Banana Butterscotch Cookies

September is almost over. Which should mean cooler weather, leaves changing, pumpkin baking, all that awesomeness that is fall should be in the air.
But, this is Phoenix.
So, it's hot. Very hot. There are no leaves to change. And the closest I'm willing to get to pumpkin right now is the (amazing!)Pumpkin Iced Coffee at Dunkin Donuts.
But that's okay.
Why?
Because as soon as it's cool enough for my brain to officially establish this as fall, it will be raining pumpkins around here.
Kind of like how it's raining bananas right now. I don't really know why I always have so many browning bananas sitting around, but I do, and they must be used!
So I decided to switch it up this time with these banana-butterscotch-oatmeal cookies. The original recipe called for regular chocolate chips, but I was out, so the butterscotch seemed like a good substitute. And it definitely was! They were sweeter with the butterscotch, so I would still like to try them again with the chocolate, but these were delicious.

Banana Butterscotch Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
8 ounces butterscotch chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 2 days.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies Book

I'm Baaaaaccckkk!

I bet you never thought you'd see the day, huh?
Well, the time has finally come. I have returned.
With a vengeance...Muhahahahahaaaa...
*ahem*
Anyways, it's been a looonnnngggg couple months, and since I have a feeling no one here really feels like reading a 200 page novel on the trials and tribulations that are my life, I'm going to spare you.
Don't worry, you can thank me later.
But in the short and sweet version there are two things to know, I've moved and started a new job!!
What does this mean for you?
It means I have my own kitchen! Ready to be used at a moments notice. And with this new job, I have time! No more 60+ hour weeks, so there will actually be time for baking annnndd sleeping! It really is a novel concept.

I had to break in my new kitchen somehow, and with some overripe fruit just hangin around, I knew what had to be done.
After some searching I found the perfect recipe: a Banana Peach Bread.
I was able to use up all of the fruit and it tasted amazing!
I used a little less sugar than the recipe called for, more like 3/4 cup. I think it would have been just too sweet with that extra sugar. And instead of straight orange juice, I used an orange-peach-mango juice.
Enjoy!

Fuzzy Navel Tea Bread
Ingredients:
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature (+ butter for greasing pan)
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 very ripe bananas
2 very ripe peaches
zest of one orange
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Use butter to grease one medium loaf bread pan and set aside.
2. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Put peaches in a blender and pulse until well mashed. Transfer to a bowl and mash in the bananas using a potato masher or a fork. Add zest of one orange (I used a microplane zester/grater) and mix thoroughly with bananas and peaches. In a medium bowl, cream the butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then beat in the fruit mixture and orange juice.
3. Gently stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Don’t over mix.
4. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. Test with a toothpick, which should come clean when inserted.

Recipe from Streaming Gourmet

Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins

Over the last few years I've become a total breakfast person. Not like the big huge eggs and toast and pancakes breakfast, but just a little breakfast, like a bagel or a muffin.
Basically, I just like carbs in the morning.
Or afternoon...
Or night...
Well, you get the picture.
But unfortunately, sometimes my common sense catches up to me and reminds me that eating doughnuts and sugary muffins for breakfast every morning may not be the best idea. So I went hunting for an easy, good tasting muffin recipe that I could make that had some sort of nutritional value.
I found a basic recipe for banana muffins, and after making a few adjustments, I was hooked. Sometimes I even make these in a jumbo muffin pan for a more filling breakfast.
I do have one suggestion though, make sure these are cooked all the through before you pull them out of the oven. They're really thick and sometimes take a little longer to cook, so double check them.
Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Oats
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon Allspice
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 Cup Milk
3 Medium sized very ripe bananas
1/4 Cup Applesauce
1/2 Cup Raisins

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix all dry ingredients and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mash banana until smooth. Add in applesauce, milk and vanilla. Mix well.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, then pour wet ingredients into well. Fold together until mixed. Fold in raisins.
Fill muffin cups, these do not rise very much so you can fill them about 3/4 full. Sprinkle top with extra oats.
Bake at 425 degrees for 7 minutes.
Turn heat down to 395 degrees and bake for another 25-30 minutes.

Recipe by Me!