Category Archives: dessert

Peanut Butter Cookies with Oats and Chocolate Chips

Posted on February 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

Winter cont'd 028Winter cont'd 030Winter cont'd 034Winter cont'd 039How can anything with these ingredients be bad? I suppose you have to love Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips and the way that rolled oats makes almost any cookie taste better. I actually froze these and ate them right out of the freezer, and they tasted awesome. They of course taste delicious at room temperature, but I made so many and the bag is right there on the door of the freezer that I couldn’t resist. Bit into it frozen and it was so good with a hot cup of tea! Awesome snacking going on here. If you’re so inclined go for this recipe, there are a lot of ingredients but if you’re a cookie baker this one’s worth trying.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

3/4 cup chunky peanut butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

3 eggs ( always room temperature )

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups. quick-cooking rolled oats

1 1/2 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips ( I used chips)

1 1/2 cup peanut butter chips

*now this recipe yields one hell of a lot of cookies so feel free to cut recipe in half. I made full recipe which is why I have so many in my freezer. Why not make whole recipe? then you have cookies in your freezer for whenever you may want them. They do defrost super quickly.photo

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat sheets.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, until well combined. Set aside.

In another large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3- 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beat well after each egg. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down the side of the bowl.

On low-speed or using a wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture , beating until just combined (don’t overbeat) gradually stir in oats. By hand, fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls of dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time in preheated oven for between 12- 15 minutes or until edges start to turn lightly golden.

I removed cookies to wire cooling rack to cool completely. As I continued to bake other sheets of cookies.

*makes betweenn 4 – 5 dozen cookies, depending on size of cookies you make. They freeze very well .

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Banana Pudding from Magnolia Bakery – One of my Top Ten Desserts that you don’t even bake

Posted on November 26, 2012 | 1 comment

Completely decadent and totally ridiculous in calories and richness, and I love it. It’s so very delicious. My daughter Jennifer has made this dessert numerous times over the last few years. It is actually a subtle taste of bananas, but I wouldn’t make this if I didn’t like bananas. I happen to just adore bananas and I absolutely love love this pudding. I cannot have it in the house because I will continually find an excuse to go into the fridge and eat it till it’s pretty much all gone. Jenn made it for dessert on Thanksgiving, it was one of 3 majorly desserts and it is really over the top. As full as I was and swearing I wasn’t going to eat another thing for at least a week, when I saw this  pudding I knew I was going to eat it.  She left the uneaten portion of it in my house and I couldn’t believe it I had to wake up to that bowl in the fridge. I find it impossible to resist, and I know others who suffer from this same fate. If you’re in the market for a purely decadent rich over the top dessert then this is it for you. Probably up there in my top ten desserts ever. This is from the More from Magnolia Cookbook so how could it be bad?

*this recipe really needs time , so you must start the day before to let initial pudding set, and then you’ll need at least 4 more hours minimum before serving. So you must factor time into your preparing of this awesome pudding.

Ingredients:

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 1 /2 cups ice-cold water

1 3.4 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix ( preferably Jell-O brand)is there another brand?

3 cups heavy cream

1 12 ounce box Nabisco Nilla Wafers ( no substitutions) is there another brand?

4 cups sliced ripe banana

Directions:

In a small bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and cold water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more.* Cover and refrigerate for 3 – 4 hours or overnight, before continuing. It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer , whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remains.

To assemble the dessert, select a large, wide bowl ( preferably glass) with a 4 – 5 quart capacity. Arrange one-third of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, over-lapping if necessary, then one-third of the bananas and one-third of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs on the top layer of the pudding . ( Just crush up a few remainder cookies in food processor) Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for *4 hours–or up to 8 hours, but no longer! Serve and behold the love! My camera broke on Thanksgiving and I took these pictures with my Iphone, sorry I don’t have more.

Serves anywhere from 12- 15

It’s a large dessert and a substantial one. It stands alone beautifully!

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Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Posted on November 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

Most delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake. Made it for the first time last year on Thanksgiving and will make it forever on. It’s awesome.

cookingwithcandi's avatarCooking with Candi

This cheesecake is a bit of a twist on the traditional pumpkin pie. The combination works quite well–the pumpkin adds a velvety smooth texture and delicious flavor even if you’re not a pumpkin pie fan and the caramel topping goes well with the pumpkin cheese filling. It’s a bit of work with a lot of moving parts so if you’re feeling ambitious this could work for you.  The gingersnap crust is also a departure from the traditional graham cracker crust. If you don’t like gingersnaps you can always substitute graham cracker crumbs. You’ll also need a 9-inch springform pan. I love Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma for their pans.

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours.

Enjoy and keep on cooking with Candi.

Ingredients: 

Crust:

About 40 gingersnap wafers (about 2 cups cookie crumbs)

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:

4…

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Posted in Baked Goods, Dairy, dessert, Holiday, Holiday Recipes, Holiday/ Thanksgiving Recipes

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Hurricane Sandy Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Posted on November 5, 2012 | 1 comment

Continuing on my Hurricane Sandy bender. Sitting in the house gives me an opportunity to get to some recipes that I haven’t had time to get to. I already purchased ingredients in the hopes to make them and there is no time like the present, especially while you’re being pummelled by a hurricane. I am just hoping to get through the baking process without losing power, dicey at best. So far so good though and I only have 20 minutes left on the timer. This recipe has been sitting in my recipe file since last fall. I combined a few recipes and came up with this bread. I used fresh cranberries since I had them, I prepared them in 1/4 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar brought them to a boil and simmered for 10 minutes. Cooled them off and drained off excess liquid before folding into the batter. This is going into my freezer and it will be retitled Sandy Pumpkin Cranberry Bread.

*just a little note, this bread was made right before we lost our electricity, we were sitting down to watch Homeland and out went the lights! We did however enjoy this bread as did everyone who ate it. Great with afternoon coffee or tea. I was planning on saving for Thanksgiving but it came in handy the night the lights went out.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

1 teaspoon baking powder ( check expiration date or this bread will not work)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 large eggs ( always room temperature)

1 cup canned pure pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup fresh cranberries ( or 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries) * see note above on preparing cranberries

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You’ll need a loaf pan ( 9 x 4.3 inches) I sprayed with baking spray and sprinkled flour and shook out excess flour. You can also use parchment paper. In a large bowl whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt and baking powder to blend.

Using electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy ( with paddle attachment) Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating until blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin, then vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions each. Fold in drained cranberries and walnuts. Transfer batter to pan. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake bread until tester into center comes out clean, about 1 hour ten minutes. Cool bread in pan on rack. Cut around bread at short ends to loosen from pan. Turn bread out onto rack, cool bread completely. When completely cool you can wrap and store at room temperature for a few days. I plan on freezing it for my Thanksgiving Table.

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Shelly’s Pumpkin Ginger Muffins – I love Pumpkin

Posted on October 14, 2012 | 1 comment

My friend Shelly who is an excellent cook and baker gave this recipe to me back in 2012.  I wanted to try them because I love all things Pumpkin and ’tis the season. I was leaving Colorado for the season and  planned on freezing these delicious beauties so they would be here when we return. Shelly said that she freezes them, then takes them out for breakfast individually by putting the frozen muffin in the microwave  or toaster oven. A little butter and jam don’t hurt either. The list of ingredients may seem daunting. I had to shop for a few of the items, but don’t let this stop you because these are fairly healthy and a perfect brunch/breakfast item, or good for just mid-afternoon tea. They contain fiber and aren’t cloyingly sweet. I love ginger and I love pumpkin. If you don’t like the ginger spice you can cut down or eliminate the crystallized ginger. Wow, pumpkin and ginger. What more can I say? Thanks so much Shelly for your contribution.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups wheat bran

approx. 1/3 cup of crystallized ginger (very small pieces), available in Whole Foods and most supermarkets

2 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 15 ounce can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling- be careful)

2/3 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup molasses

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs (room temperature please)

raw sugar to sprinkle on top

Muffin cups (the paper kind are perfect)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees .

Combine flour, whole wheat flour, wheat bran, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine, then make a well in the center.

Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla and eggs, and whisk it all together until well combined. Add this mixture into the flour mixture and stir well until moist. Mix in the crystallized ginger.

Coat muffin tins with baking spray. I use a 12 muffin tin. Spoon mixture into cups. I used a large tablespoon and just dropped in. (See picture.) Sprinkle raw sugar on  top of muffins before baking (use as much or as little as you like).

Bake for about 16 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Mine baked for 17 minutes. Let cool down and remove from pan onto wire rack. If you have no wire rack just a baking sheet will do.

Enjoy! These are delicious and pretty nutritious. Serving size should make about 24 muffins.

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Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake – I love Pumpkin

Posted on October 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s pumpkin time again! and I am clearly obsessed  with pumpkins. This is a pretty easy  to make bundt cake. Perfect for Thanksgiving or any time. You can make it ahead of time and freeze for another, or make two. While you’re making the mess anyway, you might as well bake two, and freeze one. Got this one from Gourmet Magazine. Just saying while I’m not a big raw cookie dough person I am a very big batter person and this batter was pretty delicious right out of the bowl!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan (or spray with Pam) I buttered this time

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can; not pie filling)

3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs (room temp. is always best for baking)

Icing:

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well shaken buttermilk

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

You will need a 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter/spray bundt pan generously then dust with flour and knockout excess flour.

Whisk together flour ( 2 1/4 cups) , baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter ( 1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 – 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat another minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 45 – 50 minutes. Cool cake on a rack for about 30 minutes, then invert cake , mine slid right out onto rack. I completely cooled cake for a few hours before I iced it. You can ice while cake is still warm however. I would let it sit for at least 1 hour before I iced though. It came out perfectly. Icing will get hard on the cake and be very white, it’s a beautiful presentation.

Icing:

While the cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

Cake can be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container, I would ice it when I planned on serving it.

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Cookie Dough with Nutella and Peanut Butter

Posted on October 5, 2012 | 1 comment

Fall is in the air , there is that little bit of crispness in the morning and for some unknown reason I feel like baking cookies.  This is a great cookie dough which is easy to prepare and contains  Nutella and Peanut Butter, so really how bad can this be? anything with Nutella and Peanut butter has to be good in my book. As I said I was in  a bit of a mood for baking cookies and made this recipe, baked up some of the dough and left the rest in freezer. Luckily I am not a cookie dough eater because this dough is pretty good. You can make this dough and leave it in the freezer for when you’re ready to use it.  Original recipe is from The Pioneer Woman. I left out the M&M’s but will add when I make for the kids. This is just simply a great little cookie. Perfect Halloween cookie, and the beauty of this is that whenever I feel the urge to bake up some cookies, I take out the dough and slice off what I need and return the dough to freezer! I love it! 🙂 Make them as small or large as you like. M&M’s make them more festive. Should store in freezer for a few months. (wrapped tightly)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup ( 2 sticks ) Salted Butter, softened at room temperature

1 1/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar ( I used light brown sugar)

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

2 whole eggs (room temperature)

1 tablespoon Vanilla

2 Tablespoons Creamy Peanut Butter

2 Tablespoons Nutella

*1/2 cups very finely chopped Pecans

*3/4 cups M&M’s roughly chopped or mini M&M’s which would not require chopping

Directions:

Combine flour, instant coffee, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir together and set aside.

Cream together the butter with the sugars, scraping the bowl once down while mixing. Add eggs, mixing in one at a time, and add vanilla. Add peanut butter and Nutella and mix. Add in dry ingredients in stages, mixing gently after each addition. Scrape the bowl once and mix again. (Don’t overmix)

Add chopped pecans and M&M’s if you’re using them and mix gently with spatula (rubber) to combine.

Spoon dough on a long piece ( or 2 shorter pieces) of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Carefully roll the dough inside the wrap, pressing gently to get it to form into a firm cylinder. Refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours or place into the freezer for 20 – 30 minutes.

To bake the cookies:

when you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 375 degrees . Slice off as many cookies as you’d like and lay the slices on a baking sheet, I love the silicone mats. Thicker slices will need to be placed further apart. The cookies will bake up flat. Bake for 10 minutes, or until nice and golden brown. I sliced off rather thin slices and only baked for about 7 minutes, you’ll have to check depending on how thick you slice dough. These are just such nice cookies to serve made delicious by the chocolate/peanut butter flavor. How awesome to  have the dough in your freezer to slice off whenever you’re in the mood for a home baked cookie?

Enjoy!

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Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Citrus Glaze

Posted on September 30, 2012 | 2 comments

Whenever I bake with cream cheese I never get a dry cake. It moistens the cake like nothing else.  I got this recipe out of Bon Appetit and it is nothing short of amazing. It is fairly simple , has a lot of citrus ingredients, lime, orange, and lemon but nothing exotic or difficult to obtain.  You’ll need a standard size loaf pan, I like the glass ones, but any kind will do just fine and you will need a zester that zests finely. (not a grater, a zester which you can buy at any kitchen supply store)  You can bake this cake a day ahead , and do the glaze before you’re about to serve. I cut the cake into 1/2 ” thick slices.

Ingredients:

parchment paper

nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp. finely grated lime zest

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs , room temperature

5 oz. ( 2/3 cup cream cheese) , room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Glaze:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar ( confectioner’s sugar)

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

1/4 tsp. finely grated lime zest

2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat loaf pan generously with nonstick spray. Line the bottom and long sides with parchment paper (see picture) you’ll want to leave about 1 1/2 ” overhang. Coat the paper with nonstick spray.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium size bowl, set aside. Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and all the zest in another medium bowl, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese till blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar mixture, beat on high-speed until very light and fluffy , 3 -4 minutes. Reduce speed to low setting, add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low-speed, gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to blend ( do not overbeat or cake will become tough) Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan; smooth top.

Bake cake until golden brown color and it springs back when gently pressed with your fingertips and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 – 70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cool down in pan for 30 minutes at the least.

Meanwhile prepare glaze, stir lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved for lemon syrup. Using parchment paper overhang as an aid, remove cake from pan, peel off and discard any paper. Place cake top side up on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. ( see picture) Using a skewer, pierce top of cake all over, inserting skewer about halfway through the cake.

Using a pastry brush , ( I love love the silicone ones) baste with lemon syrup. Use all of the syrup plus any that may have dripped onto baking sheet. Let cake cool completely.

Glaze:

Whisk all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Pour over cake. Scoop up any glaze that may have drpped into baking sheet and spread over top and sides of cake. Spread over top and sides of cake. Let cake stand at room temperature until icing is set, this should take about 30 minutes or so.

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A Real Deal Blueberry Cobbler

Posted on September 19, 2012 | 3 comments

Last summer I posted a few things to do with blueberries. I recently found this recipe and realized it was a combination of 2 separate recipes–one for the blueberry filling and one for biscuits. When combined, this is a true cobbler and not a crisp. Yum! The thing of it is that you really don’t want this hanging around in the fridge for too long, because it is that
good. You will keep eating it and I promise you that. So make it for company and at least six people so you have a teensy bit left over. Use the fresh blueberries which are in abundance now. It’s almost a must to serve this with vanilla ice cream, as it complements it so well! If you’d like, you can make this a day ahead for sure, I’ve even frozen it. It comes out perfectly. Now is the time to try and bake this delightful dessert with all of the beautiful blueberries out there. I think it’s still good to try and make this, just had to get this one out.

Ingredients:

1 pound blueberries or 3 1/2 cups

1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh)

1 cup all -purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar ( you can use turbinado (raw ) sugar as well ( divided)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk ( don’t use fat free, if you must, use 2%) I prefer whole milk in baking or low-fat buttermilk always works.

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup boiling water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the blueberries in an ungreased but sprayed ( I always use Pam or else I can’t clean the pan) 8 or 9 inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with cornstarch
and drizzle with lemon juice. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk and the butter.

Stir until just combined ( shouldn’t be smooth) then drop mounds of dough onto the blueberries.

Pour boiling water over the dough and fruit. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

Bake until the biscuits are golden brown and the blueberries are bubbly. 45- 60 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. If you are preparing ahead , either frozen or in fridge, take out of freezer and bring to room temperature, I then put in oven till it starts to bubble.

Should serve 8

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Chocolate Banana Bread

Posted on August 29, 2012 | 1 comment

Chocolate Chips and Bananas , love it! How can it be bad?  It is pretty darn good. After our hike up Hanging Lake we were having lunch at our house, and I remembered that I had this bread frozen from the winter! The night before I took it out of freezer to defrost. What luck, and I of course tasted it to make sure it was fine and it was more than fine, it was as good as it ever was.  I know I am always extolling the virtues of freezing but when it works out it’s like magic! How perfect , if you have all the ingredients bake the cake and don’t eat it, freeze it . It defrosts very quickly and I didn’t have to do a thing, I had already made lunch and didn’t feel like baking. So happy when I saw this bread in the freezer. As long as you wrap it carefully , baked goods come out of the freezer perfectly . Cookies are even better for some reason and they defrost superfast. The original recipe comes from Joy the Baker. This is the recipe Leslie, and hope you enjoy making it and now I want your pumpkin spice bread!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar ( packed)

2 large eggs ( room temperature)

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup buttermilk, you can use low fat or non fat

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or semi sweet chocolate chips which is what I used (much simpler)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in the center of oven. Butter ( or spray Pam) a 9 x 5 loaf pan and place it on a baking sheet. If you use 2 baking sheets it will act as an insulated baking sheet and prevent bottom of the bread from overbaking. Just a little trick.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda

In electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute or two, until soft. Add the sugars and beat for 2 more minutes or until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Batter may look a little curdled, this is OK. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing only until flour disappears into the batter. While on low speed, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is all incorporated. Stir in the chocolate. chips. Scrape batter into the prepared 9 x 5 loaf pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Then cover the bread loosely with a foil to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40 – 45 minutes. ( total baking time 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes) or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around edges of the bread and unmolding it. Just invert cake in pan and then continue to cool down right side up before freezing or storing it. Enjoy!

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