Category Archives: Snacks

January 22, 2012 · 10:35 am

Banana Bites

Sometimes, I just want a bite for dessert.

Just one little perfect bite to complete a delicious meal.

So….I made bites!!

I have to warn you though…they’re frozen bites.

Listen, I know it’s really cold outside.  I know ice and snow cover the trees right now.  I know this because I will officially be cold all all all the time until May and I hate hate hate hate it.

(Word repetition for emphasis.  I really mean it).

I know better than most that it is a really bad time to eat frozen things that will just complete your transformation into ice cube by chilling from the inside.

But…this is a banana, peanut butter, chocolate situation.

It’s warmth for your heart.

Sometimes, we make exceptions.

This is a banana. Chunked.

This is a banana and peanut butter.

That’s quite the stylish hairdo you’ve got there, banana.

A peanut butter hat AND a chocolatey plunge into dreamy silky chocolate drippy deliciousness?

Some guys have all the luck.

aaaaand FREEZE!

Now go have a bite.

The banana gets so creamy it might as well be ice cream.  With crunchy peanut butter these remind me of those Snickers ice cream bars!

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

Banana Bites

Recipe from pictures on pinterest.  I found a recipe AFTER I did this here and it’s pretty much exactly what I did.

A banana or two

Some peanut butter

Some chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup)

some milk (about 1/4 cup)

1. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper…that’s where you’ll put your drippy bites so it’s good to be prepared

2. Slice bananas into little medallions..how thick depends on how much banana you want in each bite.  Mine were about 1/2 inch to and inch

3. Spoon a bit of peanut butter on top of each banana slice.  Again..how much is entirely up to you.  Don’t go too crazy, though.  It should still fit within the area of a banana slice =)

4. Put the chocolate chips and milk in the container you’re going to use for dipping.  Deep-ish is good because you want to get the whole banana bit in there and completely covered.  Microwave in 10-15 second increments until the chips easily combine with the milk.  Mine was ready in 30 seconds

5.  One by one, place each banana/peanut butter slice on a fork (so that the excess chocolate can run off) and somehow cover it with the chocolate/milk mixture.  You can spoon chocolate over the banana, dip the fork in, or just drop the banana in there and fish it out with a fork.  Not gonna lie…that’s what I did.

6. Arrange on the wax-lined cookie sheet and freeze overnight or until they’re little frozen bites of heaven.  Remove from the sheet and store in the freezer in an airtight container.

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December 31, 2011 · 4:05 pm

Cheesy Spicy Corn Muffins

ENOUGH with the cookies and sweets!!

We’re going the opposite direction now….

We’re going spicy.

Also cheesy.

Yes, salt is involved.

Sugar plays a minor role.

Make mini muffins for an awesome appetizer tonight!

They’re spicy and fun.

Don’t worry, though, you can control the heat level-from none at all to “help my face is on fire”.

I made pleasantly sneakily spicy!

We’re talking thin crunchy outer layer, moist, cheesy inside, just the right amount of heat to finish it off…

You want these. Let’s do this thing.

The requisite bowl o’ flour

Oil, sugar, eggs in a different bowl.  Then cornmeal comes to play! Man I love cornbread.

Now…let’s talk about peppers.  Peppers can be tricky.

I used serrano because that’s all they had at the store and let me tell you what…I was nervous.

I was nervous because I’m used to jalapeno peppers. I know how spicy they are, I know how much seed-age to include so my muffins are nicely spicy instead of flaming little balls of lava.

I looovveee spicy food. But you know…there’s a limit.  At some point it’s just not enjoyable.

Luckily, we have this thing called the internet.  You’re on it right now in fact.

So I did a little research and kind of took a guess..

and it was a winner!

Spicy levels are tricky because something that is flaming out of control spicy to one person could be barely anything to the next person.

I found a site that uses a little chili pepper rating system.  I like it because I can compare spicy levels of peppers I’m familiar with.

Jalapenos got 3 little peppers.  Serrano got 4. Habanero (the crazy ones) got 5.

Got it.

Peppers get their heat from their seeds.  If you take the seeds out you take the heat out.  I needed 4 serrano peppers to make 1/2 cup but including 4 peppers worth of seeds would have been straight up batty.  I included only 1/2 of 1 pepper’s seeds in the batter.  That gave the muffins a hint of heat that kind of sneaks up on you.  Totally manageable.

Honestly…I like things spicier…I would have liked a whole pepper’s worth of seeds.

Half a pepper is a good crown pleaser, though.  Choose your own adventure.

(Side note: I hate those choose your own adventure books.  I used to get so overwhelmed because I wanted to read every possible version of the story and I would lose track of what decisions I had already made.  Terrible. Also not at all relevant.)

Now that you’re finished agonizing over your pepper seeds (sorry to do that to you)…throw them in your batter with some cheese.

This is another choose your own adventure situation.

The specific amount of cheese I added comes to about “2 big handfuls”

I should have measured but…I didn’t. Sorry.  1/2 cup is skimpy I’ll tell you that.  You need at least a cup.

Also, I used sharp cheddar.  You can use whatever you want! Or none at all! Or green onions instead of peppers! Or herbs! Or just cheese! Or shoot…throw some honey in there instead of savory! Add in some bacon! Chop up a hot dog and make them corn dog muffins!

Whoa…things just got weird.

Anyway…fill some well greased muffin tins about 3/4 full, bake and voila!

Mine aren’t mini but yours could be!

Savory muffins tonight then sweet muffins tomorrow morning?

I think yes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May all your resolutions come true.

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

Cheesy Spicy Corn Muffins

Recipe slightly adapted from here

1½ cups King Arthur unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup whole or 2% milk
½ cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup diced serrano pepper, including 1/2 of 1 pepper’s seeds
1- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

**Oven 400 degrees F

  1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and set aside
  2. In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs and milk.
  3. Add  cornmeal and flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined.  The batter will still be lumpy, that’s ok.
  4. Fold in the pepper and cheese (or whatever you’re adding if anything)
  5. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 400 degrees F for 17-20 minutes until cooked through and lightly brown on top

Enjoy as an appetizer or with a hot cup of chilli or soup! Makes 1 dozen regular sized muffins

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December 8, 2011 · 10:34 pm

Granola Bars

Ohhh yeaaah I made granola bars today!!

Feeling like a cool kid.

What have you done today?

(that sounded confrontational…it was really just curious…let’s not fight)

I was pretty much expecting to end up with bricks on my first shot at granola bars.

Instead I got chewy deliciousness that even my breakfast-hater of a boyfriend (horror of horrors) would eat for breakfast UNPROMPTED!

Great success!

No further ado…I ramble far to much…let’s let the food speak for itself.

Today’s post brought to you by: bits.

Granola bits:

Hmm..granola bits as still life?

(I threw a handful of the granola bits on a cutting board so you could see…don’t I look clever and artsy? What does this photo say to you?)

Oh don’t worry…chocolate made an appearance at this bits bash

Duh.

As great as they are…bits, alone, do not a granola bar make.

Bring on the pumpkin (my last can!)

Also some “autumn spices,” if you will…because it IS still autumn.

And I WILL put winter off as long as possible.

Honey holds it together.

Throw in the oats (not a bit…actually a lot) and you’ve got yourself some delicious granola goop!

Pressed into a pan as tightly as possible then baked for a BIT (man this word is everywhere)…

Smile!

You’ve got granola bars and the sun came out today.

Life. Is. Good.

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

Pumpkin Granola Bars

Recipe adapted from a million different recipes…I kind of made this up

1/2 cup chocolate (I chopped up some old Hershey’s kisses…still workin my way through them)

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup cashews (chopped)

1/2 cup almonds (slivered or at least chopped)

1/3 cup pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon oil

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ginger

2/3 cup honey

2 c oats

1.  Mix your bits (chocolate through almonds) in a bowl and set them aside.  The bits are flexible. You can use whatever you have on hand/prefer.  Different nuts? M&Ms? Craisins?  Coconut? Go for it.  Very flexible.

2. Combine the pumpkin, vanilla, oil and spices in a large bowl.

3. Stir in the honey then add the oats and bits

4. Press press press the mixture into a square pan as tightly as you can.  I probably didn’t press enough…they aren’t as tightly packed as I would like and fall apart a little bit

5.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes (depending on the size of your pan) or until the edges turn golden brown

6.  Let cool completely before attempting to cut them. Cut into squares or bars or whatever shape you like and enjoy!

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