Brown Butter Banana Bars

These are sooooooooo good. The frosting is the icing on the cake *pun intended*. This recipe makes a large sheet cake so first I gave some to my family. They all loved it (Good sign!). Then I brought to the Young Women at church (the few who chose these over candy like it). With still half a pan left and knowing my lack of self control, I sent the rest to work with Kevin. He later reported that every. single. person. who ate one of these bars LOVED THEM. There you have it folks. Three different groups of people and loads of approving words. If you have brown bananas and some butter, you must make these. Now. Run. To the kitchen. And make them. Then run. Around the block. 10 times. That's probably about how many calories you just ingested, unless you have more self control than I do.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cup sugar

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

4 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

Brown Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbs milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 375F.  Spray with non-stick spray a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.  For the bars, in a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar and butter until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add yogurt and blend well.  Add in bananas and vanilla. 

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture in mixing bowl. Blend well. Spread batter evenly into pan.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

While bars are baking, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Butter will foam and bubble and then quickly turn brown. Remove from heat immediately to avoid scorching. 

Whisk in powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Whisk until smooth. Using a spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting is easier to spread evenly onto the bars while warm). 

Yield: 3 dozen large bars

Inspired by http://lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com/2012/01/banana-bread-bars-with-brown-butter.html

Withered Witch Punch

A pretty simple but yummy punch with a few extras added to make it perfectly creepy for Halloween!

Half way into the party before adding more dry ice and another ice hand...

Ingredients

1 (6 oz) package lime flavored gelatin
4 cups hot water
1 (46 oz) bottle pineapple juice
2 (12 oz) can frozen pulp free orange juice concentrate
2 cups cold water
1 2-liter ginger ale

Directions

In a medium saucepan dissolve gelatin in hot water. Allow to cool.

When gelatin is cool, pour into a large punch bowl. Stir in pineapple juice, orange juice concentrates, and 2 cups cold water. Pour in ginger ale just before serving.

For added creepiness, 4-6 hours before the party fill 2 non-latex, non-powdered gloves with water and lay flat in the freezer. Before serving run frozen filled gloves under warm water for 20 seconds. Peel off gloves and place in punch bowl.

Add 2-3 lbs of dry ice to create a bubbly, smoking punch!

Serves 20 people

"I'm mellllltiiiiiing..."

Death by Chocolate Cake

I wanted a deliciously chocolatey rich dessert for Halloween. Enter chocolate overload... It was a TOTAL hit at the party with only 3 small pieces remaining. Everyone raved! The only thing I wish is that there was a better way to present it than leaving it in a casserole dish.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE CAKE

• 1 Box Duncan Hines Chocolate fudge cake mix
• 1 Box Hershey’s dark chocolate instant pudding mix (3.4 oz)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup canola oil
• ½ cup plain nonfat yogurt

For the topping

• 1/2 bottle Hershey's chocolate syrup (24 oz bottle)
• 1 box Hersey’s Special Dark Chocolate instant pudding mix (3.4 oz)
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy whipping Cream
• 1 cup hot chocolate mix (about 6-7 sleeves of instant hot chocolate)
• Additional hot fudge sauce for drizzling
•  1/4 dark chocolate bar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Combine cake mix and dry pudding mix with eggs, vanilla extract, milk, vegetable oil and yogurt. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Spray a 9x13 baking dish. Pour batter into dish and bake for 30-35 minutes. Check for doneness by testing the center of the cake. Cool for 10 minutes.
4. While the cake is still warm, take the end of a wooden spoon or another round object and poke holes all over the top of your cake.
5. Squeeze syrup all over top of warm cake. Allow it to absorb in the cake until cake is cooled.
6. When the cake has cooled, prepare the pudding layer by mixing a package of instant dark chocolate pudding with 2 cups of cold milk. Pour pudding over cake BEFORE it sets. Place cake in fridge to set a minimum of 15 minutes.
7. Prepare the whipped cream. In mixing bowl, pour in heavy whipping cream and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add hot chocolate mix and increase speed to medium high. Beat until stiff peak form.

Spread whipped cream over the top of cake. Top cake with some chocolate syrup and sprinkle crushed chocolate bar over the top.


Inspiration from http://beyondfrosting.com/2013/12/08/triple-chocolate-poke-cake/

Halloween 2016

Last night was our 2nd Annual Halloween Party! In similar fashion to last year we invited several people from our "new" ward to get to know them better. We had two newbies show up along with people in the "new" ward who moved over with us. Fun to get to know everyone in silly get-ups and feel like a kid again!

While looking at several different Halloween foods online, I decided to attempt to mesh two ideas together. Welcome the...

SHRUNKEN HEAD APPLE CRISP

 8 medium apples, like Jonagold, Fuji, or Gala
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves 
4 tablespoon butter
1 cup water


Preheat oven to 375°F with a rack in the lower-middle position.

Remove the core of the apples using a melon baller. Cut within a half-inch of the bottom of the apple and create a cavity about 1-inch wide. Peel the outside of the apple. If apple doesn't stand on it's own, cut a small about of the bottom bumps off the apple to give it a flat surface to rest on. Cut face in the side of the apple with a small paring knife. Cut about 1/2" deep- no need to carve all the way through.

I learned the hard way to cut in the butter and peel the apples... Learn from my mistakes!

Mix the dry ingredients. Cut in butter until well blended. Fill each apple with mixture, dividing  evenly between each apple. Make sure to pack mixture firmly.

Arrange the apples in a baking dish (9x13 worked well). Pour the water into the bottom of the dish and cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Bake for 20 minutes and remove foil. Continue baking uncovered until the apples are soft and the brown sugar has melted into a syrup approximately 30-40 minutes.

Even peeling them after baking, they still look creepy!

Inspiration from http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-baked-apples-stuffed-with-oatmeal-brown-sugar-75752 and http://www.tryanythingonceculinary.com/shrunken-heads-baked-apple-recipe/