Banana Cake with Banana Butter Frosting

So what to do with my fruit bowl full of bananas that are starting to round up fruit flies like a herd of cows?  Make Banana Cake!  Then peel and freeze the rest for morning smoothies.

I was thoroughly, THOROUGHLY impressed with this recipe.  Ultra moist, so banana-y, and a 4th of July hit!

Banana Cake with Banana Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

     cake

3/4 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup turbinado sugar (or white)

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk ---> just add 1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice to milk, mix and set for 5 min

2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium)

     frosting

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium)

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

     cake

1. Preheat oven to 275 (YES, NOT a typo!!)  Grease 9x13 pan. 

2. Mash bananas with lemon juice in small bowl, set aside.  In medium bowl, mix flours, soda and salt.  

3. In large bowl, cream butter and sugars together.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Stir.  

4. Add dry mixture alternately with buttermilk to the large bowl of butter/sugar mix and combine well.  Finally, stir in mashed bananas.  

5. Bake for 60 min or until toothpick comes out clean, (mine took close 80 min).

6. Immediately place in freezer for 45 min or longer, after removing from oven (!) (Makes for one amazing moist cake)

     frosting

1. Cream butter until fluffy.  Use hand mixer to combine banana, lemon juice and vanilla to butter.  

2. Slowly add sugar.  (This frosting is almost like a banana glaze)

3. Frost cooled cake.  

Serve immediately with hot coffee.  Or as in my case, it was for a post-fireworks gathering with friends on the patio at 10pm, so we had banana cake and ice water.  :)

Health Nut Muffins

Health Nut Muffins
3/4 cup turbinado sugar
3/4 cup flax seed meal
5 ripe bananas
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350.  Grease large muffin tin or loaf pan.
2. In large bowl, mix sugar, flax seed, bananas, milk, yogurt and eggs.  In separate medium bowl, combine, flour, soda, salt and spices.  Gently stir dry mix into wet.
3. Bake 50 minutes.  Serve warm with black coffee.

Smoothies

Sunrise Zinger
1 small banana
1/2+ plain yogurt
whole cranberries (big handful) or 1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice blend
baby carrots (big handful)
2 stalks celery
2-3 mandarines (Cuties, etc.) or 1 orange
ice cubes

Blueberry Delight
1 small banana
1/2+ plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
3/4 cup whole blueberries
raw almonds (handful)
ice cubes

Green Machine
2 large kale leaves
1 banana
honey
1/3 cup unsweetened cranberry juice blend
ice cubes

Pear Bliss
1 small banana
1/2 cup+ plain yogurt
1 pear
1/2 apple
1/3 cup unsweetened cranberry juice blend
ice cubes

Strawberry Dreams
1 small banana
1/2 cup+ plain yogurt
2 big handfuls strawberries
1/3 cup orange juice
ice cubes

Vita-Meta-Vega-Mine
2 kale leaf
1 large carrot
1/2 apple
1 big handful of red grapes
1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice blend or orange juice
couple of big lime squeezes
ice cubes

These are so yummy!  I have been on a sincere smoothie kick for two months now.  And by jumpstarting my day with fruits and veggies, I seem to make better food choices all day long.  And, have I mentioned how tasty these are?!  YUM. 

On a side note, the yogurt is not a necessary ingredient for any of these smoothies.  I prefer a creamier smoothie, so the smoothies without yogurt will just be a bit more "juice like".. and if you keep the banana, it still has a nice consistency.  But of course, have fun and mix up your style!

Banana Oat Muffins

Muffin success this morning!  My fabulous friend, Heather, came over this morning for coffee, and after noting the browning bananas on the counter, we decided to try out a new recipe...  And it was so tasty.  
These muffins go great with Vanilla Nut Coffee.  

Banana Oat Muffins
1 cp oats

• 1 cp flour
• 1 tbs rolled oats
• 1/2 cp chopped walnuts or almonds
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbs cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cp butter, softened
• 1 cp white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cp+ mashed bananas 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 cp plain yogurt or sour cream
•  
• Muffin Topping
• 1/3 cp rolled oats
• 4 Tbs brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbs butter, chilled or frozen
• 1/4 cp chopped walnuts or almonds

Directions:

 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 6 large muffin tin.

Place 1 cup oats in a food processor and process until ground. In a large bowl, combine ground oats with flour, 1 Tbs rolled oats, chopped nuts, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, then stir in banana and vanilla.  Finally, add yogurt or sour cream. 

Mix dry oat/flour mixture into wet mixture. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

For Topping: In a small bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in nuts. Generously sprinkle muffins with topping.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.