Spa Sweets : Chocolate Banana Muffins

What's the first thing you think of when you think of going to a spa?  Food, right?

I know, it's strange, but when I think of spas, my mind wanders to thoughts of "spa cuisine" (especially if it involves the HERSHEY SPA)!

So, when Chevy sent a friend and me to the spa for 1-hour massages, my mind naturally went to Chocolate Banana Muffins.  Lori from Recipe Girl (love!) featured a recipe from The Rancho La Puerta Cookbook , Chocolate Banana Bread last year and it's delicious!

I changed it up just a bit and made Chocolate Banana Muffins.  They may just be the unhealthiest, healthy muffins you've ever eaten.  No added sugar...except for the chocolate chips and banana chips, and well, the sprinkling of sugar on top.

They also have a secret ingredient: PRUNES!

Spa Chocolate Banana Muffins
{adapted from Recipe Girl &The Rancho La Puerta Cookbook }

10 oz. pitted dried prunes
2 c. water
1 c. minus 1 TBSP all-purpose (or WHITE whole wheat) flour
1/2 c. dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. mashed rip banana (about 2 bananas)
2 eggs
1/2 c. chocolate-covered banana chips (or reg. banana chips)
1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips (Ghiradelli)
sparkling or sanding sugar (optional)

Combine the prunes and water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce to a simmer  and cook for 20 minutes.  Drain.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.  Butter 12 cups of a muffin tin.  If you are really paranoid like me, line the bottoms of the muffin cups with a small circle of parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda.  Set aside.

Process the prunes and bananas in a food processor until smooth.  Add eggs and process until combined.

Stir the prune mixture into the flour until combined. Add in the banana chips and chocolate chips.  Spoon into prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with sparkling sugar.

Bake 16-20 minutes until the tops bounce back when lightly pressed.  Cool on a cooling rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely.  Enjoy!

{And thank you, Chevy, for the massage!  If you live in the Houston area, be sure to check Gotta Love Chevy for a chance to win a new designer handbag AND a girlfriends getaway to Ojai, CA!}

Sausage & Kale Lentil Soup and Parmesan Skillet Rolls--My first Soup & Homemade Rolls for Fall

It's a very strange weather pattern we're experiencing in Monterey, California.  Yesterday, it was overcast and muggy.  Today, the skies were gloomy and I had a craving for soup.  I was also craving fresh bread to go with the soup.  I love lentil soup, and I especially love it when it's paired with sausage.  So, I grabbed my soup "Holy Trinity" of one onion, carrots and celery and speed chopped them with my food processor.  I have plenty of homemade chicken stock in the freezer and then I just started grabbing what I could find in my pantry. What I didn't  grab was my camera.  I figured that there are plenty of lentil soup recipes on blogs and so I just started creating a soup.  As a result, this time, there aren't my usual step-by-step photos on how to make this soup.  I decided to make our favorite Buttered Rosemary Rolls because they are easy to make and don't take a lot of time.  At the last minute, I decided to use Parmesan Cheese, instead. 

These smelled so good, that I decided to grab my camera after all, so I could share it with you.

I'm so glad that I adapted the Buttered Rosemary Rolls with Parmesan Cheese. They were wonderful!  My son was happy, because he doesn't care for Rosemary.  By garnishing the lentil soup with a little Parmesan, my family had a hearty and comforting meal that was perfect for Fall weather.

Heaven help me, these are good!

From what I hear, we are supposed to have a heat wave next week.  Sigh.  That means my Weber will be back in action.  I surprised myself, at how delicious my concoctions turned out!  So here ya go...the printable recipes cards are below.  That is, if you'd like to make either (or both) of these recipes.  If you would like a step-by-step on making the rolls, click here.

I am submitting this post to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sunday weekly roundup of recipes of bloggers who make soups, sandwiches or salads.  It looks like my soup kettle is back in business again!

Enjoy!

"So, just how long is it going to take me to make and decorate cookies?"

"So, just how long is it going to take me to make and decorate cookies?"   The short answer is...it depends.  It depends on how many you're making, of course, and how many colors of icing you are using, and how detailed the cookie design is, and how you are packaging them. Whew.

But, let me try to give you a rough idea. Let's go with 2 batches of cookies because if you're going to take the time to make them, you might as well make more than one.

First, the cookies.  Using this cookie dough recipe, plan on about 1 hour per batch.  With a 4.5" cookie cutter, you'll have around 12 cookies.  I bake mine 6 at a time, since I have a single oven.  I could do 2 sheets and rotate the them during baking, but I am usually too distracted by twitter getting in some housework (ha!) and forget to rotate.

Cookies (two batches)....2 hours
Cookies (cool completely)...1 hour

Next, the icing.  I use royal icing.  It's just as quick to make a double batch as it is to make a single.  I usually double my recipe just to ensure I have enough.  To make the icing and tint it, assuming you're making more than 2 colors, takes about 45 minutes.

Icing....45 minutes

Decorating the cookies. This is a little difficult to estimate and you'll have some down time here.  Assuming you have 24-30 cookies, you'll need to prep your icing bag and outline your cookies.  For a simple outline, allow 30 minutes.

Outlining....30 minutes

Next, you'll want to "flood" the cookies with thinned icing.  For me, thinning takes a while because I add water just a bit at a time.  You'll need to thin the icing, let it sit, stir, then flood.

Flood icing (thin)....15 minutes

Flood Icing (rest)....10 minutes

Flood icing (fill)......45 minutes

Usually, you'll have some sort of detail to add to the cookies.  First, the filled cookies need to "rest" for an hour or so before the next step.


Rest....1 hour

Finally, the detail work.  You may be adding sanding sugar, sprinkles, luster dust, extra piping, or all of the above, so this really varies.  Assuming the detail is a bit of simple piping on each cookie, allow at least a minute per cookie.

Detail.....30 minutes

Then, let them dry overnight.

Dry.....overnight

***This does NOT include clean-up time!***

---

So, for about 2 dozen, simply decorated cookies, I would allow 5 hours of baking/decorating with 2 hours and 10 minutes plus overnight of inactive/rest time. (Did I add that right?) But, remember, it depends! :) 

{In other words, don't start a cookie decorating project at 8pm the night before you need them.}

My advice....make the cookies a day ahead.  Even two days.  Even more than that and freeze them.  Yes, they freeze...even fully decorated.

Another hint, royal icing can be made ahead of time, too.  The icing will not be as stiff the next day, so if you have fine detail work to do, you may want to make it the same day.  Otherwise, it's fine.

I love this post from my friend Gail of One Tough Cookie...here's a little nugget of wisdom from her blog: "No matter how much time you allow for decorating the cookies, allow more."    See, she's smart and CRAZY TALENTED!

That's what works for me.  Do you have any hints for timing your cookie decorating?

Spa Sweets : Chocolate Banana Muffins

What's the first thing you think of when you think of going to a spa?  Food, right?

I know, it's strange, but when I think of spas, my mind wanders to thoughts of "spa cuisine" (especially if it involves the HERSHEY SPA)!

So, when Chevy sent a friend and me to the spa for 1-hour massages, my mind naturally went to Chocolate Banana Muffins.  Lori from Recipe Girl (love!) featured a recipe from The Rancho La Puerta Cookbook , Chocolate Banana Bread last year and it's delicious!

I changed it up just a bit and made Chocolate Banana Muffins.  They may just be the unhealthiest, healthy muffins you've ever eaten.  No added sugar...except for the chocolate chips and banana chips, and well, the sprinkling of sugar on top.

They also have a secret ingredient: PRUNES!

Spa Chocolate Banana Muffins
{adapted from Recipe Girl &The Rancho La Puerta Cookbook }

10 oz. pitted dried prunes
2 c. water
1 c. minus 1 TBSP all-purpose (or WHITE whole wheat) flour
1/2 c. dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. mashed rip banana (about 2 bananas)
2 eggs
1/2 c. chocolate-covered banana chips (or reg. banana chips)
1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips (Ghiradelli)
sparkling or sanding sugar (optional)

Combine the prunes and water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce to a simmer  and cook for 20 minutes.  Drain.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350.  Butter 12 cups of a muffin tin.  If you are really paranoid like me, line the bottoms of the muffin cups with a small circle of parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda.  Set aside.

Process the prunes and bananas in a food processor until smooth.  Add eggs and process until combined.

Stir the prune mixture into the flour until combined. Add in the banana chips and chocolate chips.  Spoon into prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with sparkling sugar.

Bake 16-20 minutes until the tops bounce back when lightly pressed.  Cool on a cooling rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely.  Enjoy!

{And thank you, Chevy, for the massage!  If you live in the Houston area, be sure to check Gotta Love Chevy for a chance to win a new designer handbag AND a girlfriends getaway to Ojai, CA!}