Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Chocolate peanut butter banana bread




My beloved Macbook has been acting up like a toddler. Start up disk problem. My gosh, it was so frustrating. I moved pretty much everything on my google drive and back up hard drive but same message keeps popping up. I temporarily fixed it somehow but I don't know when I'll see the message again and it will stop me from uploading pictures. Gotta see an expert. Well..that is why I haven't been able to post for the last couple of weeks. 

My mornings has been going so fast lately as my tot has two weeks break from his camp and we haven't been on a strict routine. Which means, our usual consumption of banana with yogurt for breakfast has slowed down. While I'm being lazy in bed with my mini, tot would go downstairs and get some cereal for breakfast. I felt like a terrible mother for not giving him proper breakfast but gosh, these two weeks of growth spurt period of my mini was pretty rough. She would eat every 2hours or so all over again and by the time my tot wants his breakfast, I'd be like a zombie. So that left us with some overripe bananas. 


As always, my solution to overripe bananas was banana bread. But I didn't want the same old banana bread, plus I craved something chocolatey. This chocolatey, peanut buttery goodness is so moist and yummy. Steve is not a huge fan of banana bread and even he loved it. 


I warmed up some peanut butter in the microwave and drizzled when I served it. Oh my...it's heavenly. And the fact that it's healthier and I used up the bananas before they go bad made me feel good. Usually a loaf of banana bread lasts for many days in this house as it's just me and my tot who eat it. But this loaf disappeared very quickly. So yummy. 

When you want chocolatey treat but feeling a little too guilty, this is perfect. A slice or two of this with a glass of cold almond milk. YUM! Trust me, this totally converted a non banana bread fan to the banana bread side! =)

Chocolate peanut butter banana bread


Ingredients :

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup peanut butter, slightly melted in the microwave
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed bananas(about 2 bananas)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut butter to drizzle(optional)

Directions :

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, add peanut butter, sugar, mashed bananas, oil and eggs. Stir well to mix.

3. Add rest of the ingredients, adding flour the last.

4. Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

5. Cool the loaf. Melt the peanut butter and drizzle before serving. 

*Recipe adapted from Broma bakery.

 

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Savory French toast


If you know me or have read my previous posts, you'd know my love for French toast. And I love sweet and savory together. This savory French toast is the perfect combination for that sweet and savory cravings. Custard itself doesn't contain anything sweet, so if you like savory toast alone, you don't have to add maple syrup to it. It's probably nice with some smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce too. Soft and eggy brioche bread with cheesy custard. Yum!


Thanks to my mini going back to sleep in the morning, I got to catch up my lost sleep due to night feedings. Meanwhile my tot nagged Steve, daddy I'm hungry! Breakfast please!! That's my boy. He chose daddy to go downstairs with him. By the time I went downstairs, they were done with their breakfast and playing with playdoh, Steve looking like a zombie. I, on the other hand, luxuriously slept a few more hours in the morning and made myself some delicious savory French toast. I felt so bad. But then Steve has been away on a business trip which means he got to enjoy undisturbed good night's sleep for days while I'm on night shift all by myself! 

Anyway, it was especially delicious after a sweet nap. If you're a French toast lover, this is definitely something you'd want to try some time. Something different yet familiar. =)


Savory French toast


Ingredients :

4 slices day old bread(I used Brioche)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
6 Tbsp grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
butter for greasing the pan

Directions :

1. Whisk together eggs, milk and Parmesan. Add parsley, salt and pepper. 

2. Coat the bread with the egg mixture and cook on a heated and greased griddle. 

3. Serve with maple syrup(if you like sweet and savory together).