Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm sorry for being MIA over here. School got the best of me last week, but I am ready to tackle whatever it throws at me next! So long as I can do it while shoving muffins (and let's be real, spoonfuls of peanut butter) down my throat.

I kid you not, I think I am addicted to peanut butter. I eat it on any and everything. Kid.You.Not. It's kind of scary. I really need an intervention. BUT I CAN'T STOP. And I won't. So there. I even have a board entirely dedicated to peanut butter on my Pinterest. Not sorry.

I have had my eye on these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins for quite some time, but for some reason have never made them. I don't know what's wrong with me. I think it's just that anytime I buy jars of peanut butter, I devour them in approximately 12 hours and never have enough leftover for baking. Luckily, that all changed when I saw that my family had two jars of peanut butter in our pantry - one for baking, and one for reserves. It was perfect.

I made a batch of these for my best friend, Nick, and my sister, Kelley. While I did give these away, you better believe I snagged a couple for my self (oops). All I can say is that you CANNOT beat the peanut butter chocolate combo. You just can't. If you can't tell from this, this, this, this, this, this, OR this, I will forever be loyal to PB & chocolate (hehe).

These are a perfect breakfast treat AND they double as a fabulous dessert. Or snack. Basically what I'm saying is that you can eat these whenever you want and your taste buds will sing songs of joy. That's a verified fact. So go ahead and enjoy!

Brown Sugar Bliss.

Choosy bakers choose Jif.

Yes. Just yes.

Gettin' all melty up in here.

Melted butter + peanut butter...I'm diving in this bowl.

Here comes the chocolate.

Sprinkle 'em with sugar. Every good muffin comes with a coating of sugar. It's a law.

Oven-worthy.

Hello, lover.

Devour.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Recipe from Annie's Eats (originally adapted from Baking Bites)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 6 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Jif Creamy)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, peanut butter, eggs and milk until smooth. Add in the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin tins, filling each to the top. Sprinkle each muffin with coarse sugar, if preferred.
5. Bake muffins for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

I linked up this post at: Inside BruCrew Life, Zent Mrs. & The Mr., Hungry Little Girl, Back for Seconds, Semi Homemade Mom, Buns In My Oven, Mandatory Mooch, Sassy Little Lady

Snickerdoodle Bread

Happy New Year to you all! Sorry for the delay in my wishes, but I was down in New Orleans with my family to ring in 2013! It was such a wonderful trip. I fell in love with the city and will definitely have a full NOLA blog post for you soon! 2012 was a rough year, so I am hoping that the fun my family and I had in New Orleans is telling of the great things to come this year!

As for New Year's Resolutions, I don't really make them...well, I don't make traditional resolutions. I'd never make a food or exercise resolution cause let's be honest, I'd never keep it. Everything in moderation right?! I kept my resolution last year to drink 64 oz. of water a day and I seriously felt so much better. I don't know if I am just saying that, but now I can't live without all that water! This year, I just am hoping to keep in better touch with friends and family and focus on being a more well-rounded and kind individual. It's not always easy!

But, since I am not cutting off sugar and carbs and all that fun stuff, I present to you this Snickerdoodle Bread. This is a recipe that I've eyed on Pinterest for over a year but have never made. I finally hunted down Hershey's Cinnamon Chips (gracias, Walmart) and put them to work! I made this bread for our neighbors' Christmas gifts, but my family kept a loaf for ourselves too! We munched on this bread while opening stockings on Christmas (hence the platter in the photos).

While the bread isn't the most photogenic, it sure is delicious. The cinnamon flavor is there, but it isn't overwhelming or overpowering. The bread is super soft, and it complements nicely the slight bite of the cinnamon chips. Like most quick breads, my FAVORITE part to eat is the top. The top of this bread is a bit crunchy from the cinnamon sugar mixture poured on top before baking...it's divine. I wanted to cut the tops off all the breads and save them for myself, but Christmas is about giving so I refrained (whomp).

Even if you are making a resolution to eat better, you should give this bread a try! Everyone's sweet tooth deserves a reward now and then! Enjoy!

***I linked up this post over at Taste and Tell,Chocolate, Chocolate and More, Recipes For My Boys, & Food Done Light  

Snickerdoodle Bread
Recipe from Eat Cake for Dinner

Bread:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup sour cream (I used light) 
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 pkg. Hershey's Cinnamon Chips

Topping:

• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease either 4 mini loaf pans or 2 regular loaf pans and set aside.
2. Whisk together your flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or hand mixer) cream together butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix well. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
4. Add your dry ingredients (flour and baking soda) to your wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Once all other ingredients are mixed well, stir your cinnamon chips into the batter.
6. Divide your batter between your 4 mini loaf pans or your 2 regular loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-38 minutes (mini loaves) or for 55-65 minutes (regular loaves). Let cool before removing from pan. Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

I know, I know. It's Christmas cookie season, and here I am, giving you a recipe for banana bread. But can you forgive me? I am getting ready to take my FIFTH and LAST final of the first semester of my junior year of college. Whew. It's a doozy, but it's crazy how fast time flies. Also, I promise that when I am home for break I will bake and post Christmas cookies like there's no tomorrow.

This brings me to my next question...

Overripe bananas anyone?

As I said this summer when I made those delicious Banana Crumb Muffins, I secretly love when bananas are too ripe to be eaten. Yes, yes, I love to eat bananas (smothered in peanut butter, on top of a bowl of cereal, dipped in chocolate) but does anything beat banana bread? Or Banana Pancakes for that matter?

Not really.

Plus, the fruit makes this bread healthy (right?). At least that's what I told myself when I ate half the loaf after lunch today. Health food!

This Banana Chocolate Chip Bread is divine. It's my favorite banana bread recipe to date, and it's been our family's go-to recipe since before we were a family (and by that I mean my mom got it from her college boyfriend...hehe, sorry dad!)

I prefer not to overload my banana bread with chocolate chips (I'm weird, I know), but I'd say add more chocolate chips if you are more of a choco-holic. I also think subbing the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips would be incredible.

So thanks, mom's college boyfriend, for sharing this fabulous recipe! Now y'all go let some bananas ripen so you can get to baking! Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread (makes 2 loaves)

• 1 1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)
• 2/3 cup butter
• 2-3 large, ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups flour, sifted
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans. Set aside.
2. Cream sugar and butter together using a mixer.
3. Beat eggs, sour cream, baking soda, and salt. Add to this mixture the mashed bananas. Mix well.
4. Add your eggs, sour cream, baking soda, salt, and bananas to your creamed butter and sugar. Mix until combined.
5. Slowly add your sifted flour into your mixture. Mix thoroughly until all is combined.
6. Divide batter, and pour into your two loaf pans.
7. Bake for 1 hour (give or take 15 min. depending on your oven). Use a toothpick to test if it is cooked.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

To say I love pancakes may be an understatement. I adore them. I obsess over them. I could eat them all the time (wait, didn't I just say that about cereal?!). It's safe to say I'm a breakfast food fanatic.

I must admit that I usually just whip out a box of pancake mix, add some water, do some flippin', and devour. But, as I am currently recovering from surgery of my own, I have been on a baking spree. I hear it helps people heal more quickly...or something like that.

When I went grocery shopping for those Reese's Cheesecake Brownies, I picked up some Reese's Peanut Butter Chips (think chocolate chips but, well, peanut butter!) while I was at the store hoping I'd be inspired to create something fun.

Inspiration came in the form of these Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes. I have been craving a nice stack of pancakes for weeks now, and when I saw we had some quite ripe bananas, I knew these needed to be used to kick my traditional buttermilk pancakes up a notch.  THEN, it hit me. Banana Pancakes + Reese's Peanut Butter Chips = heaven in my mouth. I knew I had to experiment.

I love the banana/peanut butter combo (one of my fave snacks) and these pancakes are a wonderful mix of the two. The pancake recipe itself comes from the blog 100 Days of Real Food Blog (natural ingredients!) and is dense yet fluffy, and super moist. Then when you add the peanut butter chips, you essentially have peanut butter banana bread...in a pancake form...covered with syrup. You could substitute the chocolate chips for the peanut butter chips if you so desire, and these would still be amazing. I got 10 generously sized pancakes out of this recipe, so be prepared to feed a crowd (or freeze the leftovers).

Move over Jack Johnson, you've been upstaged. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes
Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Chips (like chocolate chips!)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Make a well (hole) in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the honey, eggs, milk, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Whisk together thoroughly, but do not overmix.
3. Gently fold the mashed bananas and Reese's Peanut Butter Chips into the batter with a spatula. 
4. Heat a griddle or saute pan over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray, or swirl enough butter around the pan until it is well coated. Add pancake batter using a soup ladle.
5. When the pancakes have begun to brown on the bottom, flip them over to cook the other side.
6. Serve with warm maple syrup and a side of fruit. Don't forget to freeze the leftovers!

Blueberry-Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

                           

It's healthy because it's stuffed full of blueberries, am I right??!

I have no doubt that my dad is the greatest (and cutest) man to have ever walked the planet. As a married man AND the father of 3 daughters, he is truly a saint. He gives so much of himself for us, works hard to provide our family a wonderful life, and helps around the house A LOT! I will eternally be indebted to him for all he has done for me and I am so lucky to have him as a father. Love you, Dad!!!

In order to properly honor my dad on Father's Day, I decided to make him breakfast :). Nothing says love like waking up to an amazing meal!

My dad loves cobblers and fruity desserts, so when I came across this Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake recipe, I knew he'd absolutely love it! And lucky for me, we had about 2 tons of blueberries sitting in our fridge (LOVE summer berries!).

What's best about this dessert? It's clearly a health food. It's packed with blueberries which are packed with antioxidants which in turn means that eating half of the pan by yourself in one sitting is actually a good idea. Really. You're doing yourself a favor.

The cake was the perfect breakfast sweet (healthy sweet, y'all...remember?). It was light, fluffy, and slightly flaky. It had a buttery taste as any good (healthy) breakfast cake should, while the lemon zest was a refreshing complement to the blueberries. We ate our cake the day after I made it, so we heated it up in the microwave before consuming and it was so tasty when served warm. Pair it with a cup of coffee and your morning will promise to be a little slice of summery heaven.

Blueberry-Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
Recipe from Alexandra's Kitchen

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tsp. lemon zest or more - zest from one large lemon
• 7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

*7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
**This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top of the cake.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter with lemon zest and the 7/8 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour in a small bowl, then whisk together the remaining flour (1 3/4 cup), baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar, like I used) with butter or non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 more minutes might me necessary. I had to leave mine in for 12 more minutes.) Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Had to proudly show off this beauty. 

Fresh blueberries. Yum, yum, yum!

Batter...covered in sugar, delish!

And it's pretty!

"Use What You Have" Mini Quiches

WHOA. Sorry about that major hiatus from the blogging world. I was merely soaking up the sun in beautiful Southern California with my family. It was a wonderful time and I was currently not ready to head home and get back to reality. I am terrible at saying goodbye and it never gets any easier!

Before we left for our vacation, my mom and I whipped together some of her favorite mini quiches. These are so easy to make, freeze, and heat for breakfast/lunch/dinner - you name it! The best part is, this recipe gives you the freedom to take what veggies or meats that you have around and throw them in to be baked. Eggs are versatile and I appreciate that.

In this last batch of quiches, we used a whole bag of Trader Joe's of organic frozen, chopped spinach; half of a chopped red bell pepper; half of a chopped orange bell pepper; one small, diced yellow squash; one medium, diced zucchini; a quarter of a minced onion; one carton of egg beaters; and some grated swiss cheese. After combining all the veggies, you just heat them in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Using the egg beaters makes these super healthy and light and a perfect poppable meal. We throw them in a freezer bag and heat them in the microwave on HIGH for about 1 minute and 45 seconds and they are absolutely fabulous! Couldn't be easier to whip together!

"Use What You Have" Mini Quiches**
Recipe from My Mama!

• 1 bag frozen, chopped spinach
• 1/2 chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 chopped orange bell pepper
• 1 small, diced yellow squash
• 1 medium, diced zucchini
• 1/4 minced onion
• 1 carton egg beaters
• Grated swiss cheese (about 6 oz.)

**Like I said, use what you have! We have added mushrooms to these, feta cheese, ham, turkey bacon, whatever you please!***

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease 12-18 muffin tins by spraying with Pam.
3. If using spinach, cook it on high in the microwave for 4 minutes. Remove from microwave and press out all liquid using paper towels.
4. Combine your eggs, veggies, meats, and cheeses into a large bowl.
5. Pour egg mixture into muffin tins (12-18 depending on how big you'd like them).
6. Bake quiches for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly on edges.
7. Serve hot or freeze them and microwave when hungry!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Do you know the muffin man? The muffin man? The muffin man. Yes...I know the muffin man. Who lives on Drury Lane? Well, she's married to the muffin man! (Never gets old.)

I have been repeating these lines from the award-winning motion picture, Shrek, for days much to my family's dismay, but these muffins just make me so happy.

I secretly love when bananas are too ripe to be eaten "normally." In a family that hates waste, overripe bananas usually mean some delicious banana concoction will be whipped up. At my house, we are always ready for banana chocolate chip bread, but this weekend I decided that we (I) wanted muffins.

These have the perfect banana flavor, and the crumb topping absolutely makes them. I couldn't wait to pull them out of the oven. When baked, they smell exactly like an Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel and by that I mean they smell like heaven. And of course, they taste just as good as they smell. The crumble topping adds a bit of texture to the soft muffins. I am drooling thinking about them and while I will not explicitly say how many of these muffins I have consumed in the past 24 hours (I have to maintain some shred of dignity!), let's just say I am definitely adding them to my list of favorite banana treats. They are great when served warm, with a touch of butter. Nom away, my friends.

Banana Crumb Muffins
Recipe from Pip and Ebby

     Muffin:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large ripened bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

     Crumb Topping:

• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions (see pictures below)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin papers, or you can grease the muffin cups and forgo the papers. I prefer to use muffin papers, though, because I think it keeps the muffins more fresh.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour for the muffins, the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the mashed bananas, sugar, egg, and (1/3 cup) melted butter.
4. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened. 
5. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups.
6. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, (4 tablespoons) flour, and ground cinnamon for the crumb topping. Cut in the 2 tablespoons of melted butter until the mixture is moist.
7. Sprinkle topping over the muffin batter inside prepared muffin cups.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Flour Mixture

Banana Mixture                                     

Banana and Flour

Crumb Topping. Yum!

Ready for the oven!