Banana Cupcakes (better)

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 bananas (abt 1 1/2 cups) mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups flour

Cream the sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in mashed bananas. Alternate sour cream and flour mixed with soda and baking powder. I use 1/4 cup batter for each cupcake and got 33 cupcakes. Frost with the Cinnamon Honey Frosting. These are more like cake. The previous post is more like banana bread. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Cinnamon Honey Frosting:

1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Cream (abt tablespoon)
Beat until smooth and creamy.

BANANA CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON-HONEY FROSTING

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired.

Honey-Cinnamon Frosting
• 2 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes.

This is a Martha Stewart recipe and I got 15 cupcakes. When making the frosting I only used ½ stick of butter and thinned with a little cream. I used a little more cinnamon and honey, too.

Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons crème de cacao
• 1/3 cup rum
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)
• Whipped cream (optional)

Preparation

• Place butter in a 13- x 9-inch pan; place in a 350° oven for 5 minutes or just until melted. Remove from oven, and coat pan with cooking spray. Add brown sugar and cinnamon, stirring well. Spread mixture in pan.
• Cut 3 bananas diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices on brown sugar mixture in 4 lengthwise rows; cover and set aside.
• Combine mashed banana and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients; add to mashed banana mixture, beating on low speed just until blended. Pour batter evenly over sliced banana in pan.
• Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 2 minutes; loosen cake from sides of pan with knife, and invert onto a large rectangular serving platter.
• Drizzle crème de cacao over cake. Heat rum in a small saucepan just until simmering; ignite with a long match. Spoon rum over cake with a long-handled spoon. Serve warm cake with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

From myrecipes.com

Chicken Crunch

Ingredients

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup milk

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups Herb Seasoned Stuffing, crushed

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir 1/3 cup soup and 1/4 cup milk in a shallow dish. Coat the chicken with the flour. Dip the chicken in the soup mixture. Coat the chicken with the stuffing. Place the chicken onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with the butter.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Heat the remaining soup and milk in a 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Serve the soup mixture with the chicken.

Strawberry Fruit Dip

Ingredients
1 large container strawberry yogurt

8 oz strawberry cream cheese

1 pint whipping or heavy cream

strawberry or berry jam to taste (about 1/4-1/2 cup)

Directions
Beat cream cheese till smooth. Add yogurt and beat till smooth again. In a separate bowl beat whipping cream with 1 tsp vanilla and 2 Tbsp sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold into yogurt mixture. Add jam to taste. Chill in refrigerator. Serve with sliced fruit.

Fresh Raspberry Bars

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Softened butter (for brushing sides of foil)
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam or preserves 1 pint (2 cups) fresh raspberries
1/2 of an 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
4 oz. goat cheese (chévre) or 4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 Tbsp. finely shredded lemon peel (zest)
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla Powdered sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with a 24-inch-long sheet of aluminum foil, leaving extra foil extending over ends (use these later to lift bars from pan); set aside. In a large bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until it just begins to blend and soften slightly, about 30 seconds.
2. Add brown sugar and salt, beat on low speed until incorporated, 30 seconds to 1 minute. You're not trying to cream it, you're just mixing it in, Scott says. With mixer off, add the 2 cups flour. Beat on low speed until flour is incorporated. Increase speed to medium, mix until ingredients form an even, cohesive dough. "People tend to undermix shortbread, which makes it too crumbly," Scott says. "It's tough to overmix because of the amount of butter we use."
3. Break dough into small chunks and distribute in prepared pan; with your fingers press dough into an even layer (photo 2). Bake 20 minutes or until dough has begun to puff and is just set. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes.
4. Lightly brush exposed sides of foil with softened butter to keep filling from sticking. Spread jam evenly over crust
5. Sprinkle evenly with raspberries.
6. With a lemon zester, remove peel from lemon, making sure to avoid bitter white pith "For the most flavor, you want to do this right before baking," Scott says.
7. In a large bowl beat cream cheese and goat cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Mix in granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon flour until blended. With mixer running, add egg, egg yolk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
8. Pour custard batter evenly over berries .Tilt pan back and forth to distribute evenly. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until barely set. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cool, about 1 hour; cover and transfer to refrigerator. Chill 2 hours. Top will crack slightly as it cools.
9. Use foil to lift the bars from pan. With a knife or metal spatula, support the sides of the bars while you gently peel the foil downward and away from sides of the bars.
10. Cut into long bars, peel foil from bottom, and transfer to cutting boars using side of a long knife or spatula (photo 11). "Cutting first on the foil results in cleaner edges," Scott says. Cut into 24 squaresSprinkle very lightly with powdered sugar. "It's much more interesting with just the rumor of sugar on top," Scott says.

Makes 24 bars. Nutrition Facts Calories209, Total Fat (g)12, Saturated Fat (g)7, Monounsaturated Fat (g)3, Polyunsaturated Fat (g)1, Cholesterol (mg)48, Sodium (mg)88, Carbohydrate (g)23, Total Sugar (g)12, Fiber (g)1, Protein (g)3, Vitamin C (DV%)8, Calcium (DV%)3, Iron (DV%)4, This is from the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I used frozen unsweetened raspberries and jam with seeds. These are divine!

Frosted Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Bars

2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspooons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Combine brown sugar and melted butter and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Stir in dry ingredients and mix and then stir in chocolate chips. Spread in greased 9x13 pan. Bake 25 minutes at 350º. Do NOT overbake. Spread with frosting after cool. Frosting: 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1-2 tablespoons milk. Beat well.