Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Polly's Quick Banana Muffins

While I am on the roll with the banana, why not make another one.    It's time to go pick up my grand-children for fun vacation time together.     I made this quickly in the morning so I can drive down with them.      The recipe is very similar to the other banana bread recipe I posted.

6 Muffin cups and one Muffin Top baking pan
Ingredients:
1 stick butter - soft
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C  light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla paste
1 egg
1 C AP flour
heaping 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 firm banana  - may be with 5 dots on the peel, but no more than that.
Ceylon Cinnamon and sugar mixture - e.g. 1 tsp cinnamon to 1/3 C sugar

Procedures:
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale.    Add vanilla paste and egg.    Beat well.
Shift flour and baking powder and salt 4 times.     Add to the butter mixture.
Separate  banana into chunks with fingers, then, add to the butter mixture and mix well.
Scoop the batter equally into muffin cups and Muffin tops pan.    Sprinkle the tops of a few muffins with sugar cinnamon.     For the grand children - without sugar cinnamon.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400'F or until the tester come out moist, but not wet.

(Pictures to follow a bit later.)

Polly's Chocolate Chip Cookies

After so many trying of chocolate chip cookies, it's time to decide on my own.
I think this recipe (my recipe) turned out the best for the type of cookie crispness and crumbs that I like the best.

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/4 lb) soft butter
2/3 C sugar
1/2 C light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 egg
1-1/2 C Flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C+ Guittard Real Milk Chocolate Chips

Procedures:
Preheat oven to 350'F
On 2 baking sheets , place Silpats.
Shift Flour, baking powder and salt 4 times and set aside.
Beat butter till fluffy and pale with sugars. Add vanilla paste. Add egg and beat well.
Add flour mixture and Chips. If you like more chips than 1/2 Cup, please don't be shy and add some more. Mix well just enough so there is no signs of unmixed flour showing in the batter (as it usually is the case when chocolate chip and flour are mixed in together instead of mixing the flour first, then, mix in the chips. But the idea here is mix less to avoid gluten development.)
(Squash down with the palm of your hand)



Use any size cookie scoop of your desire choice - 1 TB or 2 TB size and place on Silpat to bake.     Bake for 8 min >> when you see 1 to 2 mm of sign of brown edge, the cookie is done.       *Depending on individual oven power. I noticed on the regular Silpat, it bakes in 8 min.     In Martha Stewart's baking pad, it took 10 min to brown. I am not sure why the difference, except the Silpat is brownish tan colored pad and the Martha Stewart's baking pad is light parsley green.
Do not bake to wait for the top of the cookies to brown << that's over baked - for this particular recipe I created.
Remove from the oven and cool 2 - 3 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack.  
*The idea is to let the butter and sugar to solidify so the cookies would hold its form or your cookies would crack/crumble.



   Two different Silicone baking mats, two different results.
Tip:   Take out of the oven as soon as you see 2 mm of brownings at the edge <<< but this depends all on your oven size, manufacturer, and heating BTU.    (My oven is extra large GE gas oven.)

FINALLY RESOLVED! Having Problem with AT&T Uverse Connection to Internet

 4-21-2012   Finally received a new modem from U-Verse.     I am glad to have insisted on getting a new replacement shipped.      I know I did not have any problem before this new service and with other modem and that it is this defective modem that is causing online connection outages for the last two months.       So far, the connection is steady and continuous.    So don't get talked into a inside home tech support if the previous box before installing the new service worked.   They may have shipped you a defective box.      I know this has nothing to do with the food, but because of this I have not been able to get online, etc.

===================================
I want to apologize for not responding to some of you via e-mail or through this food blog site's reply.     Ever since I changed to AT&T Uverse Internet Service back in early March.  I have had bad luck of being cut off or have connection for only 10 min in a day or way past midnight or when no-one in the neighbors are using their internet.   I am pretty upset about their service.     It's a some kind of joke that I am finally able to log on today at home because I am on vacation with my grand children.     But I am already seeing the degradation on the connection just because I am online. 
I will try to resolve this issue and post back on response as soon as I can consistently.
Thank you all for the kind notes and dropping by.
Polly

Sunday, April 08, 2012

One Pan Banana and Zucchini Bread

When I am energetic in the morning, I love to wake up and head right down to my kitchen and start making my lunch or breakfast.   This morning, I decided to make banana bread.     Start right at 5:15 am and finished at 6:30 am.     Here is a regular quick bread recipe that usually yield one loaf, but I made it into a banana bread and a zucchini bread.      Just when you are ready to pan the mixture in.     Separate half of the batter into a separate bowl and mix each bowl with shredded zucchini and the other with finger mushed banana (chunky)     Zucchini is peeled, but leave some green peel here and there and be sure to squeeze the liquid out (to remove bitterness and too much moisture).       Bake them in a square pan lined with parchment paper.    I sliced them up and took some to work to share with the co-workers.     But, soooorry.    They tasted so good, I almost ate them all by myself at my desk.    


Ingredients:
1-3/4 C AP Flour
1-1/2 heaping tsp  Baking Powder
1 Stick Butter, Soft - room temp
2/3 C Sugar
3/4 tsp salt

2  Eggs
1/2 C Sugar
1 C Zucchini - shredded & liquid squeezed out
1-1/2 Banana - in good shape - no over riped - separated into chunks with fingers
1 tsp Ceylon grounded Cinnamon
1/8 tsp grounded cloves
1 tsp Orange zest

Procedures:         Preheat oven to 375'F
Shift flour, salt, Ceylon cinnamon, cloves, and baking powder together.     Set aside.
Beat 1 stick soft butter till fluffy and pale with 2/3 C sugar.     Set aside.
Beat 2 eggs till pale with 1/2 C sugar.
Add egg mixture into butter and add orange zest.   Mix.
Add flour mixture and mix gently and thoroughly.    Separate into equal 2 portions.
Mix one portion  with banana.    Mix the other portion with squeezed zucchini.
Line 8x8 brownie pan with parchment paper.      Option:  Muffin cups or 2 loaf pans
Add both mixture side-by-side into the pan and bake till tester come out clean.

Tip:  Control one bowl mixing technique, my method of beating butter and eggs, separately, till fluffy and pale, then, mixing them together always result in a fine crumb cake for any of my basic cake baking.

Enjoy!     

Hello! Mom

Here is my mom with her spring garden.