Sweet Saturday #25: Nutty Peanut Butter-Banana Cookies

It's officially baking season in my house now! Our oven hadn't been working since we moved in to the new house, and Paul finally got around to tinkering with it, and somehow got it to work. Hooray! So, I got started on making some cookies, and here's a new one I came up with. It's so tasty, moist, and healthy you could even have them for breakfast!

Nutty Peanut Butter-Banana Cookies

(makes about 30 cookies)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup honey + a little extra for topping

3/4 cup coconut oil, softened (you can also use shortening or butter)

1 egg

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup cut oats

1/4 cup hemp seed

1/4 cup flax seed

1 cup walnut pieces

1/4 cup brown sugar or honey

Preheat oven to 375. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl until combined. In a separate bowl combine the honey, coconut oil, and egg together; then mix in the banana and peanut butter. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet ingredients with an electric beater until well-mixed. Last, add the oats, hemp seeds, and flax seeds. 

On ungreased baking sheets, place small spoonfulls of the batter onto the sheet, at about an inch apart. Place into center rack in oven. While they're baking, heat the walnuts and brown sugar in a small pot over medium heat. When the brown sugar starts to melt, start mixing together with the walnuts, being careful not to burn. Continue until sugar is all melted and coating the walnuts, should take about 5 minutes. 

Spread candied walnuts over a sheet of parchment paper and allow to cool for a moment. At the 10 minute mark on baking the cookies, remove them from oven without turning off the heat, and carefully press the tops with the back of a spoon in order to make a shallow indent. Dab a little extra honey onto each indent, the place a few of the candied walnuts on top of each cookie. Bake for another 5 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Allow to cool before serving.

This is a recipe I came up with on my own. I had an overly ripe banana I needed to do something with, and peanut butter goes pretty awesomely with banana, so I got creative. The added benefits of all the omegas, protein, fiber, and minerals from the nuts make these cookies especially healthy. Walnuts are especially beneficial for brain development and function, and those candied walnuts really make them yummy, so don't leave that out unless you want them to be completely sugar-free. Of course, you could probably make them candied with honey instead. Let me know how that goes if you try that!

I was happy to see that Lily really enjoyed these cookies. She loves treats, but- like most parents -I don't want her eating a lot of sugar. These cookies are the perfect fix for your little sweet tooth- whether it be your child, or yourself! We even had them for breakfast without feeling guilty about it ;) The only thing I would change next time is either add more banana or ease up on the nuts, because the banana flavor was a bit subtle. Other than that, this recipe is a keeper!

Now, here are the most clicked-on fall features:

These tasty-looking cookies made with apple sauce, walnuts, and raisins are the perfect healthy treat to satisfy your fall sweets craving! Thank you, Angie from God's Growing Garden!

Holli from Full Hands, Full Heart had a wonderfully informative post about choosing allergy-friendly treats to give out to trick-or-treaters this year. I was especially glad she posted this since I often try to choose allergy-free treats myself! Thanks, Holli!

And we also have another adorable and creative costume from Carpe Diem who has lots of fun DIY Halloween costume ideas on her blog, so please check her out! I really liked this costume in particular because it was one of my first Halloween costumes when I was a little girl, and my mom made mine too! I'll have to dig-up a picture to share ;) Thanks, Ana!

And the most clicked-on features over all were:

Cream of Cauliflower Potato Soup from Good Girl Gone Green

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups from Something Sweet

Eat to Beat Cancer (part 2) from Back to the Basics!

Thanks, ladies! I can't wait to see what everyone links up this week!

Now on to the party!!!

Just follow these simple rules:

1. Link up something sweet to really WOW us all- your blog, Etsy store, Pinterest, Facebook, whatever you want! 

2. Link-up as much as you want and please follow me if you are not already. Leave me a comment if you are a new follower so I can follow you back!

3. Don't forget to hop around and say hi!

4. Share my button to get more people to join us (not required, but it would be nice!)

<a href="http://jessica-healthymommyhealthybaby.blogspot.com/search/label/sweet%20saturday" target="_blank"><img alt="Healthy Mommy, Healthy Baby" src="http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z327/ruffandcut/sweetsaturdaybutton-1.jpg"/></a> <br>

Chocolate Sour Cream Tea Loaf

First of all, I just want to share that I broke 50 followers on Wednesday! Thanks to everyone who helped make that possible! It's kind of a big deal for me as I have only been writing this blog for about a year now, and to know that that many people actually follow along really means a lot.

In celebration of this momentous occasion, today's recipe will be a little more on the sweet side than the healthy side, but it will be good for the soul, which I think makes it healthy in a different way! You can use whole wheat or unbleached flour for it, and either way it will taste delish! This is perfect bread to make for a tea party or anytime you're having company over and want to serve an "ooooo-ahhhhh"-inducing dessert that you don't have to break a sweat over baking! this recipe was designed especially for my Kenmore Bread Maker, so if you notice anything that needs adjusting according to your machine, go ahead and adjust, or else make by hand. This is a cake bread, so it can easily be made with a dough mixed and then baked in the oven.

I can't live without it!

Chocolate Sour Cream Tea Loaf (makes 1 lb loaf)

6 tbsp lowfat milk or almond milk

1/3 cup sour cream

1 large egg, room temp

6 tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour, unbleached or whole wheat

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

3 tbsp chopped cherries and/or cranberries

Place all ingredients into your bread machine in order, unless your machine's instructions state otherwise. Select the "1 lb loaf" and "Cake" setting and press start. If desired, remove kneading blade from machine when it indicates it's time to do so. Once finished, remove from machine and allow to cool on rack before serving. Make about 8 servings.

You can also add some sliced almonds on top when the loaf is starting to bake by brushing the top of the loaf with a little honey mixed in water, then placing the almond slices on top. The loaf basically tastes like a chocolate chip-cherry cookie cake. Yummm.

Consequently, I have not made this bread in a while and the last time I did, the picture I took came out blurry, so I don't have an image :( It is very good, as you can clearly see just by reading the ingredients list. Paul once told me this was the best thing I ever made with the bread maker. Your whole family will love it, I promise!

This would even make a great cake for a small birthday party for your young child since it's not as sugary as most cakes are. Slap on some light egg-white icing or a honey glaze and voila! Birthday cake!

The addition of chopped cherries and/or cranberries to this recipe does not only make it even sweeter, but also adds a strong antioxidant benefit. Cherries and cranberries both contain a high level of antioxidants as most berries do, as well as a lot of vitamin C. An interesting fact I recently learned about fresh fruit versus dry fruit is the nutrition content is greatly diminished in the drying process. Some might say, "well, duh!", but honestly, I didn't think it had as strong an effect as I found out it does. Read here to learn more; it turns out you may also take in a greater number of calories and sugars when eatting fruit dried since the pieces of fruit are smaller, and therefore you may unconsciously eat a lot more than a single serving size. 

The reason I bring up dried fruit vs fresh fruit is because this recipe originally called for dried fruit which I used the first time, but when I found out fresh is (obviously) better, I opted for some chopped cherries instead that I had recently picked up at the local fruit stand. So, feel free to use dry instead for convenience, but just keep in mind that the nutritional value is not the same.

However, dried fruit is a much better on-the-go snack alternative to candy and cookies, or any other overly processed, sugary snacks they make for kids these days. Lily LOVES dried fruit, especially prunes, raisins and cranberries. Putting a handful of mixed dried fruit into a ziploc bag or re-usable container (like a snack trap!) along with some nuts is a great snack to take with you for your family on an outting. If you want to stay fresh, of course, you can also simply chop some fruit up and take it with you, or share and apple or an orange.

Banana Flax 'n Walnut Bread Machine Recipe

I love my bread machine! If you read my last post featuring a bread machine recipe, you already know why. They make things so convenient, and with one, anyone can be a baker! Here's a great new recipe for banana bread, yum! It can be made dairy-free as well, so it's perfect for those with allergies who enjoy fresh-baked bread.

Banana Flax 'n Walnut Bread 

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water

1 tbsp butter or canola or coconut oil

3 tbsp honey

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour

1/4 cup ground flax flour

1 very ripe banana, mashed or sliced

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

1/4 cup flax seeds

Bring all ingredients to room temperature, then place all except the walnuts and flax seeds in bread machine according to instructions (mine has me place the wet ingredients in first, with the yeast on the top). Set the loaf size to 1.5 lbs on the "Basic Bread" setting, with crust setting however you want it (I normally use "Medium"). Turn it on, then add in the walnuts and flax seeds at the appropriate time if your machine has you add them in later in the cycle, and remember to remove the kneading blade before it starts to bake so you don't get a broken loaf. If you prefer, take the dough out after the kneading cycle has finished and mold it into a desired shape, then stick it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. After about 4 1/2 hours using the bread machine, you'll have fresh baked bread! 

Be sure to use a ripe banana!

Banana bread has always been a favorite of mine. My mom makes it from scratch by hand, and I have many fond memories enjoying it with some butter or peanut butter spread on top. Few things in life are better than warm banana bread.

I can't think of any kid who doesn't like banana bread either- it's sweet and healthy with the honey and whole wheat flour, too! And you know how much I love flax! Making bread with a bread machine is a perfect way to get your kids to help out without making much of a mess. It's simple to just measure the ingredients together then one-by-one place them in the machine together. Plus, what kid doesn't like pressing buttons? Lily loves fresh baked bread :)

Helping me scrape the sides of the bread pan, taken last summer

Bread Machine Delights for the New Year

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Can you believe it's 2012 and the world didn't end? I feel pretty good about this year, and I know a lot of other people who do too, how bout you?? I rang it in right with a fun group at church accompanied by my husband, daughter and mother-in-law, singing and dancing and playing music until past 2 in the morning! Can you believe Lily stayed up all that time? She refused to sleep and wanted to party with us too! What a trooper- she didn't even get cranky! We obviously slept in late that day...what did you do on NYE?

As I was saying most of last month, I've been busy, but for NYE weekend I took a break and just relaxed for the most part, simply enjoying the company of my family and being cozy at home. Winter has finally stepped up to the plate with weather in the 20s, so I am back to baking. Last month I focused on cookies, so this month I'll focus on something healthier with fresh baked breads! Yummmmmm.

Christmas 2010 Paul got me a bread machine and it has become one of my most used kitchen appliances. Once you go fresh-baked, you'll never go back to store-bought breads, and when using a bread machine, even the least oven-inclined people can easily make just about type of bread imaginable.

The bread I make the most is a simple wholewheat and flax I came up with by just trying different grains and seeds and using honey in place of sugar. I gave loaves of it as gifts to my family members and everyone loved it! I hope you enjoy it too :)

Jessica's Wholewheat Bread Machine Loaf

Ingredients (for a 1.5 lb loaf):

1 1/4 cup room temp water

2 tbsp butter or margarine

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp dried skim milk powder

3 cups wholewheat flour

1/4 cup ground flax flour

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup mixed grains and seeds: rolled oats, flax, sunflower, crushed walnuts

Bring all ingredients to room temperature, then place in bread machine according to your machine's instructions; mine has me place the wet ingredients in first, and the yeast in last in an indent I make in the flour on top. Select the "1.5 lb loaf" setting and "Wholewheat" setting (if applicable), as well as whatever style of crust you prefer (I usually use medium). Then press start and let the machine do it's magic. Add the oats and seeds at the appropriate time if your machine has you add them in later in the cycle, and remember to remove the kneading blade before it starts to bake so you don't get a broken loaf. If you prefer, take the dough out after the kneading cycle has finished and mold it into a desired shape, then stick it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. 

After about 4 1/2 hours using the bread machine, you'll have fresh baked bread! 

I did not have an image of one of my whole wheat breads handy, so here is a pic of how it could look via running-foodie.com

Investing in a bread machine is a really great idea; it will cut down costs to your grocery list, you will enjoy getting creative with it, and your house will smell like warm bread! Paul loves to come home to bread baking in the machine or oven- it smells just as great either way! Lily loves it too, and when you make bread yourself, you will guarantee preservative-free and filler-free bread. This is the best bread to make toast and sandwiches for your children with. Children benefit from eating whole grains in many ways, including receiving protection from developing diabetes, having more energy, and receiving weight-control assistance. Here is a link to some studies done on this wonder food, and here is a post I did in the past with some more information on the benefits of eating whole grains.

Image courtesy nutritionexpert.com

Using honey in place of sugar for most recipes does not effect the texture of the bread either; you can also add a honey glaze to the top of the loaf while it's baking by mixing a little honey in a little water then brushing it onto the top of the loaf about halfway through the baking period. Sprinkle some seeds on the top of it too if you like!

Do you already own a bread machine, and if so, how often do you use it? Do you just love it? What are some of your favorite recipes? Do share!

For the month of January, I'll post a different bread machine recipe each week on Friday (it just happens to be on a Wednesday this week). If you have a recipe to share, I might just decide to give it a try and post about it, so be sure to send me a link!