Double Chocolate Buns

Are these muffins?  Nope.  Cupcakes?  Nope.  These are in fact what the British refer to as a chocolate "buns".  They are a cross between a cupcake and a muffin. They have a somewhat cake-like consistency, though not nearly as sweet yet are definitely richer than a muffin.  They are also frosting-free.  These are wonderful eaten plain and without any fuss needed at all.

They are named Double Chocolate Buns because of 2 types of chocolate in the batter:  Dark Cocoa Powder and White Chocolate Chips (the latter not really being a chocolate at all).

You can make these all in one bowl and you don't even need your mixer as long as you have some decent upper body strength to blend the butter and sugar.  Everything else gets folded in and blended just until combined then baked up for 20 minutes.

These rise up beautifully and your house will be infused with the smell of chocolate. They are tender, moist and hard to resist.  My daughter inhaled 2 while they were still warm.

Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Glaze

These take a bit more time to prepare but they are worth it. Moist, flavorful and topped with an amazing white chocolate vanilla glaze. I added some snowflake sprinkles just to get in the festive mood.

These muffins have a sweet vanilla taste that pairs very well with the sweet and sticky glaze. The batter consists of your typical dry ingredients and a few eggs. But the secret to these little babies is the sweet vanilla cream mixture that is the basis for your wet ingredients. You want to infuse the cream and sugar mixture with the scrapings of one whole vanilla bean. Then you simply let it all simmer away nicely for about 5 minutes. This really brings out the vanilla flavor and turns the entire cream mixture into almost a caramel sauce. Now if you don't have vanilla beans, don't panic. Just use one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract instead and you will be fine.

I followed the recipe from a recent cookbook purchase but immediately noted something was very, very wrong. It said it would make 12 mini muffins. Huh? Waaaay too much batter for 12 mini muffins! So I divided the recipe up so I had 12 mini muffins and 10 large ones but feel free to switch it up if you want. Just remember, the large the muffin, the longer time it takes to bake.

Speaking of baking time, the recipe said to bake for 1/2 hr. Again, huh? They would have been burnt to a crisp. I definitely reduced the recommended baking time. Once golden they were pretty much done and honestly, the entire kitchen smelled like candy. Heaven.

So let's get baking, shall we?

RECIPE:
*adapted (and corrected!) source recipe for White Chocolate Muffins, Something Sweet

WHAT YOU NEED

1 large muffin pan lined with 10 paper liners
1 small 12 cup mini-muffin pan lined with paper liners

1 cup granulated sugar
100 ml whipping cream
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Scraping from 1 vanilla bean
1 3/4 cups cake and pastry flour - self rising variety
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 small ripe banana
pinch of salt
3 eggs

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F

IN DOUBLE BOILER, simmer 3/4 cup of the sugar, whipping cream, butter and vanilla bean scrapings over med/low heat for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly
MASH banana to a smooth paste
IN SMALL BOWL, whisk together 3 eggs and add mashed banana
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together flour, baking powder, cornstarch
ADD eggs and banana mixture to warm cream mixture whisking thoroughly
POUR wet ingredients into dry ingredients folding until just combined
FILL muffin cups 3/4 full with batter

BAKE MINI MUFFINS for 12-14 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
BAKE REGULAR MUFFINS for 17-20 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
REMOVE muffins from pans and let cool completely on racks

IN DOUBLE BOILER, melt chocolate, cream and vanilla together until smooth
SET ASIDE to cool for 20 minutes
WHISK slightly and then spoon glaze over cooled muffins

ENJOY !

Chocolate Banana Brownies

Rich, filled with chocolate, moist with bananas and the size of a piece of cake ! These brownies are amazing and shouldn't be missed. Thanks goes to Chef Michael Smith for, yet again, another superb sweet recipe.

These brownies are quite dense and moist due to the addition of 1 cup of butter, 4 bananas and 4 whole eggs. Let's not forget an entire POUND of dark chocolate.

I did adjust the recipe a tad by adding chopped white chocolate to the batter along with 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.

Due to their weighty batter, these babies take a full 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake. And surprisingly, you can get all of this batter nestled nicely into an 8" X 8" baking pan. I usually bake my brownies in a 9" x 13" pan so this was a bit on the scary side for me. I wasn't sure if they were going to rise up properly let alone cook all the way through. Trust in Chef Smith for he is the master! Sure enough, these were PERFECT.



LET'S GET STARTED

RECIPE*:
*source recipe: Banana Brownies


WHAT YOU NEED

1 pound of dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup of unsalted butter
4 eggs
4 ripe bananas (med size preferred)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 ounces chopped white baking chocolate

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven 325F
BUTTER AND FLOUR 8" X 8" square baking pan
In MED saucepan, melt butter and dark chocolate. Set aside
IN LARGE BOWL, mash together eggs, bananas and vanilla extract
WITH WOODEN SPOON, stir in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder
FOLD in melted chocolate/butter
FOLD in chopped white chocolate
POUR into prepared pan
BAKE 1 hr 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean & brownies are firm to the touch.

ONE WORD: WOW!

Also seen here:

White Chocolate Pecan Banana Bread

Banana Bread - a childhood favorite. An adult favorite. Hey, it is an ALL TIME favorite!

This one is loaded with chunks of white chocolate and chopped pecans.

I grew up eating slices of banana bread topped with butter. There truly is nothing comparable.

HERE WE GO !

Some of your basic ingredients: overripe bananas, white chocolate and pecans

Rather than going with one large loaf pan I decided to use 4 small loaf pans.
When moving to smaller pans, I had to reduce the baking time
by approximately 10 minutes.

4 little loaves of delight cooling for a bit in their pans

Golden brown and baked to perfection. All it takes is a 350F oven for 35 minutes!

The sweetness of the white chocolate plus the crunch of pecans
make these little guys BIG WINNERS !

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 medium or 2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 cup fine white sugar
1/3 cup of vegetable oil (I use Becel)
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 squares of white baking chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup chopped pecans

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
GREASE 4 small loaf tins or one 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan

COMBINE flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and spices with whisk
MASH bananas
ADD sugar to bananas and stir with wooden spoon until well combined
STIR in oil, eggs and vanilla to banana mixture until well blended
ADD flour to banana mixture and stir just until combined. Do not overmix
FOLD in baking chocolate and pecans

DIVIDE batter between 4 loaf tins or one large loaf pan
RAP tins gently on counter to remove any air bubbles

BAKE for 35 minute if using 4 small loaf tins or 45 minutes (checking with a toothpick at 40 minutes)

ALLOW loaves to cool in tins on a baking rack for 5 minutes
REMOVE loafs from tins and let cool completely. Trying to slice a loaf while it is still too warm can result in one big mess!

HAUL out butter, spread on a nice thick slice and ENJOY !!