December 22, 2024

Banana Cake with Coconut Frosting

April 24, 2015 by

IMG_3485

We were having friends over for dinner a few weeks back, and I’d just gotten back from the store when I realized I hadn’t planned anything for dessert.  Oh no!  I did have some bananas, and I figured I had enough staples on hand to whip up a banana cake.  I lucked out and found this delicious recipe on Epicurious.com:  Banana Cake with Coconut Frosting!

This is extremely simple and it came out perfectly.  The only kind of weird thing in the recipe is the cream of coconut.  It’s not coconut milk, and it’s not coconut cream, and in fact it’s more like a syrup for making pina coladas than anything else.  I bought some earlier in the year, because I was going to make coconut-flavored yogurt for my girl.  (It’s delicious, but it does have a lot of added sugar – not exactly healthy, but okay for a splurge.)  If you don’t have it or don’t want to use it, substitute whole coconut milk or coconut cream.  Or leave it out and double the sweetened shredded coconut.  In any case, this came together quickly but was fancy enough for company.  Can’t beat that combination!

Banana Cake with Coconut Frosting

Ingredients:

For cake

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing pan
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup well-mashed very ripe bananas
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For coconut frosting

  • 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
  • 3 tablespoons well-stirred canned cream of coconut such as Coco López (not coconut milk)
  • 1 teaspoon dark rum (optional)
  • 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions:

  1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan, knocking out excess flour.
  2. Whisk together flour (1+1/2 cups), baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
  3. Beat together butter (1 stick) and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg until combined, then add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until combined well. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.
  4. Spread batter in cake pan and bake until pale golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of pan, then invert rack over cake and invert cake onto rack to cool completely.
  5. Make frosting while cake cools:
    Beat together cream cheese and butter in a bowl using cleaned beaters at medium speed until smooth. Reduce speed to low, then add confectioners sugar, cream of coconut, and rum (if using) and mix until combined. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Frost top of cooled cake and sprinkle with coconut.

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Protein Banana Bread Breakfast Bars

March 27, 2015 by

Protein Banana Bread Breakfast Bars

I found this recipe on a website called PaleOMG.  I love their photos on Instagram, and they have great ideas for healthy snacks and things to give your kids.  I changed the recipe a bit, just subbing a few things here and there, and now I present to you:  Protein Banana Bread Breakfast Bars!

That’s a mouthful.  These PBBBBs are just like banana bread, but not cloyingly sweet.  They are made with almond flour and whey protein powder, so you’re getting a good dose of protein in your sweet treat.  These were easy and delicious!  I’m storing mine in the fridge, and hope there is enough left for me to enjoy one with my morning coffee tomorrow!

Protein Banana Bread Breakfast Bars

Ingredients:

  • 2 bananas, mashed
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2/3 cup almond flour
  • 1/3 cup whey protein (vanilla, but I used cinnamon!)
  • 1/4 cup tapioca or arrowroot flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup cacao nibs (I used mini chocolate chips)
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds (I used sesame seeds)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease an 8×8 square pan.
  2. Mix all the ingredients together, except for chocolate chips and almonds.  Then fold in cacao nibs or chocolate chips.  Pour into the prepared pan, and cover the top with the almonds or sesame seeds.
  3. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the middle is set.  Cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
  4. I cut mine into 1″x4″ bars, so I had 16 servings.  Store in the fridge, covered.

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipes, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tahini Pancakes

July 11, 2014 by

Tahini Pancakes resize

Oh, pancakes!   We all love them.  But sometimes you just don’t want to make them, even when the kids are whining for them.  They take time to mix up (unless you’re using a pre-made mix like Bisquick…in which case, check out that long list of chemicals and preservatives!), and they’re pretty high in carbs.  Ready for a game changer?  Try these Tahini Pancakes!

This recipe is just three ingredients long.  WHAT?!?!  All you need is a very ripe banana, an egg, and a tablespoon of tahini.  You could use another kind of nut butter, but we use tahini to avoid allergies in my house.  Tahini is an amazing thing.  I keep a can of it in my fridge at all times, because it is crucial to homemade hummus, baba ghanoush, and this kale salad.  It’s just sesame seed butter, but it’s lovely.  These pancakes have no gluten and no nuts, plus they’re high in protein.  Win! Win!

Dress these up however you like.  Add in chocolate chips, coconut flakes, or raisins.  They don’t rise like regular pancakes, but they’re certainly more substantial than a crepe.  Try them for breakfast tomorrow and you—and your pancake-loving kids—will thank me!

Tahini Pancakes

(makes two six-inch pancakes.  Go ahead and double or triple the recipe if you like.)

Ingredients:

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 overripe banana
  • 1 heaping tablespoon tahini
  • coconut oil or butter for the pan

Directions:

  1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat.  Add a teaspoon or so of coconut oil or butter.  Make sure the pan is really well lubricated.  These pancakes can fall apart if they stick.
  2. In a bowl, beat the egg.  Mix in the banana and mash and mix well.  Beat in the tahini.
  3. Pour half the pancake batter into the frying pan and reduce the heat to medium low.  Let cook for a few minutes until, like a normal pancake, it gets dry with burst air bubbles on top.  Very carefully, flip the pancake over and turn the heat all the way to low, or even turn it off.  Let cook a minute or two, then slide off the pan and onto a plate.  Smother with whipped cream and berries, or maple syrup, sliced bananas and walnuts.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Monkey Bites (Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies)

December 13, 2013 by

 

monkey bite cookies

Christmas cookies are a tradition at my house – and yours too, I’m sure.  My Dad lives for Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies.  My favorites are peanut butter, with or without jam thumbprints and crushed walnuts.  When I worked outside the home, I made dozens of cookies each year for Christmas, sharing them with co-workers and other friends and family.  Now that I am home with my girls, I have to be much more careful – I can’t have all those cookies around, since I don’t have anywhere reliable to offload them, and I DON’T want to eat them all myself!  So I am committed to striking a balance between festivity and nutrition.  Enter:  Monkey Bites!

These cookies have all the flavor (and more!) of your typical chocolate chip cookie, but instead of being filled with flour and sugar, you get bananas and oats.  These are soft cookies, and I keep them in the fridge when I’m done.  But the best part of Monkey Bites is that they use three of these:

overripe banana

So if you are looking for a healthier chocolate chip cookie (or you have a few squishy bananas to contend with), try these Monkey Bites.  And feel free to customize:  butterscotch or peanut butter chips would be delicious, or add dried cranberries or cherries to pair nicely with the chocolate chips.  The sky is the limit!

Monkey Bites

Ingredients:

  • 3 overripe bananas
  • 2 cups oats
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil or butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup (or about half a bag) of chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet or use a Silpat liner.
  2. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients, mixing well.
  3. Using a spoon and fork, scoop up a largish tablespoon of cookie dough and place on baking sheet.  You’re going to have to mold it into shape, because these don’t spread.  Mine are about 2″ in diameter and about 1/4″ high.  Try to make them a uniform size so they bake evenly.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes.  You want them to be firm, and the chocolate chips should be starting to melt.  These are soft cookies but you don’t want them squishy.  Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then store covered in the fridge.  You can put them in a toaster oven to warm them and crisp them up a little.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , ,