Say it with Sprinkles: A baking blog filled with recipes & photos of sweet treats & savory eats.

Remember how I droned on in THIS post about how I go through phases with bananas?  About how I can go for weeks and even months on end without so much as the desire to LOOK at a banana, and then wake up one morning wanting to eat nothing BUT bananas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for the remainder of my days?  Right now I’m on the latter.  Total banana kick in full swing.  I even managed to find organic Del Monte bananas (my favorite!) at my favorite fruit store in the world – SCORE!  I bought a few bunches immediately, and then realized I’d be heading out of town again for the weekend…

So, currently there’s just one major problem I have with bananas.

Traveling with them.

Correct me if I’m wrong, and please share if you know a secret about this that I don’t, but bananas are not the easiest fruit to travel with (even a road trip, as is the case right now).  An apple I can toss in my purse, backpack, bathroom bag (you know, wherever), and open it to find a nearly perfect apple waiting for me when hunger strikes.  Bananas, on the other hand, are NOT easily thrown in to a purse or any bag containing really ANYTHING at all, let alone a bag of clothes.

Bananas just have that ability to be impossible to pack on a trip both because of their penchant to brown and squish ALL over the place, but also because of their ability to make everything in your life at any given moment SMELL like banana.  Now, I love me a banana (on a good week/month) but I don’t want to pull a pair of banana smelling pajama pants out of my bag at the end of the day.  There’s a reason banana didn’t make it on the list of fruity scented body washes and lotions in the Burt’s Bees and The Body Shop bath and skin care line.

The only places bananas smell good are right after you peel them and they’re headed straight into your mouth, or coming out of the oven in breads, muffins, cupcakes, and bars.  Speaking of bars, the banana bars I’ve got for you today are a cookie-banana bread-hybrid, and it was totally unplanned as far as texture, as well as everything else about them goes.  Some of the best things in life are unplanned!…Although, as far as I’m concerned, some of the worst things in life are also unplanned (ie: running out of gas on the freeway).

I had an idea in my head for the flavor profile I was hoping to achieve, but the rest was left to chance.  That being said, if you’re looking for a dense, chewy cookie with a mild banana taste, this might not be what you’re looking for.  If, however, you have a hankering for a breakfast-ish bar with a sorta gooey, cakier than cookie texture, and lots of caramel and butterscotchy goodness packed in, this recipe is quite possibly exactly what you’re looking for.

That being said. I obviously (OBVIOUSLY) still packed up the SEVERAL bananas I had left after making these bars and loaded them in to my car to take with.  I wasn’t about to leave them behind only to get down to LA and wish I had bananas, and then be forced to buy new ones.

I love me some bananas! (FOR NOW) <3

Blog post today fueled by Starbucks!   Ahhhh, I love me some green tea (FOREVER!) <3

Happy Weekend!

2012 is shaping up to be a busy year.  So far in January:

San Francisco.

Roadtrip – Sacramento –> LA.   LA –> Sacramento.

Engagement photoshoot for my brother & his fiancee in Santa Monica, CA.

Began a fitness certification course (more on that later!)

Was reunited with the most awesome lab group of all time.

Back on board the half-marathon training plan + gym routine.

Jumped on the winter citrus train & made these cupcakes!

Lemon cupcakes, to be exact!  They come from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes, a book that was gifted to me by a friend who truly understands just how much I love little cakes with pretty frosting ( a lot!).  The photos in this book are incredible – bright, vibrant, beautiful – everything I aspire to achieve when embarking on my own food photo endeavors.  Love you, Martha!

I’ll be the first to admit my cupcakes don’t look a thing like hers…mostly because she has awesome pro photographers – I mean, check out that photo!! – while I’m a photo rookie, but also because I topped mine with lemon pudding and lemon buttercream frosting rather than the lemon curd and meringue frosting in the recipe.

I know, I know.  Lemon meringue cupcakes without the meringue are like…..lemon cupcakes.  Mmhmm.  Profound!

I went for a more simple approach, but don’t hold that against these lemony little gems!  Lemons, limes, grapefruit & oranges are definitely in full-swing right now.  I love how bright and sunny these little cakes are, perfect for those of you who are talking about snow & freezing temps where you’re at!

PS: I feel for you, because even though it’s been uncharacteristically warm & sunny for January here in Nor Cal, I still find myself piling on the blankets, guzzling hot coffee, and dreaming of summer weather!

Martha Stewart’s Lemon Cupcakes (with Lemon pudding & Buttercream)

Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

* 3 Cups All-purpose flour
* 1 Tbsp Baking powder
* 1/2 tsp Salt
* 1 Cup (2 Sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 2 Cups Sugar
* 4 Large eggs, room temperature
* Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (3 Tbsp)
* 2 Tbsp Fresh lemon juice
* 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
* 1 Cup Buttermilk (I didn’t have buttermilk, so I used plain milk)

Pudding:

* 1 Small Box Lemon flavored Jell-o Pudding
* 2 Cups Cold milk

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

(I don’t have a set recipe for this, I adjust as I go – so here’s my best account of what I used!)
* 1 Stick Butter
* 3 Cups Confectioner’s sugar
* 1 Tbsp Vanilla extract
* Dash of Salt
* 1-2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
* 1-2 Tbsp Milk

Topping: 1 Tbsp lemon zest + clear sugar sprinkles

Directions:

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325*F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate between each. Beat in zest and vanilla. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 additions of milk and lemon juice, beating until just combined after each addition.
Just about fill each lined cup with batter. Bake until slightly golden brown on top, about 25 minutes. I slightly overbaked mine (not on purpose!) So don’t do that.
As soon as possible, remove cupcakes from tin and allow to cool on a cooling rack completely before frosting.

Once cool, core the cupcakes and fill with pudding if you wish.  I simple piled it on top and piped on the frosting.  Top with fresh lemon zest & sparkly sugar sprinkles.

For the Pudding:

Follow the directions on the box, stir pudding mix into cold milk, continuing to stir for about 5 minutes until set up.

For the Frosting:

Beat room temperature butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy. Add confectioner’s sugar a few Tbsp at a time to allow everything to combine. Add the dash of salt and vanilla extract. Continue adding confectioner’s sugar, alternating with additions of the milk and lemon juice until frosting comes together. Add more milk if you like thinner frosting, and less if you like thicker frosting. Simple!

Currently reading: The February 2012 issue of InStyle Magazine

Currently listening to: The Pretty Reckless – “Just Tonight”  Obsessed!  Anyone else??

Currently snacking on: Hazelnuts!

Currently cuddling with:  This little guy!

Eventually: A sunny jog =)

Happy Saturday!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Finals! Finals! Finals! Finals!

Thought I was going to say the holidays, right?  Much mistletoeing and hearts glowing when loved ones are near?

You were expecting a little of this, perhaps:

 With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap- happiest season of all

Not so much.  More likely a little rendition that goes a little something like this:

With the sleep-deprived yelling
And professors telling you “Get into gear”
It’s the most stressing-of-times of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those sporadic sleepings and long TA meetings
When tests come to call
It’s the hap-happiest season of alllllll 😉

I agree, it needs a little work!

Ok, ok, I’m done funneling my negative feelings about finals into innocent, unsuspecting Christmas carols for now, but no promises I can hold off forever!  In my defense, an 8:00am Tuesday final is not exactly what I’d consider the ideal holiday morning, but I suppose if I can get through that, I can survive any amount of Christmas shopping swarms in the mall come next week!

Let’s talk cookies.  Cookies are not finals.  Cookies are sweet and delicious and sometimes chewy, and never ask me questions that I have to answer via short answer or scantron.  These cookies in particular are cinnamon-sugar studded, crispy on the outside, perfectly dense and chewy on the inside, and have never judged me based on whether or not I know what co-factors regulate the cell cycle, and for that I much prefer them.  I feel like this line of thinking is probably exactly what causes people (totally hypothetically) to stuff 10 cookies in their face at a time in attempts to block out a bad day, or the impending doom of finals….right?  Or maybe cookies are just dang good.

Chewy Holiday Snickerdoodles

(Slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is)

Ingredients:

* 1 cup butter flavored shortening
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2-4 Tbsp milk, any type, as needed
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 3 tsp cinnamon
* 1/4 cup sugar + 2 Tbsp cinnamon for rolling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Beat together the shortening and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and 2 Tbsp milk.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing along the way. Add a bit more milk to make the dough come together if it’s too dry.  Wrap up and refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour.

Use a cookie scoop to make dough balls, and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar mix. Arrange on cookie sheet, and bake about 14-16 min. depending on your oven, until golden brown. Allow to sit on the pan a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Cinnamon-sugar rolled dough balls….

Mixed with a little oven time….and voila!

I rolled a portion of the dough in cinnamon sugar mix, part of them in red Christmas sprinkles after the cinnamon and sugar mixture just for a fun pop of color…

And part of them in clear crystal sprinkles for classy, wintery-looking cookies.

Wrap these puppies up pretty, because really, who doesn’t love the gift of cookies during the holidays?

If the last thing you want to see right now is a pumpkin pie, and the last thing you want to to do right now is follow a pumpkin pie recipe to make a pie…then turn away now!

If you’re still on board with the whole make more pie since the pie from Thanksgiving was so amazing idea, however, then you’ve come to the right place!

As I mentioned before in my Thanksgiving Recap, pie was abundant, but didn’t include much in the way of pumpkin until the next morning.  My brother’s fiancee, Becky, is obviously pretty die hard, even during the holidays- she had to go in to work on Black Friday, while most of the rest of the world was either fighting off crowds at Best Buy, or continuing to digest Thanksgiving dinner from the night before.  Before she left, though, she whipped up this classic pumpkin pie!
There’s nothing much new about this particular pumpkin pie since the filling is the result of the tried and true Libby’s recipe on the back of the pumpkin puree cans, but a pie is always set apart by its crust, which she made from scratch.  It was basically a hit, so here it is!

Libby’s Classic Pumpkin Pie

This recipe is for one pie, with a single, bottom crust.  The recipe on the Libby’s canned pumpkin is for 2 pies.
Probably one of the simplest of all pies, but always a Thanksgiving favorite, for sure!  I bet if you’re a pumpkin purist you could use your own stewed pumpkin, or you could probably use this recipe with canned butternut squash or sweet potato puree even, if that’s what you have on hand!

Ingredients:

* 3/4 Cup Sugar
* 1/2 tsp Salt
* 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
* 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
* 2 Large Eggs
* 1/2 of a 29 oz can of Libby’s Canned Pumpkin
* 1 Can Evaporated Milk
* 1 Store bought, or Homemade pie crust (see below for crust ingredients + how-to)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425*F.

For the crust-

1.5 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 cup shortening, 1/4 cup butter and 2-4 tbsp of cold water.

Mix flour and salt, blend in the fats with a pastry cutter, then add water until the dough just forms a ball (don’t add too much H20 and don’t overwork the dough once the water is in. Otherwise the pie crust will be tough.)  Roll out the dough on a floured surface until slightly larger than the size of your pie pan.  An easy way to transfer the dough to the pan is to roll it up on your rolling pin, lift it up, and unroll it over the pan- voila!  Now use your fingers to crimp the edges and make it pretty (or if it’s not quite perfect, do what I do and call it rustic 😉

For the Filling-

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a small bowl.
Beat eggs together in a separate bowl, and stir in the pumpkin and sugar and spice mixture.
Slowly stir in the evaporated milk.

Pour into your pie shell, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350*F and bake for another 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack thoroughly. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Flaky crust + custardy pumpkin = fall.  There, I said it.  Pumpkin pie doesn’t JUST have to be for Thanksgiving anymore…you can make it any time you want, I promise!

It’s actually pretty nice featuring someone else’s recipe for a change and not having to do the work…thanks, Becky!! =)

…Any chance I can get guest posts out of anyone else?!  Just asking 😉

I guess since you’re reading this right now you successfully made it out of your Thanksgiving induced food coma, so congratulations!  You’re probably enjoying Thanksgiving round 2 today, also, which I fully support.  Black Friday shopping?  I wasn’t brave enough, but I admire you if you braved the crowds today! 😉

Last night my family and I enjoyed turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and most of the other dishes that are traditional for us on turkey day.  My favorite, part of dinner was definitely the turkey paired with my super simple cranberry sauce.  I’ll definitely be making it again soon!

I’m sorry to tell you, but I despiseeeee potatoes!  That means mashed potatoes, too, but everyone else seemed to enjoy them.

Various fruit salads…I know, we get pretty fancy with the dishes 😉

Sparkling cider for toasting & sipping!

And last but not least, pie!  Everyone was so stuffed from dinner, though, that we waited several hours to indulge.  I didn’t snap pictures in the horrible, 10:30pm lighting, or lack there of, but the line-up included various berry pies, brought by a family friend (including a gluten-free mixed berry pie that was amazing! YES!), a bit of pumpkin, and a chocolate pecan pie.

Obviously this morning my brother’s fiancee whipped up this classic pumpkin pie!  You can never have too many pies!

Good luck digesting!