Zucchini Banana Chip Muffins

Well I'm back! We are now settled into our new Homestead in Oklahoma and I'm back in the kitchen. I'm so glad to be cooking again and not eating fast food!!!! Here is a recipe I tried from a cookbook from Sarah T.'s Mom. The muffins turned out really yummy!

3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup shredded zucchini (2 sm. or 1 lg.)
1 cup mashed bananas (2 soft bananas)
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (opt.)
Beat eggs until fluffy. Add oil, sugar, zucchini, bananas and vanilla. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add to mixture slowly while mixing. Add chips and/or nuts. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers. Fill cups with batter. Bake at 350 for 18 - 22 minutes.

Scones

Today I made some scones. They were delicious! I found the recipe on Our Best Bites. We topped ours with some raspberry jelly and some Nutella. Of course we had to have Nutella. That is a must here in Germany! Give ‘em a try and let me know what you think!

~Sarah T.

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 T. grated orange peel

1 c. granulated sugar

2 T. shortening or softened butter

1 tsp. salt

1 well - beaten egg

1 -1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 -1/2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries coarsely chopped

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 orange juice

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in orange juice, orange peel, shortening, and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, turn bread out of pan onto a wire rack and continue cooling.

*I substituted white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. It turned out really good and added extra nutrients! This bread is pretty addicting so Beware!

BANANAS... B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I have been trying to find a good Banana Bread recipe. I found this one from Blog Chef that is really good. I made a few adjustment though and it came out great!! Here is the recipe with my changes:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 brown bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add applesauce and bananas and combine. Add eggs, vanilla, baking soda, flours and salt. then add buttermilk. pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes* or until toothpick comes out clean.

*My loafs were done after only 45 minutes! But, I have a crazy German oven so, just keep an eye on it!

~Sarah T.