Food and Recipes

This page will contain some of Chefy's favorite food ideas and recipes!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Peanut Butter Icing

                                                       Yield: Makes 1 loaf 

Loaf Ingredients: 

• 3 ripe bananas (lots of brown spots!), mashed as smoothly as possible 

• 3/4 cup brown sugar 

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 

• 4 eggs, room temp 

• 1/2 cup, heaping, sour cream 

• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 

• 2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon, all-purpose flour, divided use 

• 2 teaspoons baking soda 

• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

**Peanut Butter Icing (recipe below)**

Preparation: 

-Preheat the oven to 350°, and lightly mist a non-stick loaf pan (9 x 5) with cooking spray. 

-In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas with the brown and granulated sugars; using a hand mixer, mix on medium-low until well-combined. 

-Next, add in the vegetable oil, the eggs, the sour cream and the vanilla, continue to mix until well-blended. 

-Whisk together the 2 cups of flour (reserving the 1 tablespoon), baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and add those into the banana mixture; mix these dry ingredients in just until combined, taking care not to over mix so you don’t have a “tough” loaf. 

-Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour with the chocolate chips (toss them in it), and add the chips into the batter, shaking off the excess flour; using a spoon, fold the chips in.

-Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan, and bake for about 1 hour and 5-10 minutes, or until baked through (I like to loosely cover mine with foil during the final 20-25 minutes of baking to prevent it from getting too dark too quickly)

Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove from pan and allow to completely cool on a rack before icing. 

-Drizzle peanut butter icing over cooled loaf, and allow to set up. 

-Melt the milk chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute or so, and drizzle over the top of the loaf, if desired (you can do this by adding the melted chocolate to a small ziplock bag and cutting the corner off for a thin drizzle line)—this is just to make it a little and decorative

-sprinkle the crushed peanuts over that. 

-Allow chocolate to set up a little, and slice and serve! 

Peanut Butter Icing Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Jiff “Natural” Creamy) 

• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) water 

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

Preparation: 

-Place all ingredients into a medium-large bowl, and using a hand mixer or a whisk, mix together until well-blended and creamy; the icing should be pretty thick yet fairly pourable, so if you need a tad more water, just add by the teaspoon-full to get there; or conversely, if too thin, add a touch more powdered sugar. 

*Use immediately, or keep covered     

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS: 

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips (for drizzle) 

1 tablespoon crushed peanuts (for topping)