Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have some brown and mushy bananas in your fruit bowl? Well, you can put them into good use with this Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! There are a lot of wonderful things to turn overripe bananas into like Banana Bread with Walnut Crumble, Banana Cream Pie Shake, Banana Caramel Chocolate Chip Bars, Almond Banana Cake, Banana Cream Trifle but I think this is the one that my daughters love the most. It's really good, that's why!

These cookies are soft, chewy and really tasty! They have the goodness of chocolate chip cookies with the added flavor of banana. Who wouldn't love that? My daughters enjoy having these cookies for snacks and they love bringing it to school for lunch dessert. 

Such wonderful treats! You should try it!

Bûche de Noël

Only 9 days left before Christmas! Aren't you excited??? Honestly, I am! Christmas has always been my most favorite Holiday for so many reasons...and that includes the fact that it's my birthday! And this year, I'll get to celebrate it again with my only brother! It has been five years since we last spent Christmas together, so I am truly ecstatic about it! For me, nothing makes Christmas merrier (and my birthday happier) than celebrating it with the ones truly close to my heart! I'm sure it's how it works for you as well. :)

Anyway, before I totally get carried away with excitement, let me share with you what I made for this month's Baking Partners Challenge. Just like last year, the theme for December is Christmas Cake. If last year I made Neapolitan Christmas Cake, this time it's this gorgeous Bûche de Noël from Williams-Sonoma as suggested by Tanusree of Ma Niche. We were given five recipes to choose from, but this one seemed to be the easiest to make so I went for it! The cake didn't turn out as soft as I expected it to be, but as a whole, this Bûche de Noël was awesome! I'll be making it again for our Christmas Eve dinner, but I guess I will have to use the sponge cake recipe that I normally use. 

A Bûche de Noël or Yule Log is a traditional dessert served on Christmas, especially in France and several other francophone countries and former French colonies. It is traditionally made from a genoise or other sponge cake baked in a large Swiss roll pan, frosted, rolled to form a cylinder, and frosted again on the outside. The most common combination is a basic yellow sponge cake, frosted and filled with chocolate buttercream; however, many variations on the traditional recipe exist, possibly including chocolate cakes, ganache and espresso or otherwise-flavored frostings and fillings. Bûches are often served with a portion of one end of the cake cut off and set on top of the cake or protruding from its side to resemble a chopped off branch, and bark-like texture is often produced in the buttercream for further realism. This is often done by dragging a fork through the icing. These cakes are often decorated with powdered sugar to resemble snow, tree branches, fresh berries, and mushrooms made of meringue. 

Bûche de Noël is both festive and delicious which makes it perfect for the season! If you are like me who's always in the mood for baking during the holidays, you should try it!

Peach Upside Down Cake

Found some overripe peaches while cleaning the ref yesterday. I didn't want them to go to waste..so I made this delicious Peach Upside Down Cake!

And guess what? The cake is three quarters gone already. I guess that describes how much we love Peach Upside Down Cake! My daughters couldn't even wait for it to completely cool down, so it was still warm when I inverted it onto the cake stand. The result --- half of the peach topping got stuck...that's why the top looks kinda ruined. Well, it's really no big deal...the cake was still a big hit! 

By the way, I used the same recipe as the Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Goldilocks Bakebook for this one. This will also work well with nectarines and pears. You should try it!

Russian Honey Cake (Medovik)

A year ago, my blogger friend, Swathi Iyer of Zesty South Indian Kitchen, invited me to be a part of Baking Partners, a baking group which aims to give home bakers like me the chance to learn the techniques in making perfectly baked homemade goodies. I've always wanted to improve my baking skills so I said yes without second thoughts. After 11 challenges, (should be 12 but I wasn't able to join last month's challenge) I can proudly say that baking does not intimidate me anymore. I am confident with my baking skills now more than I've ever been before I joined Baking Partners, and for that, I am truly grateful! To Swathi and the rest of my friends at Baking Partners, thank you so much...I'm am happy to be part of this group and I want to wish you all a Happy Anniversary!

For our anniversary challenge, we were given two cake recipes to choose from i.e., Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake and Russian Honey Cake (Medovik). The latter is all new to me so that's what I chose. The recipe was suggested by Humi of Gheza-e-shiriin. I followed her recipe suggestion from AZ Cookbook...and I was so happy with the result! This was the first time my family and I have ever tried this kind of cake, and we were all amazed at how delicious it was! For those of you who haven't heard of Russian Honey Cake or what's known as Medovik, it is a layered cake that is very popular in Russia which is made of thin biscuit layers that are baked to perfect gold and are slathered with luscious cream made of either dulce de leche (caramelized condensed milk and butter) or sour cream. For this one, I used dulce de leche which is my youngest daughter's favorite... and according to her, this is the yummiest cake she has ever tasted! ^.^

I strongly recommend that you try this cake. For those who loves Sansrival, I'm sure you'll love this too! It has a melt-in-your-mouth goodness that you just can't resist!

Coconut Macaroons

Finally a new post from me huh! Well, my family and I went on a trip to Missouri/Illinois that's why I was MIA for almost three weeks. We got back last Sunday...and after three days of sleeping in, unpacking, doing the laundry, uploading photos, cleaning up and attending to all those stuff that needs attention after a trip of any length, my daughters and I were finally able to bake something to share with you. It's nothing fancy actually...just a simple, easy to bake treat that's perfect for dessert or tea time especially to those coconut loving people out there. I'm talking about these Coconut Macaroons...

These treats are different from the Coconut Macaroons which are common here in the US. This kind of macaroons is what I may call the Filipino version and was the one I used to love when I was growing up. It's not the crispy cookie kind...it's the kind that's soft and chewy on the inside and a little crispy on the outside. In the Philippines, Coconut Macaroons are usually made and served during the holidays and other special occasions. They don't require much ingredients and are very easy to make. You basically just mix and bake. Sound easy enough? Well, try it and see for yourself. 

Mango Cake with Mango Cream Frosting

Summer is almost here...and do you know what that means? Mangoes are in season again! And yes, that makes my family and I sooooo happy! We love mangoes, you know. Though we enjoy eating it plain, we also love savouring this delicious fruit in different forms. We love making salad, ice cream, milk shakes and ice candy with it.  Indeed, the wonderful taste of ripe mangoes never fail to amaze our taste buds. 

Last weekend, I found a good deal and I decided to get more than 2 dozens of Ataulfo mangoes from the store. After making mango shake and popsicles, I thought of making something more special. I'm talking about this Mango Cake with Mango Cream Frosting...

Mango Cake has always been my favorite. Same with Ryan. When we were still in the Philippines, birthday celebrations and other special occasions won't be complete without Red Ribbon Bakeshop's Mango Cake --- a white chiffon cake layered with light mango cream filling and frosting with real mango bits, topped with fresh mango slices.  The fact that I miss it badly inspired me to make this cake the other day. Instead of a regular chiffon cake, I thought of tweaking the recipe in my Goldilocks Bakebook to make a chiffon mango cake. Mango overload you might think! Well, I tell you, the outcome was so good that the cake was gone in no time. Ryan and the girls loved it so much...and of course, I did too! The cake was so soft and mango-eey...and the mango cream frosting was amazing. It has the right amount of sweetness that complements the cake so well!

For the mango lovers out there, this is for you...You should definitely try it! 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Of my two daughters, Cherlin (the youngest) is the one who shows more interest in  both cooking and baking. Whenever she's at home, you'll see her helping me in the kitchen --- preparing/measuring/passing the ingredients, cracking eggs, mixing, stirring, sauteing and even slicing and chopping vegetables. Instead of reading story books, she prefers spending time looking at cookbooks and devouring its pages. Honestly, I am fine with that. I remember I was like her when I was little. The only difference is that, my mom didn't have as much cookbooks as I have now...and the cookbooks she had that time didn't have as much photos and were in black & white. :) 

Last Monday, I saw her looking into my Goldilocks Bakebook. She was so quiet and seemed so engrossed flipping through the pages when out of the blue, she burst out "Hmmmm...I want to make this, mommy!". I was kinda surprised to see that she was referring to a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. She doesn't even like pineapple...she says it makes her tongue itchy, and now she wants to bake a Pineapple Cake??! I knew she hates pineapple and I was sure it's just the photo that she found appealing...so I asked her several times if she really wants it, and she kept saying YES. Well, I can't blame her --- the photo was mouthwatering indeed! To cut the story short, I gave in to her request. Yesterday, when she got home from school, we baked a Pineapple Upside Down Cake together...and this is how it turned out...

Does it look delicious to you? Well, it really is! And Cherlin (as well as the hubs and my eldest daughter) said, it looks even better than the one in the Goldilocks Cookbook. :) 

Nutella Magic Cake

I've been seeing a lot of Magic Cakes on the web since March...and honestly, I wasn't so interested. But when I found the Nutella Magic Cake at Kirbie's Cravings, I knew I have to try it! You see, we're big Nutella fans in this family.  We eat it with toasts, bagels, pancakes, waffles, crepes, crackers, ice cream, strawberries, bananas, and even apples. We bake with it, make desserts with it, use it as a dip...and sometimes, we would just eat it plain on a spoon. It's just so good and addicting, you know! And the thought of how yummy a Nutella Magic Cake could be, was enough to make me jump on the Magic Cake bandwagon!

So what is so magical about this cake, you may ask. Well, if you can see in the photo above, the cake has three layers...i.e., sponge cake on top, custard in the middle and fudge at the bottom. But would you believe that it was made from a single batter? Yes, you read it right! This cake was made from one batter that magically turned into 3 layers while baking...and that is why it is called Magic Cake. Of course, there's no magic involved here at all. It's actually Science that made it happen. Though I am no scientist to explain it fully, I think density has something to do with the layering that took place. Being less dense, the part with the meringue (beaten egg whites) went to the top of the cake, the part with the egg yolks and milk which is more dense went to the middle and the Nutella part which is the most dense settled at the bottom. Oh well, no matter what the scientific explanation behind this Magic Cake is, I must say that it turned out really amazing...and in the eyes of my daughters, there really was magic in it! :) 

I've read that some who have tried the original version think that it tastes like a chiffon cake lacking flavor...so I'm glad I made the Nutella version. At first, I was afraid that I will end up having only two layers as what happened to some. I was looking through the sides of the baking dish, and all I could see are two visible layers...but when I sliced it,  there were indeed 3 layers! It was so awesome and beautiful to look at! And the best part is --- IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! You really can't go wrong with Nutella!

Sugar Crusted Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Muffins

It was my eldest daughter's 11th birthday last April 9, and she requested that I make these Sugar Crusted Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Muffins which she really loves! Of course, I granted her request...

I baked a dozen thinking that it would be enough 'coz she only invited four of her close friends. But just a few minutes after I took them out of the oven, the hubs ate a piece, and then another. And when Clarise and Cherlin got home from school, both of them ate two pieces each for snack...and then Ryan ate another one. So, there were only 5 pieces left and the party hasn't even started yet. I didn't have time to make another batch so Clarise suggested that we just keep the remaining ones instead of serving them to her friends. Please, don't think that my daughter was being selfish...she just loves them so much! You know, these muffins are really good...so you just can't help coming back for more. I found the recipe for this over a year ago at Simply Scratch and I've been making it often since then. The sugary, crispy crust and the soft chocolatey  texture inside made my whole family fall in love with these muffins! Too bad, Clarise's friends didn't get the chance to try them! Oh well, I also baked a chocolate chip cookie cake and regular size cookies per Clarise's request, so I guess that's more than enough chocolate chip treats for her friends! Besides, I noticed they weren't really concerned about the food. I think being able to spend time with each other chatting, playing and singing was all they really cared about. 

French Macarons with Chocolate Ganache Filling

Making French Macarons has been in my to-try list since I started blogging...but I've read so much about how finicky it is to make. I even remember reading in one article that "making French Macarons takes skill and is not advised for novice bakers". That intimidated me and I decided to just set aside my dream of being able to serve my daughters homemade French Macarons. I was already contented of just buying these treats from a nearby store at $1.50 per small piece (1 inch in diameter) or $12 per dozen...and I never thought I would ever dare to try making them myself! Thanks to my friends at Baking Partners, especially to Vidhya of A Portion to Share and Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen who chose the theme for this month's challenge. Because of them, I was inspired to turn a long time dream into a reality...and now I know that making French Macarons at home is totally do-able and actually not that hard! The troubleshooting guide from Foodnouveau and  howtocookthat's YouTube video provided me everything a first timer French Macaron baker should know! 

I followed a simple French Macaron recipe from Martha Stewart which only requires a few ingredients. I couldn't find almond flour so I decided to just make use of blanched slivered almonds and ground them myself. I've read before that grinding blanched almonds in a food processor won't work. They need to be ground in a special way that prevents them from becoming oily, so I thought I'd use a coffee grinder. Well, it worked well for me. 

All the tutorials I've read suggested that to be more accurate, weighing the ingredients is better compared to just measuring them in cups. I stick to using cups though, but I see to it that everything is exactly measured. I must say that I really had a great first time experience in making French Macarons, and I've learned that if you just measure everything accurately and not over beat the meringue nor over mixed the batter, even the most novice baker can make good French Macarons! The only difficulty I had was shaping them into equal sizes. I even printed templates for 1 inch circles and put them between the cookie sheet and the non-stick parchment paper that I lined it with...but my macs still came out in different sizes. :) Oh well, you can't expect much from a first timer, right? But my daughters said my macs tasted a lot better compared to these ones they usually eat. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake for My Princess Cherlin

Today is my youngest daughter's 7th birthday...a day she has been anticipating since the start of 2012. Just like any other typical girl her age, she has been very excited and busy planning about it for months now --- from the food she wants to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the treats she wants to bring to school for her classmates, down to how she wants her birthday party to be. As her mom, it's (of course) my job to make it all happen. :) Oh well, I'm glad that her wishes aren't out of this world! They are actually simple and attainable. She said all she wants is a Nintendo 3DS or an mp3 player...a cookie cake, and a princess themed party where she can invite her friends. She also requested that I prepare fried rice with sausage and egg for breakfast and pancit canton and egg rolls for dinner. For lunch, she asked that her dad and I bring her McDonald's Chicken Nuggets and french fries in school. 

Well, Mommy Tina got everything covered! :) Yesterday, while she was in school, I made her a chocolate chip cookie cake. This morning, she was so thrilled to see it and her birthday gift when she woke up. The breakfast I prepared for her also gave her so much delight. Can you see her big smile??? I know she seems more happier with the DS, but she told me she loved everything and I believe her. :)

During lunch, Ryan and I went to school to eat with Cherlin. She was really happy to have both of us there. It's usually just me so it's a big deal to have daddy this time. For dinner, we'll be having her requested pancit canton and egg rolls. That's pretty much her birthday celebration today...but on Saturday, she'll have her princess party, which she's really looking forward to! I made the personalized invitations and I was able to send them out last week...

Chocolate Cake with Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting

More than two decades ago, I prayed for someone who will love me truly...and yes, God answered that prayer! He gave me Ryan...the man who has been by my side for the past 19 years and who's now my husband and father of my two beautiful girls. He is all that I've asked for and many more...he's a wonderful and loving husband, a great father, a good and loyal lover and friend, and above all that, my hero and strength. I'm truly lucky to be blessed with a man like him in my life.

Today is his birthday, and as he turns 39, all I wish and pray is that God will keep him healthy and give him long life so we could spend more wonderful years together. I can’t remember life before him, and I never want to imagine life without him.  I love him so much and growing old with him is one of those things that I truly look forward to...

Because it's a special day, I want to share something special with you! This is one of Ryan's favorites among the few cakes that I make. It's a simple chocolate cake which is actually the same one I made for Clarise's birthday last year but the filling/frosting is what makes it a big hit to Ryan! It's freshly made cherry compote mixed with cream cheese...which are both Ryan's favorite. Does it sound good to you??? Well, I tell you, it really is!

As you join me in wishing Ryan a happy birthday, check out this recipe and see for yourself the goodness that this cake has to offer...

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Of all the kitchen gadgets I have, my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker is one of my favorites, especially during the summer. I have it for more than a year now and I must say that I love it! It makes ice cream making at home a lot of fun for me and my daughters! Getting the right consistency of ice cream takes a fair amount of agitation and movement, and that is what you'll need an ice cream maker for. Though it's not a big necessity, making homemade ice cream is a lot convenient with it --- it makes the process of freezing the ingredients easier!

Check out this Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream that my daughters and I made using our Cuisinart Ice Crean Maker...

This is a non-custard version of the recipe I got from Just One Cookbook. Non-custard style ice cream is made without eggs and does not require cooking that's why I prefer it. All the ice cream I've been making are all non-custard, and I must say that there's very little difference in texture and they're as rich and tasty! You should try it! 

Worry, not because you can also make this even if you don't have an ice cream maker. You can find the instructions below...

No-Bake Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

“I know I should let go, but it never really leaves me.
Every morning, I wake up and forget just for a second that it happened. 
But once my eyes open it buries me like a landslide of sharp, sad rocks.
Once my eyes open, I’m heavy, like there’s too much gravity pressing on my heart.”

― Sarah Ockler (Twenty Boy Summer)

Yesterday was really so hard for me to get through. "Why?", you might ask. You see, it was my Mom's death anniversary. She passed away 5 years ago, and it truly has left an emptiness in my life. Everyday, I miss her terribly. I think of her all the time and feel sad for every special event she has missed. There are so many situations in my life when I wonder what she'd do or how she'd handle it. But every July 19th, it's even harder for me...and yesterday was no exception, I felt too much grief as if it just happened. I woke up in extreme sadness! I called my Tatay (dad) in the Philippines, hoping that it would somehow ease the pain I feel. Oh well, it didn't! It just made me miss my mom even more. I knew I have to find something to do so I told the girls we'll go to the pool for a swim, but Cherlin said she didn't want to coz she's too tan already from our Florida vacay. (What??? A 6 yr-old concerned of how tan she is! Oh my!!!) She suggested that we just eat breakfast together and then watch something on Netflix, and maybe bake something. Clarise agreed saying that she'd rather stay home than go out and feel the intense Texas heat, 103°F that is. So that's what my daughters and I did...we stayed home, enjoyed some good family movies on Netflix and made this No-Bake Dulce de Leche Cheesecake in the afternoon...

With the help of my daughters, I managed to survive the day. But just by the amount of time I spent in the kitchen yesterday, my family could tell that it was not an ordinary day for me. On a regular summer day, I only cook for dinner, and sometimes when I'm too lazy, I just prepare Costco bought frozen dumplings or chicken wings, or simply heat up left-overs. But yesterday, I cooked seafood ramen for lunch, made the dulce de leche cheesecake in the afternoon and cooked stir-fried bean thread noodles with sardines for dinner. I was in the kitchen half of the day just to keep myself from sad thoughts. Just as always, it worked. Though I have that heavy feeling in my heart, I made it through the day without being too miserable. But I tell you, it was hard! The pain of losing my mother was bugging me the whole time...and at the end of the day, I realized that everything I cooked (the ramen, the stir-fried bean thread noodles and the cheesecake) kinda symbolize long life. As you know, noodles and round cakes in the Philippines are served for birthdays because they symbolize longevity. I guess at the back of my mind, I am really wishing that my mother is still with us and what happened on July 19, 2007 didn't actually happen. :(

Anyway, so much for that! It's Friday and I don't want to ruin your good mood, so let me go to the recipe now...

Tres Leches Cupcakes with Mango Frosting

Happy 4th of July! I wanted to bring you something red, white and blue today...but my family and I are still here in the Sunshine State, enjoying our 2-week vacation, so I'll share with you these delicious cupcakes instead...
 
My daughters and I made these Tres Leches Cupcakes with Mango Frosting for Ryan last Father's Day...and I tell you they are super dooper yummy and Ryan really liked them! The mango frosting worked so well on the three milk cupcakes which are baked and then soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream mixture. These are a bit time consuming to make because of the soaking part, but it will be all worth it in the end. You should try it!

No-Bake Rocky Road Bars

My daughters are already on their 3rd week of summer vacation, and they are really loving it so far! Aside from swimming, going to the library, playing video games and watching Korean telenovelas, they have been helping out in the kitchen a lot. During the past two weeks, making homemade shakes and ice cream or baking cookies with me have been part of their daily routine, and last Friday, they made these...

 

They said they wanted to make something for their dad (Aren't they the sweetest???)...and because they know how much Ryan loves rocky road, they wanted to make another rocky road treat for him. They remembered that Ryan really enjoyed the No-Bake Rocky Road Bars that I made before, and since I just made Rocky Road Ice Cream last week, all the ingredients they needed were available in the pantry. With no second thoughts, they said they will make rocky road bars for their dad on their own...and guess what? They did it! All I did was prepare all the ingredients and take pictures. They did the rest, and I must say that they did a good job! Clarise and Cherlin's No-Bake Rocky Road Bars came out perfect and Ryan loved them!

I know that this is just a very easy and simple recipe, but I really find it so amazing for kids like my girls to take the effort in making something special for their parent/s. I am truly proud of how thoughtful and sweet they are, so I want to share this with you! :) 

These are yummy treats that you can make with your kids. I'm pretty sure that you will have fun making and eating these!