isn’t overly sweet and the frosting is simple and delicious. The recipe came together very quickly too.

My Daughter and I- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 2

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients for cake:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana

Ingredients for cream cheese frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the wet batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the bars to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting:
In a bowl, combine the butter and cream cheese. Beat until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until completely smooth.

 

Original recipe from Taste and Tell. 

Cindy & Jordan

French Breakfast Puffs

Posted in breakfast, sweets, things we like to eat by

My Daughter and I- French Breakfast Puffs

I attend a High School girls’ Biblestudy on Tuesday morning’s that runs during the school year. The study starts at 6 A.M., so we eat breakfast together while we talk about our Biblestudy book. Every week, a different girl brings breakfast for everyone, and last week was my day to bring food. I made these delicious breakfast muffins and everyone loved them! They remind me a bit of coffee cake- yummy muffins rolled in butter and coated in cinnamon sugar. The muffins that were leftover from study went to work with my dad, and the guys there loved them too- definitely a hit all around 🙂

My Daughter and I- French Breakfast Puffs 2

French Breakfast Puffs

Ingredients:
3 cups Flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cups Shortening (Crisco)
2 whole Eggs
1 cup Milk

1 cup Sugar
2 heaping teaspoons Cinnamon
1 stick butter

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 18 muffin cups.
In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
In a bowl, melt 1 stick of butter. In a separate bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

 

Jordan 

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

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My Daughter and I- Oatmeal Fudge Bars

Hey! Happy Monday! With our crazy summer schedule (or lack of schedule) and our big backpacking trip, it seemed like we hadn’t been trying many new recipes, which meant we hadn’t been posting very much on our blog. I’m happy to report that we have changed that- we’ve been baking and testing many new recipes. In fact last week we baked a ton, and most of the items will end up posted here- yay for that!

This bar cookie was one of the recipes we made last week, and it was for sure a keeper! I found this recipe on Living Beyond Measure and I knew I had to try it. I love oatmeal and I love chocolate. This recipe puts the two together. Warning! If you’re not a chocolate person, this is not the recipe for you. The gooey, fudgy, chocolate filling is rich and delicious and definitely the star of this recipe.

My Daughter and I- Oatmeal Fudge Bars 2

Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups oatmeal

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt together:
1 can eagle’s brand sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix the butter, eggs and brown sugar. Add vanilla and milk. Slowly incorporate the rest of the dry ingredients.

Mix well. I prefer using a stand mixer since it’s quite thick.

Spread 3/4 of the cookie mixture on the bottom of a greased 13×9 pan, pour melted chocolate mixture, then spread rest of cookie mixture on top in spoonfuls – it won’t cove the chocolate mixture completely.

Bake for 25-27 minutes at 350 degrees. If the top is getting a bit too brown, cover with aluminum foil for the last 5 or so minutes.

Let cool, otherwise it won’t set up and will just run when you cut into it. Even once the bars are cooled, the fudge center still says a bit soft and gooey!

Cindy

Brownies with Peanut Butter Chips

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My Daughter and I- Brownies with Peanut Butter Chips 1

This has to be one of the easiest recipes we’ve ever posted. But I felt compelled to post it because when I made these brownies the other day, everyone raved about them. We were heading down to the beach to meet some friends and I was cooking up a picnic dinner. I had a craving for brownies and I noticed the peanut butter chips in the pantry and I knew I had to mix the two. Because I was anxious to get to the beach, I cheated and used a box brownie mix. But if I had more time I would have used this delicious, homemade brownie recipe (just take out the Andes mints for a great basic brownie recipe). Instead I grabbed a box mix and then went to town doctoring them up!

My Daughter and I- Brownies with Peanut Butter Chips 2

Brownies with Peanut Butter Chips
1 box of brownie mix or homemade recipe
Ingredients as listed on box or recipe
1 cup peanut butter chips, divided
1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

I used Duncan Hines dark chocolate brownie mix and just followed the recipe for chewy brownies. I then added 1/2 cup peanut butter chips to the batter and spread into the pan. I followed the cooking instructions and when there was about three minutes left on the timer, I sprinkled the other 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips and 1/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips over the top. I cooked it for the last three minutes and then removed the brownies and let them cool. When you’re cutting the brownies, the chips on top get quite messy if you don’t let them cool completely.

For some reason the brownies turned out pretty flat, but they were delicious and chewy and the perfect dessert for a beach picnic.

Cindy

National Eclair Day

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eclair cake 1 - My Daughter and I

Happy Friday! Sorry for the lack of blog posts all this week- things have been kind of crazy around here. Last weekend we went to the river (the Colorado river) for some jet-skiing, Sea-doo riding, and wake-boarding fun! Oh, and some guacamole eating too 😉 We got home late Monday night and have been really busy since. So, long story short, posting just didn’t happen. Until now that is!

Did you know that there is a National Eclair Day? I didn’t! June must be the month of “National…Days”. June 1st is National Donut Day. June 3rd is Egg Day. June 6th is National Yo-Yo Day. June 20th is National Flip-Flop Day.  June 21st is World Handshake Day. See what I mean? And, of course, June 22nd is National Eclair Day. And I am so excited about it! In honor of this special day, check out this delicious and easy eclair cake recipe.

Eclair Cake 2 - My Daughter and I

 

There’s something about these pictures that absolutely gets to me- they make my mouth water every time I look at them! And I can promise you that the cake is just as delicious as it looks!

Eclair Cake
Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • Crust:
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • Filling:
  • 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
  • 2 small packages vanilla instant pudding
  • 3 cup milk
  • 8 oz container cool whip for top
  • chocolate syrup for drizzling on top, optional
  • Strawberry or banana slices to garnish on top, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On low heat in a medium saucepan, melt the butter on low. Add water and bring to a boil. Turn off the burner and add flour, salt, sugar and mix into a softball. Let cool for 5 minutes.
  2. Add eggs one at a time and mix in with a fork until incorporated. Spray a jelly roll pan or a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. Spread the mixture out on the pan. If using a 9×13, slightly bring the mixture up on the sides. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven. The crust will bubble up and the edges will turn slightly brown. Let it cool until room temperature.
  3. For the filling, In a stand mixer or using beaters mix 1 cup of milk with the cream cheese and mix until creamy. Add pudding mix and the rest of the milk and mix well together until creamy.
  4. Spread over the cooled crust. Spread the cool whip on top of the filling mixture. You can top with fresh strawberry slices or bananas if desired. Drizzle with chocolate syrup if desired.

Cindy & Jordan