National Pancake Day - Amy's Way

So since it is still fair season, I thought I would do something kind of fair-like... Churro Pancakes.
Ok so they are super simple and according to my growing son, they are Super GOOD! So good, he had them for breakfast and requested them again for dinner tonight. 

So my inspiration came from Pinterest.... DUH.  I got it here!
I was trying to be creative with my pancakes, and the juices just weren't flowing... I think my brain has too much going on at the moment, so I turned to my handy dandy friend, Pinterest. I know I can always count on her. So much good advice to offer. So thank you Penny (Pinterest)... 
Introducing......


 CHURRO PANCAKES!

So I do have to say..... I went the super simple way... Its call Krusteaz! and on some of the blogs that I looked at they actually fried the pancakes in butter and cinnamon sugar. I on the other hand... just buttered both sides and sprinkled away! No extra frying here.

So whip up a quick batch of pancakes, butter and sprinkle away.... wah-lah!

National Pancake Day - Kim's Way

I have a really good basic pancake recipe.  I make it all the time.  It seems to me that in honor of National Pancake Day, we ought to have something more than basic pancakes, right?  And so I thought of all sorts of great pancakes I have made in the past:  pumpkin pancakes, banana pancakes, butter pecan pancakes... but then I remembered this pin, and decided I would try something I haven't made before.  It seemed perfect to make ahead and have ready - each person gets what they like with little extra effort.

Kim's Pancakes
(I don't remember where I got this recipe, and I have tweaked it a couple of times since then.) 

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 heaping tablespoon sugar 
1 teaspoon cinnamon (omitted when making bites)
1 teaspoon vanilla (omitted when making bites)
1 1/4 cups milk
2 eggs
3 tablespoons melted butter

Whisk the dry ingredients together, add wet ingredients and stir until most of the lumps are gone.  (Heat a griddle or frying pan, melt a little butter on it or spray with cooking spray or oil, and pour pancakes.  Brown both sides.)


To make the bites - pour pancake batter into greased mini muffin pans, filling 2/3 full, top with crumbled sausage, chopped bacon, chocolate chips, granola, fruit, etc.  Bake at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes.  Dump out of muffin pans and enjoy with syrup!

Confession:  The pancake bites didn't wow me - or the family at all.  Bummer!

Here's the thing - they just seemed like muffins - kinda bland muffins.  Zach thinks it's weird to have syrup on sausage (not my kid), so he ate his dry.  Natalie liked dipping her chocolate chip pancake muffins in syrup.  Jeremy missed out on breakfast today.  I thought they were just ok... nothing to rave over - and certainly not anything blog worthy, especially not Rival worthy.  

So, after making 2 pans of mini pancake bites, I added a few things to the remaining batter... some cinnamon, pecans and coconut, and made some tasty pancakes for myself!

**Hey, did anyone else notice I served Natalie on a paper plate and myself on my dishes?!?  I wasn't planning on using that picture of her.  :)

National Pancake Day- Stacy's way

Seeing as how National Pancake Day falls in the midst of fall harvest season I thought it fitting to mix apples with pancakes. I found the perfect recipe HERE. Happy fall and happy National Pancake Day! I call these...

Flip'n Amazing Apple Ring Pancakes

   1 C. favorite pancake mix 
        (I used Krusteaz)
   1 egg
1/2 C. Milk
   1 tsp. pumpkin pie seasoning
   2 medium apples 
     (I like Honey Crisp) cored

Combine pancake mix, egg, milk, pumpkin pie seasoning, mix with electric mixer until all ingredients are well mixed. Slice apples into 1/8 in. slices. Using a toothpick, dip apple slices and place on hot greased griddle. Cook until golden and flip. Continue cooking until other side is golden. Serve with warm syrup of your choice. 

Notes

• The original recipe also has a recipe for apple cider syrup. The maple syrup with the apple and pumpkin pie spice gave it a delicious fall flavor!  
• My dad used to spread a nice layer of peanut butter on top of his pancakes... I think these would be perfect for that!!
  
  

International Banana Festival Day- Stacy's way

One banana, two banana, three banana, POUR!!! I LOVE bananas. Chips, oatmeal, cookies, bread, COCKTAILS, you name it, if it's banana flavored I can almost guarantee you I will like it. What could be a more fun way to celebrate at a festival or party that to have a special drink or cocktail?? So for National Banana Festival Day I put a banana spin on a classic and turned a White Russian into a:

Banana Russian

2 oz. Banana Rum

1 oz. Kahlua 

1 oz. Heavy Cream 

Ice

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker. Shake well, pour and enjoy.

*Garnish rim of glass with chocolate syrup and a slice of banana. or a strawberry for an ice cream sundae spin! 

International Banana Festival Day- Amy's Way

Bananas Bananas Bananas!

Today was a great day to make a Banana Cake! "Why"? You ask. Well because it is National Banana Festival Day! So after putting a lot of thought into what to make with my well ripened bananas, I decided to go with this super moist, delicious cake, with AwEsOmE cream cheese frosting!

Yummy Yummy Banana Cake

 

 

Using two different recipes, I made this delicious cake. You can find the cake recipe here. In this recipe, they used a vanilla bean frosting, which I'm sure is delicious, but I wanted that cream cheese :) 

 

Frosting Recipe:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz or 1 package of cream cheese softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
31/2 cups of powdered sugar

Cream together butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar until desired consistency.

 

Finger Lickin Good!


International Banana Festival Day - Kim's Way

So after a week off, and two weeks since our last posts, I am back with a banana bang!

Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies.  They are truly one of the flavors of fall for me.  Have you every tried Pumpkin Snickerdoodles?  Yum!  So when I pondered banana recipes for today's post, I decided to substitute banana for pumpkin in that recipe.

So I give you,

Banana Snickerdoodles

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup banana puree

2 large eggs

6 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Please click here for the rest of the directions.  *NOTE:  I doubled the recipe. (Thank you Abby for a great recipe to adapt into these tasty treats.)

These cookies are super delicious!  They are fluffy and cakey – and with the nutmeg, they taste like my favorite banana bread in a cookie!

The photo above sure looks like pumpkin snickerdoodles.  It is raining at my house now and the lack of natural light is hindering my photos!

National Feel the Love Day- Amy's Way

So lets face it... the best way to feel the love is to SHARE!

My lil man here in the house is a great example of this most of the time. I think it warms my heart more than any other when I see him sharing! As I was deciding what to make today, I was thinking of what I could share.


My girlfriend is throwing a baby shower tomorrow and the theme is "She's about to POP"!

I decided I would make POPCORN BALLS. This way I can share the fun and she could use them at the baby shower, and I don't have
to eat them all!!

I found my recipe here: http://www.chow.com/recipes/27804-basic-popcorn-balls.
Pretty easy recipe, but I DO recommend using a candy thermometer. I was going to go buy one when I realized I didn't have one, but reading the reviews, people said that you could do the recipe without. Sooo, I tried without, and I think it would have worked better with.
My advice.... Use the candy thermometer.

National Feel the LOOOOVE Day- Stacy's Way

Nothing warms the bones, or the heart, on a cold day better than a cup of hot cocoa! When I think of when I feel the most loved, or loving, its on the cold winter nights at home when we have a fire going and we are all gathered in the living room watching a movie. What better way to feel the love, than to add a cup of:

Cinnamon Spice Hot Cocoa


   4 Cups of Milk

1/2 Cup of unsweetened          
      cocoa powder 
1/2 Cup of sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ancho chili powder
      Pinch of salt
      Cool Whip




Combine all ingredients in medium sauce pan and whisk until well mixed. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately and top with Cool Whip. 

*For an added touch of LOVE... freeze Cool Whip on cookie sheet and use a cookie cutter to create heart shaped dollop


For original recipe go Here

National Feel the Love Day - Kim's Way

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  However, this is true not only for men, but also for children, and for ME!  

When asked, the Hubs said, aside from chocolate chip cookies, he feels the love when I make cinnamon-y breakfast foods.  *Ah, good to know!*  The little lady of our house particularly likes homemade donuts for breakfast...  The boy - well, he is a teenager, so he just likes sweet foods in general - like mother, like son!

I remembered a recipe I pinned awhile back, and I decided this was the perfect occasion to try it out.  And so... 

Cinnamon Roll Baked Donuts

Donut:

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted regular milk with good results)
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoons vegetable oil

Topping:

1/4 cup butter
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoon milk
2 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon vanilla

Icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

For complete instructions, please visit Buns In My Oven.

Notes:

·   The original recipe makes only 6 donuts.  The ingredient list above is doubled.

·  The topping didn’t bake into the donut as I expected.  MUCH of it stuck in the pan.  They were still delicious.  Next time I make this, I may play with the topping to change the consistency so it might bake in.

·  I put the donut batter in a zipper bag, cut the corner, and piped the batter into the donut pan.