Must Try Recipe: Baked Honey Garlic Wings

I love chicken wings!  But I only love them when they are fried, haha!  

Oh and my favorite part of the wing is the Drumette!  It is that part which they use for chicken lollipops (another favorite food of mine).

I saw a pack of beautiful Chicken Drumettes (yes, I find beauty even in uncooked food, haha!) when we were doing the groceries so I got one and didn't really know what to do with it.  Actually, I have a favorite wings recipe (Restaurant Style Buffalo Wings) which I blogged before here.  It is my go-to recipe and the only Chicken Wings recipe I've ever tried, haha!  I think it's about time to explore other recipes.

Since we have a bottle of honey (which we rarely use) in the pantry, I want a sauce that has honey in it.  I remembered the sauces that BonChon (a Korean Fried Chicken place) has for their wings.  One has Garlic and another has Honey.  I thought Honey and Garlic together sounds like a good thing for these wings!  But instead of frying them, I want to try baking them . . . for a change.  Plus it's healthier!

There are a lot of recipes online so I just picked two recipes (from these blogs: Spend with Pennies and The Endless Meal) and got something from each of these recipes.  I'm more than happy to tell you that this recipe was a success!  It actually exceeded my expectations.  Haha!  

I looove the sauce!  And I love how the wings, though baked, tasted like they were fried!  Thanks to the 4 tbsp of melted butter that was used to coat them before putting them in the oven, haha!  (Did I mention the word "healthier" earlier?  Well, I think t's still healthier than deep frying them, right? Haha!)

I hope you try this recipe so you can enjoy this messy finger licking goodness!

Ingredients:

Part I
1 lb of chicken wings
Salt or Seasoned Salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Pepper

Part II
1/3 cup of All Purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
Pepper

4 tbsp of melted butter

Sauce:
1/3 cup of honey
1-2 tbsp of soy sauce
3 big cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of ginger
1/2 tbsp of olive oil or vegetable oil

*Feel free to adjust the measurement of the sauce to suit your taste =)


Directions:

1. For Part I, season the wings with (I just eyeballed the ingredients) salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper and let it sit on the ref for at least two hours.

2. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.

3. Pat dry the chicken pieces.  In a big bowl, combine everything in Part II (except the melted butter). Toss the chicken to coat well in the flour mixture.  (I put the chicken and the flour mixture together in a ziploc bag and just shake it).  Remove the excess flour from the chicken.  Then, coat the pieces with melted butter.

4.  Place your wings on a baking tray (line your baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat) and bake it for 40 mins (one side) and then turn them around and bake it for 15 minutes or until cooked.

5. Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan and boil it (in medium high heat) for 3-4 minutes until the sauce gets reduced to a thick consistency.  Drizzle over the chicken, toss and shake the pieces around . . . 

until each piece gets a taste of that yummy honey garlic sauce!

Dig in! =)

Baked Salmon ala Conti's

While doing the groceries last weekend, we saw some Salmon and thought of baking it with the Teriyaki marinade which I've tried before.  (To read about it, please click here.)  And just as I was about to start working on the marinade, I suddenly thought of (craved for!) Conti's Baked Salmon! (Conti's is a popular Bakery and Restaurant in the Philippines which is known for their cakes and Baked Salmon to name a few)

So I went online and looked for Conti's-inspired Baked Salmon recipes and found a few but went with the recipe shared by The Happy Tummy Kitchen.  I'm glad I did!  You know the recipe is going to turn out great when your picky eater suddenly says "Mama, it smells good!"  And she said this when we were just working on the sauce.  But it does smell good!  The smell was that of . . . Conti's! *insert dance of joy here* I guess I was on the right track!  

So before I call it a day (and before I forget what I did, haha), I want to share with you this picky eater-approved (hubby-approved too!) Salmon dish.  She ate fish for the first time!!!!  Woohoo!  Thanks to the Cheesy-garlic mayo sauce!  Haha!

Hope you like it too!  

Happy Cooking!

*Inspired by the recipe from The Happy Tummy Kitchen's blog.  For her exact recipe, please click here.  

My take on this recipe:

Ingredients:

Salmon (around 800-900 grams)

Salt 

Pepper

Garlic powder

Juice from half of a lemon

Half a block of Cream Cheese

3/4 cup of Shredded Parmesan (1/2 cup to go to the cheese mixture and 1/4 cup for toppings)

4 tbsp of Mayonnaise

Garlic (3 big cloves, minced)

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1. Marinade the Salmon (around 30 mins) with salt, pepper, garlic powder and lemon juice.  Sorry, I don't have any measurements, I just eyeball it when I do a marinade. 

2. Pre-heat oven to 450F.

3. Mix the cream cheese, Parmesan, mayonnaise, minced garlic, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust the seasoning (and consistency) to suit your taste.

4. Butter your baking dish.

5. Pat the salmon dry and put it in your baking dish and top it with the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle some shredded Parmesan cheese.

6. We baked it for 25 minutes and it came out pretty well.  Please take note that the cooking time really depends on the thickness of your fish.

7. Best to Serve it with buttered vegetables and mashed potatoes (I wish I had more time!)

My Notes:

The next time I bake this, I will make more of the white sauce mixture, probably another garlic clove, will bake it a longer time only because we want the top to be a little more golden brown (just a matter of preference).

**********************************************************************************

After posting this entry, I've made this dish soooo many times (it's my go-to recipe whenever we have guests over, haha) so I thought of sharing with you a more updated photo of the dish and that baked golden brown color we love!

Easy Igado

Sunday dinners in our house mean take out or leftovers!  Haha!

  

I don't mind eating leftovers because I hate wasting food (plus I get to clear the fridge!).  There are leftovers that taste better as it gets older like Adobo.  I think we cook Adobo (one of the most loved Filipino dishes) once a week. but sometimes you just had enough and got to think of other dishes to try. 

So the other day, since we have some liver, green peas and bell pepper that have been sitting on the fridge for a few days now, I thought of cooking Igado.  It is an Ilocano dish (the province of Ilocos is located at the Northern part of the Philippines) which is like .  . . Adobo! Hahaha!  It has the same ingredients used in Adobo (garlic, vinegar and soy sauce) but what sets it apart is it has liver in it.  It is the liver which makes it Igado.  Some recipes even add other internal organs of the pig like kidney, heart or intestines.  In our case, we stop at liver! Haha!

I like this recipe from Kawaling Pinoy because it is simple and easy to do.  (Kawaling Pinoy is one of my favorite cooking blogs--- btw, you have to try her Pinoy Cheese Cupcake which I also blogged here).  You get good flavor because you have to marinate the meat first and then just put everything in a pot and wait for it cook.  And that means you can do other household chores or just have some extra time for yourself!  In my case, I caught up with my recorded TV shows, haha!

Have a good week ahead!

Recipe from Kawaling Pinoy

Ingredients:

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2 inch strips

1/2 cup vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 small onion, peeled and sliced thinly

4 to 5 garlic, peeled and sliced thinly

2 bay leaves

8 to 10 pepper corns, cracked

1 tablespoon oil

1 small red bell pepper, cored, seed, and sliced into strips

1 cup water

1 lb liver, cut into 1/2 inch strips

1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed

salt to taste

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, combine pork strips, vinegar, soy sauce, onions, garlic, bay leaves and pepper corns.  Marinate for about 1 hour.  Drain meat from marinade, squeezing excess liquid.  Reserve marinade and aromatics.

2. In a pot over medium heat, heat oil.  Add bell peppers and cook for about 30 seconds.  Remove from pot and set aside.

3. Add the marinated pork including aromatics and cook, stirring occasionally, until pork lightly browns and onions and garlic are limp and aromatic.

4. Add reserved marinade and water and bring to a boil for about 4 to 5 minutes.  Lower heat, cover and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes or until pork is tender and liquid is reduced.  Add liver, stirring gently to combine and continue to cook.

Kitchen Tested: Best Banana Loaf Bread Recipe . . . Ever!

Okay, I just had to put "Ever!" because it is really the best banana loaf recipe I've tried!  Actually, this is just the second (haha!) time I baked a banana loaf.  But I am going to stop trying other recipes because I found the perfect one for me!   

The first recipe I've tried was moist and it had peanut butter and Nutella in it but these flavors overpowered the taste of the bananas. Sometimes, it is better to keep things simple (as much as I like peanut butter and Nutella, haha!).  So I found a simple, easy to do, easy to follow banana loaf recipe at Food.com.

I know I said "keeping things simple" and I did. . . sort of, haha!  In addition to the ingredients listed in the recipe, I just had to add semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped pecans, cinnamon powder (because cinnamon and bananas go well together!) and around 2-3 tablespoons of greek vanilla yogurt (because I read that adding yogurt in your batter makes your cake/cupcake extra moist)!  

This banana loaf got me giddy with excitement!  It was love at first bite. . . .literally, haha!  It was moist, I can smell and taste the bananas and it has the perfect balance of sweetness. 

If you are looking for a better banana loaf recipe like me, this is it!  If you are going to bake for the first time, make this your first!  And if you are thinking of Christmas gifts, this can be it! 

I hope you will like love this banana loaf recipe as much as I did!

Happy Baking!

Below is the original recipe from Food.com.  I have put my personal notes/comments in red:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (softened at room temperature or you can microwave your butter for 15 seconds)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten (I did not beat them together. I beat them one at a time as I mixed them in the batter)
• 4 bananas, finely crushed (I only used 3 overripe bananas - equivalent to 3 cups of mashed bananas)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• My own addition to the list:
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 2-3 tbsp of greek vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet choco chips
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• Directions:

1. Cream together butter and sugar.

2. Add eggs and crushed bananas. (Add the yogurt and cinnamon powder too.)

3. Combine well.

4. Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture.  Add vanilla.  Add the chocolate chips, pecans then mix everything but do not overmix)

5. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.  (Since I was using a non stick loaf pan, I didn't grease and flour it anymore).

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.  (Mine took a little bit longer). 

1. 
   

A Baking Disaster!

Aaaaaaacccckkkk!!!!  I just had a baking disaster!

What happened?

One of my favorite cupcake recipes is the Pinoy Cheese Cupcake by Kawaling Pinoy. (I blogged about it here.)  I have made this recipe several times and the cupcakes always come out great!  So yesterday morning, while mixing the batter, I felt that something just wasn't right, the batter felt heavier.  But I really didn't give it a thought.  So when I tasted them, something definitely went wrong. They were dry and tasted . . . floury.  So I went back and realized that I used the wrong measuring cup when I was doing my prep work!  The recipe calls for 1 3/4 cup.  I thought I was using a 1/4 cup but I was actually using a 1/2 cup!  (Aren't fractions fun?!!!)  So what was supposed to be a 3/4 cup of flour became 1 1/2 cup!  That was a lot of extra flour!

See how dry they are?  

Looking at them makes me sad, haha!

I don't want to throw them because they aren't that bad but I cannot eat them as they are.  So my plan was to just heat them in the microwave and put a scoop of Dulce de Leche or Butter Pecan ice cream over them.  (Yummmm!!!)

But I woke up this morning and thought why not try using them for French Toast?!  I made a mixture good for 2 cupcakes.  

Here you go:

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/4 cup of milk

1 tsp of cinnamon sugar

1 tsp of granulated sugar

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Just beat the egg and then whisk it together with the rest of the ingredients. 

Dip the cupcake slices in the egg mixture (for a few minutes).

Melt some butter (over medium heat) in a non-stick pan and then fry the slices until golden brown.

Serve with pancake syrup, Nutella or your favorite spread. =)

These were so good, my picky eater asked for "more". . . three times.

What can I say?  It was a good day to have some dry cupcakes! =)

So if you find yourself having some baking disaster, do not fear.  You can French toast anything! Haha!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I tried baking chocolate chip cookies once . . . and I failed!  They came out looking underbaked and got hard when they cooled down.  I don't know how we were able to finish that batch (or probably I threw them out?!  Haha!)  I know cookies are one of the easiest treats to bake but I was more successful with my muffins. . . . which were all that I baked since then, haha! 

I wanted to try baking cookies again but just like when your heart gets broken, you're scared of trying the second time because you're afraid that things won't work out (again).  But then a better person come along and gives you that happiness you've been looking for.  (Yes, I'm still talking about the cookies, haha!)

In this case, the better lover came from Sally's blog (www.sallysbakingaddiction.com).  Since I have tried a couple of Sally's recipes, I thought I should try her Chocolate Chip cookie recipe!  And just like finding the right person,  everything felt right! =)

Love is sweeter the second time around . . . 

M&Ms for the Princess and Dark Choco chunks for me!

I was so, so happy with the recipe!  The only thing I will change when I bake the next batch is to use Semi-Sweet Choco Chips (I used milk chocolate).  There was one tip I got from Sally, you get a better flavor for your cookie when you chill the dough longer.

Oh and the good thing about this recipe. . . you don't need a mixer!

If you want to try this recipe, I suggest you head over to Sally's page for the recipe because she has a detailed post about the recipe that is worth reading.

If you like a chewy chocolate chip cookie, this recipe is for you!

Happy Baking!!!

Love at first bite =)

DOUGH-NUT Throw!

We had some day (DAYS actually, haha!) old donuts sitting at the counter which were staring at me. They look lonely. . . dull and lifeless. . .

See what I mean? Haha!

We had some before and I made French Toast out of them.  I could have done the same thing for this batch but I think even a French Toast can't save them, haha!  They weren't hard as a rock (not yet. . . but just about to turn to, haha) but they have become dry.

So I googled for some recipes and found. . . DOUGHNUT BREAD PUDDING!!!! (Ting,ting,ting,ting!)

Why not right?!

I got the recipe from the All Recipes website.  

Here are the ingredients:

4 stale glazed donuts

1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 can of evaporated milk (12 oz)

2 tbsps of white sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Notes: 

1. I didn't put any raisins in it because Hubby HATES them (while I love them!)

2. I didn't put white sugar because it might get too sweet because the donuts had glaze on them . . . but I was wrong, haha!  A couple of tablespoons won't hurt, heehee.  My solution?  Vanilla sauce!  Please see recipe below.

3. Didn't put almond extract and nutmeg because I didn't have any (but still, the pudding came out good, so if you don't have any, don't worry)

4. I used lemon juice instead of orange zest (if you don't have lemon or orange, you can use orange juice)

Btw, here is a useful link for different cooking/baking ingredient substitutions =)

5. I didn't do the water bath (pls. see #3 step in the baking directions).  I just placed my baking dish right in the oven. 

Baking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Lightly grease a small baking dish.

2. Tear the donuts into bite-size pieces. Combine donut pieces and raisins in the prepared baking dish. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to blend together the eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Mix in the cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the milk mixture over the donuts in the dish, and press down lightly to help absorption. Let stand for 15 minutes, or cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Place the baking dish inside a larger baking dish, and fill the outer dish with enough water to go about halfway up the sides. A dishcloth may also be placed under the bread dish, to prevent drying.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

By the way, I always (always!) eat my bread pudding with vanilla sauce.  Since the recipe didn't come with one, I searched and found a good one in the same site.

Vanilla Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 light brown sugar

1 pinch of ground cinnamon

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 pinch of salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

For vanilla sauce, whisk 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, the flour, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 1/4 cups of whole milk,and salt together in a heavy saucepan until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour sauce over warm bread pudding, or serve on the side in a bowl.

And here is your reward. . . . 

A warm bread pudding with a creamy and custard-like vanilla sauce!

So comforting. . . . =)

WIshing everyone a nice weekend ahead!

Say Cheese! (A Pinoy Cheese Cupcake Recipe)

I am excited to share with you this new recipe which I tried yesterday!

I've been baking different cupcakes (banana, blueberry, carrot) but I haven't baked something which has that Filipino flavor.  So for a change, I thought of baking Filipino Cheese Cupcake!  I miss home and I have all the ingredients I need! Haha!  I have a big block (it's big that I still have some left after doing this recipe, haha) of cheddar cheese that was meant for the Mac and Cheese of the kids and a jar of condensed milk.  I think it's the condensed milk that makes this Cheese Cupcake truly Pinoy because we have a sweet tooth (not an expert answer, just an opinion haha!).  

Cheese and Condensed Milk?!  I am getting excited!  It's a good play of flavors right?

I got the recipe from Kawaling Pinoy (which has become one of my favorite sources for recipes). This cupcake recipe is easy to make and easy to follow that you can bake some for breakfast.  It has the right sweetness (for us) and a good balance of flavors from the cheese and condensed milk.  Definitely a keeper!  

Having one of this and coffee (or your favorite hot drink) . . . is pure joy. 

Hope you like it too =)

You get that golden brown crust on top

And a moist and fluffy cake inside with cheese bits!

This recipe is from Kawaling Pinoy.

Ingredients

• 1-3/4 cups flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup quick-melt cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, beat butter, sugar and eggs.
3. Beginning and ending with flour mixture, add flour mixture in thirds and 1/2 of sweetened condensed milk in between. Beat at low speed with every addition.
4. Add quick-melt cheese and stir to combine.
5. Using a scoop or spoon, fill paper-lined muffin cups to 3/4 full. Top with cheddar cheese and bake in a 350 F oven for about 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean and top is golden. Allow to cool.

Easy Dessert Recipe: No-bake Blueberry Cheesecake

Food cravings come and go but my craving for blueberry hasn't stopped! (Not pregnant!)

Last week, I thought of making a No-bake Blueberry Cheesecake.  Actually, I prefer the baked kind. However, the No-Bake one holds a special place in my heart. The first time I ever had one was in high school when D (a very dear friend) made one for our get-together.  It was love at first bite!   (Back then, the only dessert for me would be anything that has chocolate in it, haha!)  I think this was how my romance with blueberries started. =)

So I googled, saw a lot of recipes, compared and finally. . . picked Mom-Friday's take on this no-bake cheesecake recipe.  

What do I like about it?  I like that it was her Mom's recipe.  There's something special about recipes which you learn from your parents. . . . and she used cinnamon for the crust, haha!  I'm glad I did! We love it! The recipe had the taste I was looking for.  While making and eating this cheesecake, a wave of nostalgia swept over me.  It brought me back to high school and to my childhood friends, our Christmas get-togethers with endless stories and laughter.

It is amazing how food fills our appetite and our hearts at the same time. =)

For the complete recipe, please click on this link which will bring you to My Mom Friday's recipe.   She has a detailed instructions and pictures for the recipe.

Happy Weekend and Happy Baking . . . I mean, Happy No-Baking! =)

My Favorite Breaded Chicken Recipe

I have blogged about my favorite banana cupcake recipes in previous posts.  Today, I am going to share with you another recipe which I've tried , tested and loved!  It's a recipe which made me say. . . I should have cooked more!  Haha!  (I only tried it for a few pieces of chicken unfortunately.)

For dinner, we planned on having fried chicken marinated in soy sauce and lemon which we usually have.  So I thought of googling for other Filipino fried chicken recipes and came across Panlasang Pinoy's Garlic Fried Chicken.

When I try a recipe, I follow it and do a little bit of tweaking.  For this recipe, I did some prep work on the chicken.

I thought of marinading the chicken in Buttermilk because it has been said that it helps in tenderizing the chicken meat and it also helps the coating mixture to adhere when you fry it in oil.   

I didn't have buttermilk so I made a substitute.  For every cup of milk, put 1 tbsp of vinegar and let it rest for at least 10 mins.  If the milk is ready, put some garlic powder, salt and pepper in it.  And I marinated it for eight hours.  If you don't have time, I suggest you marinade the chicken for at least an hour or two.

After marinading the chicken meat, I just followed Panlasang Pinoy's Garlic Fried Chicken Recipe (shown below). 

The chicken was so moist and tender (I used the breast part), and garlicky!  We ate it with UFC Banana catsup and this reminded me of the fried chicken I've eaten in some Filipino gatherings.  It was everything I hoped for!  Hubby loved it too that I think we will have Fried Chicken again this week, haha!  

When you fry the chicken, use medium heat to make sure the meat is cooked and you get that golden color for your chicken.

Hope you like it as much as we do!

*This recipe is from Panlasang Pinoy.

Garlic Fried Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 to 1 1/2 lb chicken, sliced into serving pieces
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 piece raw egg
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3 cups cooking oil

Cooking Procedure

1. Combine salt, ground black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, Panko Bread crumbs, and all-purpose flour in a mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside.
2. Combine the egg and milk in another bowl, and whisk. Set aside.
3. Dip the chicken slices in the egg and milk mixture, and then roll in the flour, bred crumbs, salt, pepper, and paprika mixture until all the sides are evenly coated.
4. Heat a deep cooking pot and pour-in the cooking oil.
5. When the oil becomes hot, deep-fry the coated chicken in medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until the color turns golden brown. Note: Do not use high heat as it will cook the outer part of the chicken right away while leaving the inside uncooked.
6. Turn-off the heat, and then remove the garlic fried chicken from the pot. Let the excess oil drip.
7. Transfer to a serving plate and serve with KFC gravy.
8. Share and enjoy!

Number of servings (yield): 3

Another Well-Loved Banana Recipe

I am a Leo and we are known to be fiercely loyal!   

qI've been loyal to my favorite banana cupcake recipe since I tried it for the first time.  (If you haven't read the post, please click here.) Since then, it has been my go-to (one and only) recipe and it has never failed me.  Just when I thought I found the One, here comes another recipe which I absolutely loved too!  You know, besides being loyal, Leos are also big-hearted!   I have so much love to give which means there is room for another recipe in my heart, haha!

Since I loved the Blueberry Muffin recipe of Sally's Baking Addiction (which I blogged about here), I thought of trying another recipe of hers. . . Banana Choco Chip Muffin with Cinnamon Streusel! Sounds yummy right?  Well, they are!  They are also moist (the yogurt does make a difference) and the crumble on top (made of choco chip, walnut and cinnamon sugar) just makes the muffin so good! 

Bananas, Choco chips, Cinnamon and Walnut are just perfect together!

It was another successful baking recipe!  I am actually getting convinced that any recipe which has ripe bananas is good!  Haha!  If you don't eat bananas as a fruit, you may want to try eating banana muffins =).

Hope you like them too!  Happy Baking!

This recipe is from the website of Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

MUFFINS

• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 and 1/2 cup mashed bananas, very ripe (about 3 large ripe bananas)
• 3 Tablespoons yogurt (I used vanilla greek yogurt)

STREUSEL

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (or dark brown sugar)
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line muffin tin with baking cups or spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Make the streusel first by combining all ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

For the muffins: In a medium bowl, gently toss together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Using an electric stand or hand mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and egg in a large bowl until fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed. On low speed, beat in the mashed bananas and yogurt. By hand, stir in the dry ingredients mixing until everything is *just* combined. Do not overmix.

Layer one scant Tablespoon of batter into the muffin cup. Sprinkle with streusel. Layer another spoonful on top and layer with more streusel. Continue to layer batter and streusel into each muffin tin.

Bake muffins for 5 minutes at 425F degrees. Lower temperature dial down to 350F degrees and continue to bake for about 14 more minutes until the muffins are set and lightly browned. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tins and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Muffins freeze well, up to 3 months.

Corned Beef "Muffin"

I actually don't know what to call this breakfast dish I made, haha!  So I called it Corned Beef Muffin because I baked the corned beef with egg in a muffin pan, haha!

We have some corned beef that has been in the fridge for 5 days! If I was a corned beef lover, this won't be a problem at all, haha!  I eat corned beef but it is not something I would look or crave for. . . unless it's Delimondo's (one thing I really miss from home!).  I blogged about it here.   

So I've given this 5-day old corned beef a "makeover" and was inspired by an article I saw about cooking bacon and eggs which were cooked/baked in a muffin pan.

I just sauteed the corned beef again with white onion and green bell peppers (leftover) to add more flavor.  (Whenever I make breakfast, I try to look for leftovers and see if I can make something out of them.)

In a separate bowl, I mixed the eggs, salt, pepper and a little bit of milk (for fluffy eggs).

I sprayed the muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray and then put a spoonful of corned beef in each muffin cup.  Then, I poured the egg mixture and baked them for 15 mins (pre-heated the oven at 350C).  At the tail end of it, I added shredded sharp cheddar cheese for added goodness!

Hubby loved them that he ate 4 in one sitting!  I will definitely be making these again (not only with corned beef)!

How it looks like at the bottom

But I have taken note to shorten the baking time and to put a spoonful of egg mixture before putting the corned beef to keep this from happening (in spite of using a non-stick spray!).  

It took me a couple of days to clean it, haha!

Happy Tummy!