"Lovely" Banana Cake

I promised a few banana recipes, so here is one more!!! This Banana-Sour Cream Cake is de-lish! This recipe comes from Kraft Foods. The combination of banana and walnut is perfect, and the sour cream makes it a very moist cake. It takes a boxed cake mix to a whole new level. Topped with a rich cream cheese frosting definitely making this cake absolutely perfect! We eat this cake all year. There is always a reason to make Banana cake at my house. We have lots of ripe bananas in our freezer from the killer deal Macey's had on bananas in the summer, so we can make Banana cake several more times... and I'm sure we will... and so should you!

Banana-Sour Cream Cake
Kraft Foods

1 pkg (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 cup sour Cream
1/4 cup oil
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
1 cup walnut pieces, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13x9- inch baking pan; set aside. Beat cake mix, eggs, bananas, sour cream and oil in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, stopping frequently to scrape bottom and side of bowl. Beat on medium speed 2 min. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 35 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating after each addition until well blended.

Remove cake from pan; cut crosswise in half. Place one cake half, top-side down, on large serving plate; spread top with frosting. Top with remaining cake half, top-side up. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Carefully press walnuts into frosting on sides of cake. Store any leftovers in refrigerator.

***Neatly frost this cake by freezing cake layers about 20 minutes before frosting. This helps to set the crumbs on the cut edges of the cake layers so they don't pull up into the frosting. Don't worry if the frosting doesn't look perfect on the sides of the cake - the walnuts will cover any imperfections.

***I doubled this cake for a baby blessing and it worked perfectly. I stacked 2 - 9x13 cakes. It turned out beautifully!

Enjoy!

Come back next week with some Valentine's Day Treats!

Frosted Banana Cookies

This recipe comes from the Worlwide Ward Cookbook, and they are fabulous! They are banana bread in a cookie form with a sweet cream cheese frosting to top them off. What could be better!?! I love banana bread, banana cake (which I will be posting soon), banana muffins (another post for another day), and I love these banana cookies. These cookies are so soft and chewy... I couldn't stop eating them! I shared them with neighbors and friends who helped me when I had my baby recently, of which is not so recent anymore! This is a great way to use up ripe bananas. Never throw out your old bananas because they aren't getting used ... peel, and put them in a ziploc and place them in the freezer until you are ready to use them. When you are ready to use them, defrost them and mash them right in the bag.

Frosted Banana Cookies
WorldWide Ward Cookbook / Minda Kjar

Cookies:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed (about 3)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup milk + 1 tsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/4 cups flour

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Cream the butter and shortening. Add sugar, then bananas. Mix well. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Blend in buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over-beat. It will be a sticky batter. Drop by tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes. Cool completely.

Cream the butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Spread on cookies.

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.

Congrats to my Sister who welcomed her #4 BOY into their home this week! Best of Luck Rach, and get some rest! Love ya baby Cooper! Your Favorite Auntie Sara will be there soon to meet you! Love ya Rach!

Triple-Layer Banana Cream Pie Bars

We have a favorite ice cream place that makes the best Banana Cream Pie Shakes. We love a good shake, and I love the Banana Cream Pie shake because it is light and honestly...I can eat it all and not feel so bad as opposed to the Hot Fudge shake, with extra hot fudge. Anyhow this post is not a Banana Cream Pie shake, but Banana Cream Pie Bars that taste so close to the yummy shake that I love. It is so tasty, light, and delicious for a summer dessert! It is definitely a favorite at our house. I found this recipe in another Kraft Food & Family Magazine.

***Sorry for the lack of posting. I am 3 weeks away from having a baby, and have this huge desire to clean, organize, remodel, and do the things that would have been a lot easier 1 year ago when I didn't have a basketball in my tummy and could move a lot quicker without so much pain. My sister on the other hand is now pregnant, and sicker than ever. She doesn't even want to think about food, let alone look at our blog. We will do our best to keep up on the posts... in the meantime hang in there with us...please!!!

Triple-Layer Banana Cream Pie Bars
Kraft Food & Family - Jeff DeLong

1 1/2 cups crushed Nilla Wafers (about 60 wafers)
1/2 cup Planters Chopped Pecans
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 bananas, sliced
3 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
2 1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix wafer crumbs, pecans and butter in 13X9-inch baking dish; press firmly onto bottom of dish. Bake 8 min. Cool 10 min.

Top crust with banana slices. Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Spoon 2 cups of the pudding over banana layer.

Gently stir 1 cup of the whipped topping into remaining pudding; spoon over pie. Top with remaining 1 1/2 cups whipped topping. Refrigerate 3 hours. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Mom's Banana Bread with a Gooey, Chocolate addition!!!

I love the combo of banana and chocolate. To make that combo complete...I would add peanut butter. I've been making my mom's banana bread now ever since I was married. I guess I just always had bananas that were going bad, so I needed to put them to use!?! I soon learned a secret that all of you probably already know, but this was great advice for me! If you don't have time to make your banana bread with your dead bananas, peel them and place in freezer ziploc and put them in the freezer. Then, when you are ready to make your banana bread you can thaw out your bananas and smash them right in the ziploc. Less mess, and you aren't wasting your bananas. I love banana bread on a crisp, fall day. It is even better with the chocolate chips! The chips make it taste more like a dessert and not a breakfast bread. I will confess, we did still eat this bread for breakfast! The chocolate chips didn't stop us!!! I love this banana bread recipe. My mom used to always make it for us, and now I make it for my family. The chocolate chip idea came from a good friend of mine. She returned a piece of my tupperware with a loaf of Banana Chocolate Chip bread. It was delicious. The chocolate chips just add so much chocolatey goodness to this healthy,(wink, wink) banana bread! I don't think I will ever make my mom's banana bread without chocolate chips again!!! No offense mom...I just love chocolate!
Mom's Banana Bread with Gooey Chocolate Chips

Spray bottom of 8" of 9" loaf pan. Makes one loaf. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (softened)

Add & mix:
2 eggs

Add & beat for 30 seconds:
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3-4)
1/3 cup water

Stir in remaining:
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Add secret ingredient & fold into batter:
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (fold in one cup and save 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top.)
Nuts are a yummy mix-in too!

Pour batter into pan sprayed only on the bottom. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the top of the bread. Cook 8" for 1 hour 15 minutes, and 9" for 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees. Insert toothpick & if it comes out clean, it is done. Let it sit in pan for one hour or less, then move to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!