Pumpkin Banana Bread

Fall means lots of pumpkin treats!  I love baking with pumpkin, so I picked up 2 cans during my last grocery trip with plans to do something with them this weekend.  I had 3 overly ripe bananas I needed to use up, so I decided to try a twist on regular ole banana bread and make some pumpkin banana bread.  This was so delicious!

Pumpkin Banana Bread
A Hudocks to Haddocks Original Recipe
  
Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup of butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 8 oz canned pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 4x8 loaf pan with butter and flour.
2. In a large bowl, beat bananas and butter until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in pumpkin and then sugar.
4. In a coffee mug, beat egg with vanilla and cinnamon.  Add to mix and beat well, for about one minute.
5. Whisk together baking powder and flour, and slowly add into mix, beating with a mixer on medium speed.  Beat until all flour is dissolved.
6. Hand mix in walnuts.
7. Bake for 1 hour, or until tester comes clean.

Ham & Cheese Skillet

Sundays for us usually meant breakfast at a local restaurant, but as of late, we've been having breakfast at home. One of my husband's favorite breakfast meals is a skillet with hash browns, cheese, veggies, some kind of meat and eggs on the top.  So I decided I could make my own.  He has an appetite for 2 and I did have leftovers.

Ham & Cheese Skillet
A Hudocks to Haddocks Original Recipe
Yields: 5 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 large potato (or 2-3 small potatoes), peeled and diced
• 1/8 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 small onion, diced
• 1 large green pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 lb ham of the bone
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• Seasoned salt
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat oil and add in potatoes, onion and green pepper.  Cover and allow to cook over medium heat until potatoes become soft and brown (around 10 minutes)
2. In another skillet, spray with non-stick spray and sear ham for about 4 minutes on each side.  Remove from heat and cut into bite-sized pieces
3. In another skillet, prepare eggs (we like ours over easy or sunshine side)
4. Add ham and cheese to potato mix, mix well.
5. Place eggs over potato mix and serve immediately.

Fiery Chili

I love fall cooking.  Just when the temperature drops enough to enjoy a nice hot bowl of chili.  I've completely switched over to ground turkey so this was my first ground turkey batch and it was excellent.  I highly recommend adding the WoodChuck Amber Apple Cider, I feel like it brought out a lot of the flavors.

Fiery Chili
A Hudocks to Haddocks Original Recipe
-         2 lbs ground turkey

-         1 (28 oz) can of Brook's hot chili beans in chili sauce

-         1 packet of hot chili mix

-         1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes with jalapeños

-         1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings

-         6-10 stalks of celery, diced

-         2-4 large green peppers, chopped

-         1-2 small onion, diced

-         1-3 tsp chili powder

-         2-3 tsp crushed red pepper

-         1-2 tsp cumin

-         2-3 tsp ground black pepper

-         1 bottle of your favorite beer

1.  Sauté onions in a hot oiled pan, add in ground turkey and cook until browned.

2.  Add all your ingredients to your crock pot and mix well.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours, until all vegetables are soft.

Notes:

-         I like to season it slowly.  I add in maybe 1 tsp of each seasoning, let it cook for a good 2 hours, taste and then season more to taste.

-         I used Woodchuck Apple Cider Amber for my beer and it gave it an amazing flavor

-         To make chili mac, add ¼ cup of shells or egg noodles to bottom of bowl before adding chili.

-         Makes 8-10 servings

-         Optional garnish: shredded cheese, sour cream, chives.

Banana Bread Cookies

 

Banana Bread Cookies

Adapted from: With a Cherry on Top

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups Flour
• 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp. Salt
• 2 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 6 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Oats
• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 3 Bananas, chopped

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar until it resembles a crumbly texture (about 1 minute).  Add in the egg and vanilla and continue beating until mixture becomes smooth and creamy (about 1 minute).  Add in half of the flour mixture and blend in at a low speed.  Add in the remaining flour mixture and continue blending in on low.  Stir in the oatmeal and chocolate chips; mix until evenly distributed throughout the mixture.  Carefully mix in the banana pieces. (I just very ripe bananas and ended up smushing them a bit into the mix)
3. Using a tablespoon, drop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake until the edges are lightly browned (about 15 minutes).  Carefully remove from the oven and let cool on pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. 

Peanut Butter Cup Layer Cake

Peanut Butter Cup Layer Cake
Adapted from My Tiny Little Kitchen Creations

Cake:

• 1 box triple chocolate fudge Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/3 cup of water

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease bottom and sides of 2 8” round pans.
2. Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
3. Pour evenly into both pans, bake for 35-37 minutes until tester comes out clear
4. Allow to cool before icing

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

•  8 oz cream cheese, softened
•  ¾ cup of peanut butter
•  2-3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted (I didn’t measure)
• 1-2 tsp of vanilla (I didn’t measure)
• 1-2 tsp of almond milk (I didn’t measure)

1. Beat cream cheese and peanut butter until creamy.
2. Slowly beat in powdered sugar, scraping sides, until well blended
3. Add in vanilla, beat well
4. Add in almond milk, beat well

Assembling the cake 

• ¾ bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, halved and chopped

1. Remove one cake from pan, cut off top to make flat.  Flip upside down and put onto cake platter.  Frost, leaving ¼ - ½ inch space around the edges.
2. Place 2^nd cake (right side up) on top.  Frost – start by putting large amount of frosting on middle and work your way to get it even across.  Frost edges.
3. Using around 12-15 halved cups, place around border of cake.
4. Chop remaining cups and place on top.
5. Enjoy!