I love trying new techniques and I love using patterns on my cakes. I have seen this mosaic tile look on cakes and I was ready to try it out. And since I’m obsessed with chevron right now (check out this and this cake) I knew this cake was going to incorporate that pattern. Lucky for me, the friends that I made the cake for are also loving chevron right now. It’s probably a Pinterest thing. The party was to celebrate birth of their daughter, Julia and I was given the freedom to make a cake in any style I wanted.
I had purchased a peony cutter set a while ago and finally got the chance to make gum paste peonies! Nobody at the party believed they were made of sugar until the kids started eating them.
This was a really fun and elegant cake for a newborn! I loved playing with the mosaic fondant tile look and cant wait to use this technique again!
I have a confession to make. I don’t challenge myself enough in the kitchen. I love experimenting, but with two young kids around, I just don’t want my kitchen adventures to fail. I don’t have a lot of time to waste! and while I love participating in the Kosher Connection link-up (a group of bloggers that share a recipe each month with the same theme), I often find myself skipping them. Sometimes I run out of time, but mostly, the theme is too hard! This month’s theme is smoked or smoky food. I was determined to share a smoked or smoky dessert!
I have never come across a smoked dessert before. The first thing that came to mind was smoked salt. I could make chocolate chip cookies with smoked sea salt. My problem was, I don’t have any smoked salt. I did a little research and discovered that it’s actually quite pricey, but I could make my own with some wood chips on the grill. Perfect, except I don’t have any wood chips handy either. It would be so much fun for me to experiment with smoking salt, but again, I don’t have time to run around searching for ingredients and other supplies. I needed a more accessible recipe, with easy to find ingredients. After lots of internet browsing I came across a comment somewhere that recommended adding liquid smoke to your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I knew I had to try it! Liquid smoke is easy to find; I have seen it countless times and was always tempted to buy it, but never knew what I would do with it. This was my chance!
I decided to use oil instead of margarine in this recipe because I know a lot of people prefer to bake with oil over margarine and I wanted to keep these cookies dairy free. I bought a hickory flavored liquid smoke and replaced some of the vanilla extract with it. It’s extremely concentrated, a little bit goes a long way! These cookies are a perfect dessert for a summer barbecue and that’s exciting because most desserts associated with barbecue are smores and fruit. It’s fun to mix it up and offer something new. The smokiness in these cookies really compliment the sweetness of the chocolate chips. I love the intensity and rich background flavor the liquid smoke offers. These are definitely not your average chocolate chip cookie!
I love bananas, but I often find myself with overripe ones. I usually peel them and stash them in a ziplock in the freezer for smoothies. But how many frozen bananas do I need to keep on hand?! So I am always on the hunt for desserts using bananas. I’ve shared my recipe for strawberry banana crumb cake, banana muffin top cookies, and even a Passover banana muffin. But I needed more! So I’m sharing this recipe for peanut butter banana chocolate chip cookies.
The original recipe from Mommy Matter was for a peanut butter banana cookies; adding chocolate chips just seemed obvious to me! The cookies don’t spread all that much so I suggest pressing them down with the tines of a fork just like a classic peanut butter cookie before baking. My version freezes really well and is dairy free.
I was able to make these cookies when my son Charlie took an unexpected nap. When he woke up, Charlie got to snack on fresh cookies! He was really happy with these cookies, he didn’t stop at just one!
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the margarine with the brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the peanut butter and banana and beat until smooth.
Add in the egg and beat until smooth.
Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla and mix on low until the dough forms.
Add in the chocolate chips and mix until chips are incorporated.
Scoop cookies onto parchment lined cookie sheet using a medium sized cookie scoop. Press the top of each cookie in two directions with a fork to slightly flatten.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are slightly golden brown.
This was a really fun and elegant cake for a newborn! I loved playing with the mosaic fondant tile look and cant wait to use this technique again!
