banana oat muffins

I love bananas and I love oatmeal. Add the two together and you get some fantastic banana oatmeal muffins. Oats are packed with fiber and slow-release, sustaining energy that's great for providing energy throughout the day. Oats also help control blood sugar levels, lower LDL, reduce chances of cardiovascular diseases and are packed with essential vitamins and minerals.

This recipe for Banana Oat Muffins is low in fat and sugar which is perfect for all those New Year's resolutioners out there!

Banana Oat Muffins
From Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite, Serves 8

Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cup oats
- 1 1/2 cups AP Flour (you can substitute w/ whole wheat but it comes out denser)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 4 ripe bananas (very brown and dark on the outside)
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoon neutral oil (or light olive oil, NOT extra virgin)
- 1/4 cup walnuts

**PREHEAT OVEN TO 350°F**

1) In a bowl, mix together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Give it a quick whisk to make sure everything is well incorporated.
2) In a separate bowl, mash the 4 bananas together, add the egg, brown sugar and the oil. Mix until it comes together.
3) In batches (I do 3), add the dry mixture to the wet works making sure not to overmix.
4) When the mixture is about 3/4 ways done mixing together, add the walnuts and fold over until the batter becomes smooth and lovely.

You can make variations to the recipe by substituting pecans for the walnuts or adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Get creative with it but make sure the ingredients go well together. Next up, a step by step cookalong on how to make homemade bread. (with pictures!)
5) Pour into lined muffin cups and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

baked alaska

It would've been more proper to call this Baked Georgia this week because it was absolutely freezing for this last week. Regardless of what state this is named after, this has to be one of the easiest, most delicious and crowd pleasing desserts. It looks quite sophisticated but really, it's actually quite simple and it can be made hours/days in advance. A perfect way to end a dinner for two or party. This also gives you an excuse to go out and buy a blow torch for the kitchen. I mean...what kitchen would be complete without a blow torch right? :-)

You can really use any type of ice cream, the only type I happened to have around was caramel Häagen-Daz. You can briefly soak the sponge or syrup cake in a little bit of Grand Marnier or Bailey's but because I had neither and I can't buy either (legally), I made this one non-alcoholic. I'll stop talking now and give you the recipe for this Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska
Originally by Me

Ingredients: (servings will vary depending on ramekin used)
- egg whites from 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of water (100 mL)
- generous 3/4 cup of sugar (180g)
- drop of lemon juice
- sponge/syrup cake
- any type of ice cream

1) Separate the egg whites from the yolk (make crème brûlée with the yolks if you're on a sugar crave) and beat it with an electric mixer (hopefully) or by hand until at a soft peak stage. Add a drop of lemon juice into the mixture to keep the egg whites vibrant and white. Make sure NONE of the yolk gets in there and that the bowl is grease free or you will not get the egg whites to peak.

2) Meanwhile, add the water and sugar in a sauce pan (or any type of pan) and dissolve all the sugar. You'll know when you have the caramel syrup done by looking at the bubbles. Once you start to develop big, large, slowly bursting bubbles on the edges of the pan, it's ready to rock.
3) Slowly, drip the caramel syrup into the egg whites mixing as you go. This will cook the egg whites and add volume giving you a nice Italian meringue.

4) Once the meringue looks awesome like the picture up top, get out your sponge/syrup cake and cut it out with cookie cutters. I cut the bottom a little bit thicker compared to the top.
5) Here's a little trick with the ice cream. You can either make a mess by thawing the ice cream, putting it in another container, let it freeze again and cut it again with the cookie cutter. Or...work smart and wash less dishes.
Get a ramekin, I don't care what size. Line the inside of the ramekin with plastic wrap and scoop in slightly softened ice cream until it fills the ramekin. Cover the top of the ice cream with the hanging plastic and freeze. Once you're ready to use the ice cream, just rotate the ramekin w/ the palm of your hands and after a few rotations, it should pop out.
6) I hope you've had your coffee because haste is key. On your serving plate, place the bottom sponge/syrup cake in the center and place the ice cream on top of it. Top off the ice cream with the other sponge/syrup cake and start to go around the tower with the meringue.
7) Once completely covered with the meringue, go through it with a fork and make it look rough and rigid. Do it, it'll look cool, trust me.

**If preparing for in advance, stop right here and place the unbaked alaska UNCOVERED in the freezer until ready to serve**

8) Get your blow torch and go over the meringue until it's nicely browned. Serve immediately.

You can get fancy with the flambés at this point but there's no need to stress and set off fire alarms...or burn eyebrows. Going through the meringue with that fork gave the dessert a nice rugged look on the outside making it look like a mountain. It's for show but it looks cool so do it anyways!

orange honey cupcakes

There's nothing more delicious in the winter time than eating a good Florida orange. After all, winter is the time of the season when oranges are at their peak! Orange Honey Cupcakes.

The cupcakes themselves have a slight tang from the orange zest, lovely sweetness from the honey and a crunch from the walnuts that gives it a really nice texture. You top that off by making a orange syrup to soak into the cakes before they're completely cooled. It is absolutely delicious.

Orange Honey Cupcakes
Adapted from Cupcakes, Muffins & Baked Goods, Serves 9

Ingredients (Cupcakes):
- 1/2 cup self-rising flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- shake of nutmeg
- shake of cloves
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup walnuts, crushed/beaten up/into little pieces

1) Mix the self-rising flour, spices in a bowl and whisk well to remove any clumps and to incorporate the mixture. Preheat your oven to 375°F.
2) In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. How do you know if it's creamed or not? The butter will change to a "creamy" color vs. yellow. If your butter isn't yellow, throw it away right now.
3) Add in the orange zest to the creamed mixture and give it a nice stir to make sure the orange flavor is incorporated well into all of the butter.
4) Add in honey and gradually add in the eggs.

Trick to measuring honey: hate how honey sticks to the measuring spoon? Before measuring honey, coat the spoon with oil and when you measure the honey, the oil will prevent the honey from sticking onto the spoon. Just make sure you don't dip the spoon you measured honey into the oil or you'll contaminate it.

5) Add in the dry ingredients and fold over until just incorporated. Over mixing will guarantee a tough cupcake and we don't want that now do we? When the mixture almost comes together, add in the walnuts and fold over until no lumps are visible.
6) Scoop/spoon your mixture into cupcake pans lined w/ paper and bake for 12 - 20 minutes or until nice and golden brown on the outside. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Ingredients (syrup):
- 2 tablespoon honey
- juice from 1 orange

7) While the cakes are cooling, add the honey and orange juice in a small sauce pan and heat over low heat until just combined.
8) When the cakes have almost cooled, poke holes all around the cakes and just spoon the syrup over the cakes. To give it a little more flare, you can top each cupcake with some walnuts.

cinnamon roll

Cinnamon Roll. It's the most perfect way to wake up smelling gooey cinnamon and fresh dough baking in the oven. This is my first original recipe as far as breads go and I have to say, it turned out pretty well.

It takes about 4 hours to make and it can be frozen or put in the fridge until the next morning to bake. Very simple and trust me, it is worth the trouble.

Cinnamon Roll
Original, Serves 10

Ingredients (Dough):
- 7 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tea Salt
- 6 tbsp, softened Butter
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tea of Orange extract or vanilla extract
- 16 oz. Bread flour
- 2 tea active dry yeast
- 1 to 1 & 1/4 cup milk, lukewarm (fat free/low fat is permissible)

1) Cream the sugar, and butter until light and fluffy. If the yeast needs to be activated, activate it in the warm milk.
2) Add the egg, chosen extract and salt and mix together.
3) Add the flour, yeast and milk.
4) Knead for about 10 minutes or so (by hand) until elastic and smooth. Lightly oil a bowl or container and ferment for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Ingredients (Filling):
- 7 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1 & 3/4 tea Cinnamon
- 1/4 tea Nutmeg
- 2 tbsp Butter, softened
- 1 & 1/2 tbsp sugar

5) About 15 minutes or so before the dough finishes fermenting, make the filling. Mix together all of the ingredients until everything is incorporated together. The mixture should be somewhat crumbly. To ensure proper mixture, I like to whisk together the sugar and spices before adding the butter in.
6) Take the dough out and degas the dough.
7) Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle.
8) Spread the filling mixture all over the rectangle but leave about 1/2 inch on one lengthwise side. (On one of the longest sides of the rectangle, leave about a 1/2 inch). Make this the side that's furthest from you to make rolling easier.
9) Starting from the lengthwise side that does have the filling mixture over the dough, roll the dough, kind of like a Swiss roll, until it becomes the cinnamon roll shape we all know.
10) Cut into desired thickness and proof the buns for about 75 - 90 minutes until it doubles in size.
11) Now, you can bake this in a preheated 350°F oven for about 20 - 30 minutes or you can stick this in the fridge/freezer to use for later. If you're baking from the freezer, make sure it thaws out before baking and if baking from the fridge, leave at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.
12) After baking for 20 - 30 minutes at 350°F, chill for at least 10 minutes before glazing.

Ingredients (Glaze):
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 tea orange zest
- 3 - 5 tbsp of milk

13) Mix everything together until you achieve desired consistency. To make thicker, add more icing sugar and to thin out, add more milk. Glaze over the cooled cinnamon rolls and serve.