Browned Butter & Caramel Banana Muffins

I'm worn out. I mean bone-tired, physically and mentally. Work has been intense and I'm in dire need of a vacation. So this weekend I just took it easy. I caught up on the first season of Scandal and cooked a little bit.

Easy Blueberry Cobbler Recipe

My 10-year-old niece likes to flip though issues of Bon Appétit. Recently, I told her to pick up a recipe and we would make it together. This is the recipe she chose. It was super simple and she had a lot of fun making it. So easy, even a kid can do it!

Caramel Apple-Pear Crisp Recipe

Today, I had some apples and pears that I needed to use up before they started to turn. I decided to make a apple-pear crisp but I really wanted to make it a little more healthy than my usual recipe which has a ton of butter.

Moist Lemon Cupcake Recipe

I feel like the cupcake craze may have come and gone. But I still love cupcakes since they are the perfect portion size. It's hard to find a nice tender crumb with the right amount of moistness from a bakery cupcake.

Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt Recipe

I know a lot of people have an obsession with Pinkberry frozen yogurt. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed but what's not to like?  Sweet. Tart. Cold. Creamy. There's no denying it. It's good stuff. Add in your favorite toppings and you are sure to have a smile on your face.

Triple Chocolate Almond Biscotti Recipe

I love biscotti. I've been trying to cut calories lately and often, if I skip lunch, I'll head down for late afternoon tea and a snack. Lately, my favorite snack is Nonni's biscotti and a chai tea (water with a splash of milk). It clocks in at about 130 calories. It also gives me a moment to pause in the middle of a busy afternoon since I rarely take a lunch break.

My Best Banana Cupcakes Recipe Ever

Not only is this recipe popular around Casa de Elle Beau, but it's one of my more popular posts. So I decided to re-post it with an easier-to-find title. My little niece reminded us that she loooooooves her auntie's banana cupcakes and I hope you will too.


If you want a nice breakfast muffin leave off the frosting. I've also added a crumb topping before and they've come out great as well. If you decide to go with a crumb topping only add 1/2 cup of sugar to the batter or they will be too sweet. 

My Best Chewy Lemon Cookie Recipe

Mr. T has been having a craving for lemon cookies lately. But he couldn't find his old school favorite, Pepperidge Farms. So when we went to Trader Joe's and we saw some almond and lemon cookies, we decided to give them a shot. We got home and of course I ripped open the bag. (How's that for satisfying HIS craving?!) He took one bite and said "What is this, a dog biscuit?". I knew exactly what he meant! The cookies has a nice flavor but they were as hard as a rock. I decided to indulge him. So I made these chewy and delicious lemon cookies this weekend. In honor of Mr T. I've decided to call these...

Best Moist Coconut Cake Recipe Ever

I'm absolutely koo koo for coconut. When I was little my mom took one vacation to Puerto Rico during her years as a single mom. She came back with a penchant for pina coladas. She would make me virgin pina coladas when she made the real ones for her grown-up friends. My love affair with coconut grew from there. Coconut shrimp, thai coconut soup (Tom Kha Gai), Rocher Raffallo & coconut mojitos. If it contains coconut I will devour it. I always feel like I'm on vacation in an exotic place when I eat coconut. It's funny how food can transport you.

I never met a chocolate cake I didn't like or have I?

I decided to make something different for Thanksgiving last night. I'm not much of a pumpkin pie fan but we sure love chocolate at Casa de Elle Beau. So I gave this recipe for molten lava cakes a shot. I looked at several recipes including Jean Georges' - the originator of the molten cake trend.

Thanksgiving is here but my mom's not . . .

So most of you don't know me. It's obvious, I love to cook or I wouldn't be blogging about food. What's not so obvious is that I lost my mom this year. One of things my mom and I shared was a love of cooking. We shared recipes and tales of our latest creations in the kitchen. So I thought sharing my latest kitchen victories with the rest of the world (if anyone actually cares) would be a great way to honor her memory.


This year, I pretty much lost my desire to cook or do much else other than the mandatory chores and going to work but things are getting easier these days. I feel my joie de vivre coming back. I'm actually cooking for Thanksgiving. It's just two of us, plus our two little four-legged friends who'll eat anything, so I decided to keep it simple. Turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, spinach and molten chocolate cakes. I'll be posting along the way and sharing results.


Tonight I made a favorite around here - banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Mr. T says they are the best banana cupcakes around. I think he was a wee bit reluctant about me sharing them with the world. These are a great way to use up old bananas. Mr. T lets our bananas go brown just so I'll make these. There are usually 3 strategically browned bananas hanging from the banana tree at any given time. So easy and so scrumptious.


GOING...

GOING...

GONE!

Banana Cupcake Recipe
(Tweaked from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. 
3. Bake in preheated oven for about 14 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

 Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat one package of cold cream cheese  (8 oz.)  with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 1 tsp. vanilla. Gradually add 2 -2 1/2 cups powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until it's as sweet as you like. You can also leave out the butter if you prefer.