As soon as the summertime rolls around I find myself buying way too many strawberries. They look so sweet and delicious that I can’t resist. But sometimes we just can’t finish them all. Instead of freezing the strawberries as is, I thought it would be way more fun to make them into ice pops. This recipe is so quick and simple, no cooking required. It’s just four ingredients to blend and freeze! Most ice pop recipes call for some sort of fruit juice but to keep these really light and refreshing I used coconut water. The flavor of the coconut doesn’t come through at all. I also used pure maple syrup instead of white sugar to sweeten the pops. I like the flavor the maple syrup gives these treats and since it’s liquid, there is no need to cook the sugar to dissolve it. These are so refreshing delicious, I make sure to have them in my freezer all summer long. Check out some more delicious recipes that my friends brought to our virtual BBQ after the recipe.
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 is a very exciting time! A fun and creative set of Kosher bloggers and I formed a cute little club just about a year ago. Once a month we like to challenge ourselves and choose one topic to all blog about. It has been a lot of fun and I have made some great friends in the process! This month we wanted to celebrate by doing something a little different: a Great Blog Swap! We were randomly matched with another blog and asked to use a recipe found by a fellow blogger to inspire a new dish. I was assigned Bizzy Bakes. She had a lot of dessert recipes for me to dig into, but none of them really inspired me. I wanted to do something different and fun. Then I came across this strawberry banana smoothie recipe and the wheels started turning. I knew I had to make a strawberry banana cake! I’ve never heard of one and it’s weird because strawberries and bananas are a match made in dessert heaven!
I have to admit, this was my second attempt at a strawberry banana dessert. My first try involved a bundt pan and way too much strawberry jam. The cake tasted delicious, but looked like a mess and I was not a happy camper. Instead of trying to perfect a bundt cake, I went more rustic with a round crumb cake baked in a springform pan. This recipe would also work nicely in classic 9×13 inch cake pan, but I have something against baking in squares and rectangles. I can never get each piece to be exactly the same size and that bugs me every time.
I combined a bunch of different recipes to create the perfect crumb cake. The banana cake layer is moist and dense. I cut the sugar in the cake because the strawberry pie filling is extremely sweet and cutting back on the sugar in the cake helps to balance out the sweetness. The crumbs bake up brown and crunchy, a perfect balance to the tender cake. I know I used canned pie filling and if that’s not your thing, make your own filling. I like to cut corners once in a while. I can whip this cake up in a pinch as long as I have some pie filling in the cupboard, and it looks absolutely beautiful. Best of all, my recipe is non-dairy and printable!
½ cup margarine (I used earth balance buttery sticks)
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3 overripe bananas
2 cups flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp salt
Crumb Topping
¼ cup margarine, melted (I used earth balance buttery sticks)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¾ cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 9x3 inch round springform pan.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat margarine and sugar until combined.
Add in the vanilla and the eggs and mix until combined.
Add the bananas and mix until broken down.
Finally add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until incorporated.
Pour into prepared springform pan and spread evenly.
Top with the strawberry pie filling.
Prepare the crumb topping by melting the margarine and mixing it with the sugars, flour, cinnamon, and salt.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the strawberry layer.
Bake for 55-60 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
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This blog swap was super fun, now here’s where you can get in on the action. We are hosting an amazing giveaway! We are giving away two prizes from Emile Henry. A Bread Clochevalued at $130 and a 4.2 qt Dutch Oven valued at $170! Use the Rafflecopter below to enter- you can enter up to 23 ways! Two winners will be chosen at random.
The contest winners will be contacted via email. They will have 48 hours to respond before other winners are chosen. This contest is open to United States residents over the age of 18. Good luck!
