Peanut Butter Banana Blondies with Peanut Maple Glaze

(No pictures...they all got eaten before I had a chance. I know, I know...but they were pretty, I swear...)

I Frankenstein-ed these bad boys at about 7 am Sunday on a morning. Far too early to be thinking about dessert, but with lots of healthy (okay, healthier--it's all relative, folks) substitutions for the standard ingredients, I only felt a teensy weensy bit guilty taste-testing one with my coffee. Full disclosure, though: these are not "healthy". What they do have going for them: seriously slashed fat and refined carbs and a big boost of protein. Here's how to get them in your very own belly (which is where you want them, trust me).

The blondies...
~4 tbs unsalted butter
~1 medium banana, mashed (*instead of the other 6 tbs of butter called for in the original recipe)
~1 c dark brown sugar
~1 c maple syrup (*instead of a second cup of brown sugar)
~1 c peanut butter (I used crunchy, but do your thang here)
~2 eggs
~2 tsp bourbon vanilla extract
~1/2 tsp salt
~1/2 c whole wheat flour
~1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
~1 c vanilla protein powder (*original recipe called for 2 c all purpose flour, I broke it into wheat/all-purpose/protein. You could also try different combinations of alternate flours--almond or oat, for example)
~1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9X13 baking dish.

Melt the butter and allow to cool. Then whisk together the butter, banana, sugar, syrup, and peanut butter; then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet by hand until just combined. Pour into baking dish and bake for ~25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

For the glaze...
~1 1/2 c Splenda (*FYI, powdered sugar will give you a more frosting-y finished product than Splenda will)
~2 tsp vanilla extract
~1/2 c maple syrup
~1/2 c heavy cream
~1/2 c peanut butter
~(2 tbs cornstarch)

Combine Splenda, vanilla, and maple syrup in a mixer and beat at med/high speed (starting on low and working up so you don't splatter). Turn speed back to low and slowly add in the heavy cream and peanut butter until combined, then whip at med/high speed until it begins to thicken. You may want to add in the cornstarch slowly at this point to make it a bit thicker; it's up to you. Set aside until blondies have fully cooled.

Once the blondies have cooled, use a skewer or chopstick to poke holes into them (try to keep it fairly uniform). Pour the glaze evenly over the blondies, and allow to set for about 15 minutes so the glaze can soak in.

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One Bowl Banana Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies


One bowl because I am feeling lazy. Banana and pecan and chocolate because also, I am feeling decadent. Chocolate chunks because that is what my husband always chooses when given free reign in the baking ingredients aisle. You can use regular chips. I won't tell. Apologies for the lousy camera phone picture...I wasn't kidding about the lazy part.

Ingredients
1 c butter, room temp
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
2 tbs molasses*
2 ripe medium bananas, smashed
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 c non-bleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 oz chocolate chunks
1 1/2 c roughly chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and molasses together in a mixing bowl. Add bananas, egg, and vanilla until well mixed. Slowly add in flour, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks and pecans (you can add less of these if you like; I like my cookies choc full of goodness). Bake for ~ 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. They may be a little sticky coming off the cookie sheets, but it's okay. They will still be delicious. Promise.

*This is because I was out of brown sugar. If you are not out of brown sugar, you can eliminate the molasses and replace the 1 3/4 c granulated sugar with 1 c packed light brown sugar and 1 1/2 c granulated sugar. Or not. These came out pretty darn tasty as written.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins



I've been drawn more and more lately to tweaking my baking recipes so that they are more healthy. For years, this has meant experimenting with alternative moisture components (applesauce, yogurt, canned pumpkin, etc. in lieu of oil or butter) and sweeteners (honey, agave nectar, maple syrup). Once, when Splenda first hit the market, I attempted baking with it as a sugar substitute. This was before the special "Splenda for baking" was released, and the results were catastrophic. My cake never rose completely, and had an acrid, chemically taste. After that, I abandoned Splenda and all sugar substitutes of its ilk.

Lately, though, I've been researching healthy recipes more and more, and I keep coming across Splenda being used in cakes, muffins, and other sweet treats. So I decided to give the new formulation another try with these Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins. I think I can now safely say that I am a convert--I subbed in Splenda and molasses for this recipe (which originally called for brown sugar), and I am so pleased with the results! These muffins are subtly sweet and super moist, with a dense, oatmeal-y texture and great pops of extra sweetness from the raisins. I baked these with some wonky, odd-shaped muffin liners from Ikea and the batter portioned out into 15 cups--I know this is an odd number of muffins to bake, and I suspect that using regular-sized tins this would portion well into 12 regular or 6 large muffin cups. Note, though, that the nutrition information below is based on the batter making 15 muffins. You can always back calculate (multiply by 15 then re-divide by the number of muffins) to get the values on a different number.

Ingredients:
1 c quick-cook oats
1/2 c skim milk
1 egg
1/2 c low fat plain yogurt
3/4 c Splenda (granulated for baking)
1 tbs unsulphered molasses
1 c sifted unbleached whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Trader Joe's Sugar Free Chai Spice
1/4 tsp ground clove
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 c raisins

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400F. Set 15 muffin liners into two regular sized muffin tins.
In a large bowl, combine oats, milk, egg, yogurt, Splenda, and molasses. Mix well, and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir in applesauce and vanilla until well blended.
Combine dry ingredient bowl into oat ingredient bowl, stirring until well combined. Stir in raisins.
Separate batter equally into the 15 muffin cups. Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring muffins to a rack to cool completely.

Nutritional Info:
Serving size: 1 muffin
106 calories, 2 g fat, 24 g carbs