Banana | Adventures in Thyme

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

July 11, 2015 by Dan Leave a Comment

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

We’re baaack! Unfortunately a nasty viral bug laid us both out for awhile. We’re getting better and needed a treat to celebrate our survival. So, this is our version of oatmeal banana cookies, they’re easy on the tummy, and delicious on the tongue.

1 cup unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cups Dark Brown Sugar
1 1/2 to 2 cups mashed Banana (2 to 4 bananas depending on size)
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 cups old fashioned Oatmeal
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon All Spice
1/2 teaspoon ground Clove
1 cup chopped Pecans
1 11oz package Butterscotch Chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter and brown sugar, cream together until light and fluffy. Add the mashed bananas, egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Scrape down the edges of the bowl periodically.

In another bowl, combine the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, all spice and clove. Stir until well combined.

Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients a bit at a time and mix on a low speed or stir with a spoon to combine. Do not over mix.

Add the pecans and butterscotch ships and fold into the cookie dough. The dough will be very soft.

Scoop balls of dough out onto a cookie sheet. (My scoop holds about 1 tablespoon.) Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes between 7 and 8 dozen 2 inch cookies.

Banana Bread with White Chocolate

June 25, 2015 by Ginger Leave a Comment

White Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Dad’s Day has come and gone, and I usually bake a loaf of yumminess to send home with the Dad-in-Law at the end of the evening. This year, I had the remains of a bag of white chocolate chips (from last week’s blondies recipe) so I decided to add them to a favorite banana bread recipe.

Did you know bananas are some of the most thrown out food in our households? Sure they get brown and squishy – but that’s just sugary goodness for baked banana bread. So before you throw out those little darlings – try this recipe (even if you don’t have the chips to add to it) and give it to someone you love and make their day a special one!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two loaf pans by buttering the inside evenly.

1 cup softened Butter
2 cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
4 beaten Eggs
2 cups mashed Bananas (the browner sweeter ones)
Sift together:
4 cups Flour
2 tablespoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup White Chocolate Chips

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar well. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix again, then add bananas. Now mix in half the sifted ingredients, when it starts to incorporate evenly, add the remaining dry ingredients. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chips. Pour half the mixture into each pan and bake about 45 mins. Check with a toothpick, if it comes out cleanly, you’re done, otherwise, cook in increments of 5 or 8 mins until it passes the toothpick test.

Let cool 20 or 30 minutes, loosen the edges in the pan and turn out onto cooling racks. Let cool and enjoy. For a little extra fun, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Trifle

July 30, 2014 by Ginger 1 Comment

Banana, strawberry, blueberry trifle

During my years in England I ate Trifle like there was no tomorrow, because eventually “tomorrow” was going to come along and I’d be returning to America. I loved the silky custard and the cake, soft and juicy from the fruit. It was whole milk there, with lots of cream and no care of calories. Well, 30 years later, it’s time to worry about those things, as well as dairy intolerances. So my little Trifle described below should really be used more like a roadmap than a recipe. Use the type of custard that you like, or instant vanilla pudding, perhaps heavy whipped cream instead of imitation cream topping. The fruit also should be what appeals to you, and with so much available in the market right now, it’s perfect season to sit a’spell and indulge in a little Trifle.

Basically, a Trifle needs a variety of fresh fruit, whipped cream, cake, custard and alcohol (which is optional, Sherry is “traditional”). Our Trifle above uses Bird’s Custard (a powdered product from England, you can find it at most Raley’s or World Markets). Because dairy free is important at my house, we used Almond milk to make the custard and a dairy free topping. Jellies can also be used in lieu of, or in addition to fruit, but we used 5 bananas, 3 cups of sliced strawberries, 3 cups of fresh blueberries. We used pound cake, but you could also use angel food cake, or yellow cake, etc.

The custard needs to be cooled prior to making this dish, but once you’ve got all your ingredients prepped (fruit sliced, cake cubed or thinly sliced for layering) you’re ready to go.

In our photo we layered as follows: cake-fruit-custard, cake-fruit-custard, whipped topping; but you can layer as your tastebuds direct. Maybe you want to soak your cake in Sherry before you layer, maybe you’d prefer a layer of whipped cream in the middle of the layers – do what sounds good. Enjoy!