Lucky Roasted Banana Muffins & Cherry Blossoms

If you haven't gone to see the Cherry Blossoms in DC- get on it. This was my first year seeing them up close and in full bloom. It was worth the wait.

Getting there was a bit of an adventure. Had to pick up the boy from the metro. Ended up working late and forgot the ol' cell phone at home. No bueno. Swear to God, that entire "survival of the fittest" idea does not apply. If this was the primal days of the Serengeti, Darwin would have taken my @ss out a long time ago.

That's why there's 2 of us. Two bodies. One brain. A semi-functional being that enjoys picture snapping, dancing, and food. Watch out WhiteOnRice couple. We are MixedOnMixed couple!

Take some time to bask in the beauty of nature. It's good for the soul. The parking situation in DC.... not so much. Especially with the ridiculous cost for metered parking. Try to take the metro. Bring a hoodie and blanket. Pack a little picnic. Sneak in a small bottle of wine. And some of these Lucky Banana Muffins.

There were three bananas on the verge of death. I wanted to make the Roasted Banana-Pumpkin Loaf but was lacking ingredients. So, took a gamble and made these up. Hence, why they're so lucky! They came out really good!

The muffin is fluffy and moist. Love the texture, it's not heavy but it's not as fluffy as a cake. The banana flavor is subtle and natural. Added some unsweetened coconut milk and honey to give it some love.

In an effort to keep it healthy, there is no sugary crumble top like most muffins. I slightly modified Teenie Cake's pepita (pumpkin seeds) topping instead. Oh, some lessons were learned.

The directions say to coat the pan with non-stick spray. That. Failed. They stuck like glue. Plus, the cooking time was wayyyy too long. Keep an eye on it and use your common sense. I could taste the yummyness in the one's that didn't get bbq'd. When you make these seeds- I beg of you- line the pan with parchment paper.

Muffins are great. Let's roll!

Lucky Roasted Banana Muffins

3 large ripe bananas, unpeeled
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
Pepita Crunch Topping (optional- see recipe below; make this first if you're going to use it)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line large muffin tins (makes 12 small muffins).

Place the bananas on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, or until the skins are black and they have started to seep. Remove from the oven , set aside, and let cool.

Meanwhile, toast the pumpkin seeds (this is optional). I did it on the stove at a medium temperature for about 5 minutes. Continually stir the seeds so they get a nice even color. Be careful not to burn them!

In a small sauce pan, stir the coconut milk and butter on a low heat just till the butter melts. Do not overheat. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, mash the cooled bananas with sugar, coconut milk/butter combo, honey, and egg. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry. Stir in the toasted pumpkin seeds (optional).

Fill muffins tins to 2/3rd's full; top with pepita crunch (optional, see recipe below).

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Pepita Crunch
modified from Carole Walters

1 large egg white
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a rimmed cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Add the pumpkin seeds, tossing to coat well with the egg/sugar mixture.

Pour into a lined cookie sheet and spread evenly in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes, stir the pumpkin seeds with a fork and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir the pumpkin seeds, drizzle with 1 tablespoon honey, and bake for another 3 minutes. The coating should be a nice golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Break up any clusters with your fingertips and set aside.

Introducing: Black Jack (and Self Frosting Nutella Cupcakes)

My neighbor is madly in love with me. I must admit, the feeling is mutual.

He's not exactly tall, dark, and handsome. He's on the chubby end of the spectrum. Okay who am I kidding... he's a fatty. Jet black hair. Beautiful green eyes. Soft spoken yet attentive. I can't tell you the number of times I've left the front door open only to find him at the step, staring at me through the glass. My little stalker-boo.

Introducing Black Jack. The only neighbor on the street whose taken the time to make friends. We actually met the first day I came to explore the spot- he wanted to come in the house immediately. He's such a G.

This cat knows my schedule. He waits in the bushes till I come home from work just to say what's up. Maybe that slab of bacon I gave him has something to do with it. Of course, Autumn hates his guts. The bf and I are determined they were lovers at one point and she's salty over a past fight. Black Jack has that retired Zorro vibe going. Suave! He's just trying to win back his senorita. She'll come around.

Just as Black Jack and Autumn go hand in hand, so does dessert and nutella. If you've been following this blog, you know by now...

I

Love

Nutella.

The simplicity and concept of this recipe lured me right in: plain vanilla cake with a swirl of nutella built in. Beautiful! However.... the cake is actually quite heavy. It's not fluffy and soft, it's thick. Fortunately, the nutella helps smooth this out but it left me wanting more nutella.

This is a great recipe if you're in a pinch and want something a little sweet. The ingredients are as basic as they come. I'm going to try this down the road, but with a different base cupcake.

Note: warm your nutella up a little before you add it to make it smoother. It was really hard to create the marble effect with the thickness of the spread.

Self Frosting Cupcakes
by Pieknits

10 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

Preheat oven to 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners. Cream together butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Add in eggs on at a time, until fully incorporated. The batter may not look smooth, this is fine. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder until batter is smooth and all flour is blended.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. Cups should be 3/4 full if you're not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella (or more.....)

Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, folding a little batter up and over the Nutella as well. It's kind of like making a marble cake.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove to wire rack and allow to cool. Makes 12.

Matcha Green Tea Malted Milkshake

Hey, you! Get off my cloud! You don't know me and you don't know my style! Ahem. Sorry, cleaning the house and there's a little Wu-Tang Clan blasting.

This is going to be a quickie post. There is ironing still to be done! Hooray? I wanted to share this recipe from Joy the Baker. This is probably going to be my treat after I put a dent in that pile of shirts. Thank you Lawd for chill Sundays.

This Matcha Green Tea Malted Milkshake is a little "exotic." The process of creating it is super easy- it's a matter of finding two ingredients:

1) matcha powder: finely grown green tea leaves; I found some in the tea section of Wegman's.

2) malt powder: there are several brands, I found one by Ovaltine.

Once you find these, it's a sinch! Dump everything into the blender and zzzzrrrrr! The end result is a smooth, sweet treat. It's hard to explain the actual flavor. Don't worry, it does not taste like those malt ball candies you buy at the movies. The vanilla and honey balance everything. If you like green tea deserts, you'll loves!

This does not taste like that crap you get at Starbucks. Yah I went there. That Green Tea Creamer Frappocinno makes me nervous. The matcha comes in this big white bag and one must question the quality. Matcha aint cheap. I'll stick to this home made version where I know what's going into my tummy thank you very much.

For your amusement, a photo of the ghetto set up done in an effort to take a nice picture of the milkshake. This is what happens when you don't have good lighting in your kitchen and want to take a photo at night. See how much I loves you?

Now go enjoy this chill Sunday afternoon.

Matcha Green Tea Malted Milkshake

by Joy The Baker

1/2 cup milk
1 generous cup vanilla ice cream
1 tablespoon matcha powder
1 1/2 tablespoons malt powder
dash of vanilla extract
2 teaspoons honey

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy and no big chunks remain.

Fin!

Mount Fujiyama Cinnamon Rolls

Remember how I said there are numerous commuter adventures in life? Well. Today was a new one. It was not really an adventure so much as me being.... well. Me. Sadly enough.

The boyfriend dropped me off at the metro this morning. Saves $4.50 on parking and time. If you are a metro rider, you feel me when I say this small gesture is like getting a 1up. The ride in had it's usual delays. Made eye contact with another rider who was frustrated by the stop and go and mouthed "what the fuck." At least he got a good chuckle.

On the way back ... struggled to stay awake. Worked late. Soothing beats on ipod. Tired from two nights straight of break dance practice. Suddenly the world snapped back into focus and I was sitting completely alone in the car. The doors were open. Looked around dazed and confused. Bolted out like a scared rabbit. It was something straight out of a zombie movie- everyone was gone. Tried to find the rail sign. Phone had a concerned text from the boy asking how much longer. Ran out of the station and he was waiting with a big ass grin.

Apparently, I'd been passed out on the train for about 10 minutes. Slick.

What does this have to do with these delicious Cinnamon Buns? Absolutely nothing. These rolls are ridiculous because of that maple frosting. Good grief. Maple with a splash of coffee? Happy Merry Christmas Birthday!

Like all yeast based doughs, this is a smidge time consuming because you gotta let the dough rise. But it's worth it. Oh it's worth it. Careful how you roll them though or else you'll end up with this little Mount Fujiyama roll. Can't you see the resemblance?

Speaking of Mt. Fujiyama.... Love to Japan. Not gonna get heavy and serious on this, we all know what's up. Please, take that $4.50 you would have spent on parking at the metro and donate to helping with recovery.

Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Maple Frosting
1 bag Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
1/4 cups Milk
1/8 cups Melted Butter
1/8 cups Brewed Coffee
Dash of Salt

Mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

Cinnamon Buns
by Pioneer Woman1/2 quart Whole Milk
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Sugar
1 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
4 cups (Plus 1/2 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
1 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

For the cinnamon buns buns.... mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down.

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/4 to 1/2 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it. It's like a beached butter whale.


Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough.

Sriracha Chicken Wings

After 2 weeks of working in DC, I have come to a realization.

Eating lunch out is expensive. Holy crap. It's nice to do it every now and then but not every day of the week. That's just... painful.

So the other night, after commuting plans blew up in my face (again), I decided to call it a night and not do anything terribly productive. Oh yes, I have some great f*ck up commuting stories to share. The conclusion my mother and I came to: ride into DC on a dolphin... park him under the Key Bridge where a little burro will be waiting for me. I'll ride said burro to work. Piece of cake, right?

Ahem. In my defeat... I decided to make my dinner/lunch/dinner. Yes you read that. I had these Sriracha wings for dinner... brought some for lunch... and then finished them off for dinner a night or two later. What can I say? They're tasty. Plus... about 2lbs of chicken wings costs about $5.00 and I had the rest of the ingredients at home. Now that's a good deal.

The wings are kind of hot, but there's a hint of sweetness. You can gauge the heat by how much Sriracha you put in... Never had Sriracha? Run to your closest pho restaurant- I can guarantee that it will be on the table. The minced onions complement the spice, especially with the splash of vinegar. The left over sauce can be used as a dip with anything else! Really easy to make!

My favorite thing about these wings? They're on the healthy end of the spectrum because they are BAKED... not fried. There's no breading either. Just delicousness. When you do bake them though... you may want to put some tinfoil lining your sheet pan. I thought the oil would be enough to be prevent sticking but there was some light stickage.

Serve as an appetizer or meal! I made some jasmine rice and hoisin kissed broccoli on the side.

Sriracha Chicken Wings

by White On Rice Couple

about 2 pounds chicken wings, lightly coated with oil, tips removed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves finely minced garlic
about 1 small onion, minced (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Sriracha hot sauce or any chili hot sauce (or more for a spicier sauce)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat oven to 425° F.

On baking sheet, spread chicken wings out on sheet and lightly coat wings with vegetable oil. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, then flip chicken wings over and bake for about another 20 minutes, or until fully cooked and crispy brown.

While that's going down, in a small sauce pan, heat the 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and add onion and garlic. On medium heat, continue stirring the onions and garlic until they are golden brown, but not burnt. Allowing the onions and garlic to reach a golden brown stage will bring out the extra fragrance and flavor. Then add ketchup, sriracha hot sauce, vinegar, fish/soy sauce and ground cumin.

Stir well and let simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. After chicken wings have finished baking, toss wings in sauce.

Done!

Cupcakes with Heart Centers!

Don't call it a come back! I've been here for years! Well... one year for this blog? I'm going to have to check on that. Ahem! As you are aware, life has been bustling with the move.

We finally got the internet up and running in the new digs! It's been one hell of a transition between the job, commute, and not having all your stuff in one spot. Thank you for the patience as the line has been on hold. I would like to give a special thank you to my moving crew...

Mom for pushing me to get shit done all at once (cough cough) and my brother for keeping me sane. Ya'll are too good to me. No really... you are and I deeply appreciate it.

Navix for making the journey to the 757, being the other half of this 2-man wrecking crew, finishing the spray paint job (note: if you buy Ikea furniture and want to change its color-- use spray paint, that finish is a bitch to sand off) and being overall Mr. Handy Man. Joy the Baker gives some noble advice in her post, How to Impress a Boy with Baking. Nuff said.

I love my guardian Barthalamew and his trusty sword, Xai, keeping me safe.

Also, mad love to Aziz and TKC for rescuing me from my failed attempts of using the slug line to work in Northern VA. The Duartes and Pops holding it down as well. It's a warm fuzzy feeling. Much like these cupcakes I mentioned earlier. Thanks Zareen for sending me this idea!

So how do you make these bad boys? Crazy simple. Just take your favorite batter mix, put a little bit on the side to cut out some hearts, and assemble. Ridiculous! The cupcake I used is a simple Vanilla Bean cupcake. And the frosting is entirely up to you, use your favorite!

The only TRICKY part is which way to cut the cupcake. If you cut it wrong, you won't see the heart, so come up with a clever way of marking where the cut line is. I recommend putting sprinkles directly over the line of cut or using a cute decoration. This isn't a 3D heart!

If possible, use a muffin tin (slightly larger) so you got plenty of room to clear the top of cupcake.

Bake a Heart in a Cake
by Bake it In a Cake

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
seeds from half a vanilla bean
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups whole milk
red food coloring

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F).

Mix the butter and sugar together at medium speed for about 90 seconds, until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so everything gets well combined. Add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla and mix until the batter is smooth. Finally, alternate between the flour and milk, beating on med-high speed until the batter is light and creamy.

Pour a little more than 1/3 of the batter (about a cup and a half) into a smaller bowl. Add red food coloring until you get your desired pink or red color. Pour the batter into a non-stick (or lightly greased) 8x8 baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes until the edges of the cake start to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely (to speed up the process, I stuck in in the fridge).

Once the sheet cake is cool, loosen the edges away from the pan with a knife and then invert the pan onto a cutting board. Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a dozen cake hearts that are small enough to fit into an average-sized cupcake pan.

Spoon two heaping tablespoons of the remaining batter into paper-lined cupcake tins, so they’re about half-full. Put one heart into each tin and press it point down into the batter. Keep all the hearts facing forward in the pan. Cover with another teaspoon of batter and bake for 24 minutes.

Frost as usual.

Then surprise the people you heart with a little, dorky surprise. They'll stare at you with confusion as to how this heart got in their cake, but I can guarantee you'll get a big hug!

Sneak Peek Into Heart Cupcakes!

Soooo.... there is still no internet up and running in the new digs. That's okay. Everyone remain calm. God bless my smart phone. I never in a million years thought I would say such a thing.

Here's a sneak peek for my next post, which hopefully will be going down this weekend. Come on Verizon! These cupcakes are just full of heart. Literally. Well, sort of literally.

At first you see a normal, good ol fashioned cupcake.

Cut them down the middle just right and voila... a hella cute cupcake expressing what you feel inside. I made these for valentine's day but I think they would rock for any occasion.

People. Just THINK of the combinations. Take your FAVORITE cupcake...Chocolate, vanilla, whatever... and you can either make the heart mix on the side or just utilize your batter (if it's a light colored one that will take the food coloring). I'm seeing chocolate cupcakes with purple hearts already.

I'll finish this post ASAP. Promise!

Till the next episode!