Banana Muffins with a Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Crumb Topping

This past Tuesday, the special education team at the elementary school I work at celebrated a couple team birthdays with a delicious breakfast. My contribution to the breakfast was these banana muffins. At first I had planned on making quiche, but then I realized that I would not have enough time to make it on Monday night. I started a class in Towson on Monday nights - 52 miles away from my house - and I got home past 8. I was not happy that I went all the way to class and we spent the first 1.5 hours of class (out of 1.75 hours) on introductions! Anyways, I decided on trying a new recipe that looked quick and easy. I just made them the morning of the breakfast, so they were still warm when they were served. They were quite yummy, and I have made 2 batches since then! Greg and I love the muffins. The best part of the muffin is - you guessed it - the crumb topping. Mmm! If you want a quick, easy, and delicious muffin recipe, try out these banana muffins. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Recipe for Banana Muffins with a Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Crumb Topping

Makes 10 - 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS:
For the muffins
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
5 1/2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
3 medium bananas, ripe to very ripe
For the crumb topping
4 Tbsp. of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of each cup in a 12-cup muffin tin.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put the sugar into a large bowl. Use your hands to squeeze/mash the bananas into the bowl with the sugar. Add in the egg and melted butter. With an electric hand mixer set on medium-low speed, combine the banana and sugar mixture until very smooth (about 1 - 2 minutes). Pour in the flour mixture into the banana mixture and mix until dry ingredients are well incorporated. Use a spoon or cookie dough scoop to fill each muffin tin with the banana muffin batter.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add in the butter and use your hands to incorporate butter into the mixture, until the mixture becomes crumb-like. Sprinkle a generous amount of the crumb mixture over the tops of the batter in the muffin tin. Place in the oven and cook for 11 minutes, then rotate the muffin pan and cook for another 11 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan. Then use a knife to pop each muffin out. Store muffins in an airtight container.

Recipe Adapted from: All Recipes

Love banana? Try these healthy & gluten-free banana oatmeal cookies! 

The Best Zucchini Bread!

Ok, I have to be honest. I have not tried out tons of zucchini bread recipes and I can't honestly say that this recipe is the best ever. I tried this recipe a few years ago and I absolutely love it, so that is how it earned the title of "the best zucchini bread!" It is loved by all! In the beginning of the summer, I made 8 loaves of zucchini bread with all the zucchini from our garden. Then I decided that I better get more creative with the zucchini, and that is when I went on to make recipes such as the zucchini and mushroom quesadillas, summer pasta dish, baked zucchini cakes, and zucchini brownies. We had one lone zucchini grow in the past week - the first one that had grown in a while, and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with the last zucchini of the season. Well, since there was just one, and since it wasn't too big, I decided on some delicious zucchini bread. I made it on Labor Day while my parents and Greg worked hard on our upstairs renovations (don't ask why they were working on Labor Day, because I really don't know). The recipe makes 2 loaves. We ate most of one loaf on Monday, and the other loaf has been enjoyed by me and Greg throughout this week. It makes a great breakfast, snack, and dessert! Enjoy.

Recipe for the Best Zucchini Bread
INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups of grated zucchini (about 1 medium to large zucchini)
1 cup of vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups of granulated sugar

3 eggs
1 Tbsp. of pure vanilla extract
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of baking soda
3/4 tsp. of salt
1 Tbsp. of ground cinnamon
1 cup of raisins
2/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour two bread pans (8 x 4 inches).

Use a box grater to grate zucchini (I used the largest grate setting on the box grater). Measure out 2 1/4 cups of grated zucchini and set aside.

Put the vegetable oil and sugar into a large bowl. Use a mixing spoon to mix well. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and stir until well combined.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Pour into the sugar mixture and mix until ingredients are well combined. Add in the grated zucchini and mix. Fold in the raisins and chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the bread pans. Place in the oven and bake for about 45 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove bread from oven, put pans on a cooling rack, and let cool completely. Then remove the bread from the pans carefully and cut into desired sized pieces.

Store bread in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe Adapted from All Recipes

Peach Ice Cream (made with coconut milk & just a little dairy)!

It becomes more like a sweet peach frozen treat after several hours in the freezer! Eat it soon after making if you
prefer a smoother and creamier ice cream. It's wonderful either way! 

Well it is almost the end of August and summer is coming to a close. I had off for a couple months during the summer because I work for the school system, and I have been back to work for two weeks - although it seems like 2 months! The summer went by in a flash and I'm sure happy I only have a 3-day work week next week. One thing I always get sad about around this time of year (besides going back to work) is saying goodbye to delicious summer produce. Luckily our garden has still been producing tomatoes, but we have only picked one zucchini in the past weeks. Pretty soon we will stop being able to find as many tasty cherries, berries, peaches, figs, melons, and other summer favorites at the grocery stores and our local farmers markets will close for the season. I wish that I would have made more seasonal dishes this summer. I enjoyed eating the fresh produce but I definitely was not as creative and adventurous as I had planned to be in the kitchen this summer. The other night I decided to try out a peach ice cream recipe because I was craving ice cream & because a couple of my peaches were on the verge of going bad. I didn't have any whole milk or cream on hand, so I went with a coconut milk base. I made a banana coconut ice cream with coconut milk earlier this summer & loved it - so I gave it a try with the peaches.  I thought the ice cream was super yummy and it was the perfect treat to reward myself to at the end of a full work week. It is not too rich or sinful, because it is make with coconut milk and just a small amount of sugar. When it first comes out of the ice cream maker, it is smooth and creamy. However, it gets pretty solid after it is in the freezer for a while and it becomes more like a sweet peach frozen treat. I love it either way. Greg said he likes it better when it is smoother and creamier - so if you are like Greg, make sure to eat it before it gets too frozen! Enjoy.

Recipe for Peach Ice Cream with Coconut Milk

INGREDIENTS:
1 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of half and half
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
 2 - 3 ripe to very ripe peaches
1/2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract
A pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:
Put the coconut milk, half and half, sugar, 2 peaches, vanilla extract, and salt into a blender. Process until smooth. Taste, and add another peach to the mix if you want your ice cream to be peachier tasting. Pour the mixture into a bowl and cover with a lid. Place in the fridge for about an hour to chill.
Pour chilled mixture into the bowl of an automatic ice cream maker and then make according to manufacturer directions. It should be ready within 20 - 25 minutes. Serve immediately, or scoop into an airtight container and store in the freezer. This ice cream gets pretty solid if it is in the freezer for over a few hours, so if you like a smoother ice cream, serve soon after making.

Looking for other recipes that use peaches? I also love Peach Kuchen& Healthy Peach Smoothies.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Mmm, baked chicken taquitos! This is one of my go-to meals when I'm not sure what to make for dinner. I have been making them for a couple years and they never disappoint. Baking taquitos is so much better than frying them - it is much healthier and there is barely any mess to clean up! These taquitos are filled with a slightly spicy and creamy chicken mixture. They are absolutely amazing. I usually serve them with some chips, salsa, sour cream, and avocado (or guacamole) on the side. If you don't have time to make the homemade salsa, just use a good jarred salsa in its place. This meal is fairly quick and easy - and absolutely delicious! Enjoy.

Recipe for Baked Chicken Taquitos

INGREDIENTS:
3.5 ounces of cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3 Tbsp. of super salsa (or your favorite jarred salsa)
1/2 Tbsp. of freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tsp. of chili powder
1/2 tsp. of cumin powder
A pinch of cayenne pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/4 cups of grated cheese (I usually use a blend of pepper jack & cheddar)
2 cups of cooked chicken, shredded
10 flour tortillas (6-inch)
Cooking spray or olive oil
Coarse sea salt
Avocado, salsa, sour cream (for serving)

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, super salsa, lime juice, chili powder, cumin powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, cheese, and chicken. Mix until ingredients are well incorporated.

Line a baking sheet with foil and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Heat the tortillas in a microwave for several seconds to allow them to soften so they are easy to work with. Spread 3 Tbsp. of the mixture down the middle of one tortilla, then roll the tortilla tightly. Continue filling tortillas until you have used all of the mixture. Place each one on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly oil or spray the tops of the taquitos with oil or cooking spray. Then sprinkle the tops of each one with just a tiny amount of coarse sea salt. Place in the oven and cook for 15 - 20 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Recipe Source: Annie's Eats

Looking for a vegetarian taquito recipe? These baked creamy vegetarian taquitos are totally amazing!