Banana Bread with Crumb Topping

Print

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup margarine (1/2 stick), softened
• 4 oz Philadelphia original cream cheese, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed (approximately 1¼ cups mashed)
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
For the crumb topping:
• 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon margarine (softened)
• 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl combine sugar, brown sugar, margarine and cream cheese with an electric mixer. Mix until well blended.
4. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Stir in mashed bananas with a rubber spatula or large spoon.
6. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir with large spoon or wire whisk until blended.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing with the electric mixer just until moistened.
8. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
9. Prepare the crumb topping by combining 2 Tablespoons flour, 1 Tablespoon margarine, 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a mug or small bowl. Mix with a fork until thoroughly combined and crumbly.
10. Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over the batter in the loaf pan.
11. Lightly run a butter knife through the crumb topping in both directions (not necessary, but I do it so the crumb topping seeps into the batter a little bit).
12. Bake 50-60 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Mine took 54 minutes.)
13. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Rainbow Cookies

Print

Ingredients

• 8 oz almond paste (Sometimes almond paste comes in an 8 oz can. Unfortunately the only almond paste the stores by me carry is in a 7 oz tube, so I have to buy two and use just 1 oz from the second tube. I made the recipe with just one 7 oz tube once, and my husband said it wasn’t “almondy” enough.)
• 1¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Red food coloring (I use Wilton Icing Colors)
• Green food coloring (I use Wilton Icing Colors)
• 1/3 cup seedless red raspberry jam
• 1/3 cup apricot preserves
• 1¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon shortening

Instructions

1. Read all directions before beginning, and make sure you have plenty of time (It usually takes around 3 hours, plus refrigeration time).
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Grease the bottoms and sides of three matching 13 x 9 inch baking pans with shortening (or reuse one pan). Line the pans with wax paper; grease the wax paper with shortening.
4. Place almond paste in a large bowl and break it up with a fork. Add butter, all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar (set those 2 tablespoons of sugar aside), almond extract and egg yolks only (set the egg whites aside in another large mixing bowl) and mix with an electric mixer until light, fluffy and smooth (it rarely comes out totally smooth. If you still have almond paste chunks, mash them against the side of the bowl with a fork or spoon, then mix again with the electric mixer. It still may not be totally smooth—that’s ok.)
5. Add salt and mix with electric mixer to combine.
6. Add flour, stirring just until combined.
7. Beat egg whites and 2 tablespoons of sugar until soft peaks form (with my electric hand mixer this takes around 5-8 minutes and I always worry the metal attachments from the mixer will leave the egg whites tasting "tinny"; with my Cuisinart Quick Prep immersion blender it takes 2-3 minutes and comes out better than with the hand mixer. Either way works though.).
8. Fold the egg whites into the almond paste dough, mixing with a spoon or rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.
9. Divide dough into 3 equal portions (about 1½ cups each—actually measure the dough as you divide it to be sure your portions are equal).
10. Color one portion with red food coloring and one with green food coloring. Leave the remaining portion uncolored.
11. Spread each portion of dough into a prepared 13 x 9 inch pan in a thin layer. (If you are reusing one pan, make sure to re-grease and re-wax paper it after baking each layer.)
12. Bake each layer for 10 – 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
13. Invert onto wire rack; remove wax paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over so the layer is right-side-up on a wire rack. Cool all three layers completely.
14. Place green layer on a large piece of plastic wrap on top of a large cookie sheet or cutting board (The plastic wrap needs to be more than double the size of the layer lengthwise. Make sure your cookie sheet/cutting board fits in your refrigerator before you put the layers on it). Spread raspberry jam on the green layer (I leave a ¼” border around the edge so the jam doesn’t ooze out once the layers are compressed). Top with the uncolored layer and spread with apricot preserves, leaving a ¼” border around the edge. Top with red layer.
15. Wrap the plastic wrap around the layers so they are completely covered. Set a cutting board or cookie sheet on top to compress the layers then put something heavy on the cutting board/cookie sheet to compress the layers further (old law school books work well!).
16. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours (I usually refrigerate 1-3 hours).
17. After refrigerating, remove the plastic wrap completely from the layers, leaving the layers on the cutting board/cookie sheet.
18. Melt the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.
19. Spread melted chocolate in a thin layer over the top layer of cookie. The chocolate will harden quickly since the cookie layer is cold from being refrigerated.
20. With a sharp knife (I use a long serrated bread knife) gently cut into ½ to 1 inch strips both lengthwise and crosswise, making 48 even cookies. I mark off where I’m going to cut before cutting to be sure my cookies will be evenly sized. Be careful not to crack the chocolate (sometimes it’s unavoidable, but do your best). Wipe your knife with a clean paper towel between each cut--this helps to keep the chocolate from cracking and keeps crumbs off the chocolate.
21. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Notes

Cinnamon Rolls

Print

Ingredients

Rolls
• 3½ to 4 cups all-purpose flour (plus additional flour for rolling dough)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 packages dry yeast (4½ teaspoons)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• cooking spray to grease bowl and pan
Filling
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
Glaze
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk, warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds

Instructions

For the Rolls and Filling
1. In a large bowl, stir 2 cups of the flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 packages yeast with a wooden spoon until well mixed.
2. In a 1-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup milk over medium heat until very warm but not boiling.
3. Add the warm milk, 1/4 cup butter and 1 egg to the flour mixture.
4. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed 1 minute until flour mixture is moistened, frequently scraping batter from sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Continue beating on medium speed 1 minute, frequently scraping bowl.
5. With a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is soft, leaves side of bowl and is easy to handle (dough may be slightly sticky).
6. Lightly sprinkle flour on a countertop, large cutting board or mat. Remove dough from bowl and place dough on floured surface.
7. Lightly dust your hands with flour, and knead the dough, sprinkling surface and hands with more flour if dough starts to stick. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and springy.
8. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides.
9. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap, then cover bowl with a towel or blanket.
10. Let dough rise in a warm place about 1 hour 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size*. Dough is ready if an indentation remains when you press your fingertips about 1/2 inch into the dough.
11. In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar and 2½ teaspoons cinnamon; set aside.
12. Spray the bottom and sides of two muffin tins with cooking spray**.
13. Lightly sprinkle flour on a countertop, large cutting board or mat.
14. Gently push your fist into the dough to deflate it. Gently pull the dough away from the side of the bowl, and split the dough in half***. Place one half on the floured surface, leaving the other half in the bowl for now.
15. Place 7 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a small mug or microwavable bowl. Microwave on low setting until the butter is partially melted, but still keeps its form. This makes the butter easier to spread on the dough.
16. Lightly flour your hands and a rolling pin. Using the rolling pin (or your hands), flatten dough into a 15x10-inch rectangle.
17. Spread half of the softened butter (3½ tablespoons) over dough to within 1/2 inch of edges.
18. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 of the sugar-cinnamon mixture, and 1/2 of the raisins and nuts if desired.
19. Roll dough tightly lengthwise into a log. Pinch the seam to seal. Using your hands, gently roll the log of dough until it is even, sealed, and approximately 15 inches long.
20. Using a knife or toothpick, lightly mark off 1 inch slices on the log of dough prior to slicing into the dough (I got 14 slices out of each log of dough). Using a sharp serrated knife, cut dough into slices where marked.
21. Place slices in muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray (1 slice per muffin cup).
22. Cover pan loosely with plastic wrap, then with a dish towel.
23. Repeat steps 16 through 22 with the remaining half of dough.
24. Let dough rise in muffin tins in a warm place about 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
25. Remove towels and plastic wrap.
26. Preheat oven to 350°F with the oven rack in the middle position. Bake 15 to 25 minutes or until cinnamon rolls are light golden brown. Immediately remove rolls from pan, placing each roll right side up on a cooling rack. Place your cooling racks over a cookie sheet or on top of paper towels, for easy cleanup once you drizzle with glaze. Cool rolls for 5 minutes, while you make the glaze.
For the Glaze
27. Pour ¼ cup milk into a mug or small microwavable bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds or until warm (but not boiling).
28. In another small bowl, stir 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of the warmed milk. Add additional warmed milk, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until glaze is smooth and thin enough to drizzle (you will probably use 2-4 tablespoons of warmed milk total).
29. With the cinnamon rolls on the cooling rack, and the cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet or paper towels, drizzle the glaze over the warm cinnamon rolls, using a spoon or measuring cup to make thin lines of glaze over each cinnamon roll. Don’t worry if your rolls have completely cooled before your glaze is ready--just drizzle glaze onto the cooled rolls.
30. Cinnamon rolls can be served warm or at room temperature. If desired, glazed cinnamon rolls can be reheated individually by microwaving each roll for 15–30 seconds, until warm. Store at room temperature once the glaze sets.

Notes