Halloween Idea: Ghoulish Banana Pops

You guys.  I just realized that we're moving next week.  Next week!  Pardon me while I run up and down our street, screaming my head off and waving my arms in frantic circles.

Yowza.

Food Rule 68 and Banana Pudding

Attention, please!  Raise your hand if you're incapable of eating just one cookie off the still piping hot baking sheet.

Anyone??

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who has zero willpower when it comes to a tray full of warm cookies!  I can be utterly diligent with my meals and snacks all day, but put a tray of homemade cookies in front of me, and I'll inhale 7 of them before I've realized that my hand was even moving to grab them.  It's awful.  So, you can imagine how much I struggle with this food rule:

And I'm pretty sure that it doesn't mean I should grab all 7 cookies at once, haha.  One easy way to keep desserts portion controlled is to divide them into dishes as you make the recipe.  And what better portioned out - and pretty - dessert than a layered pudding?  Dividing this recipe into individual glasses keeps me from sneaking spoonfuls and not paying attention to how much I'm actually eating.  Perfect!

The other thing to note is that by using unsweetened almond milk instead of dairy milk, we shave nearly 200 calories off the recipe.  I use almond milk for a lot of things (ranch dressing, even), so I was excited to make a treat that was not only nondairy (aka "Sara-safe"), but one that saved me a few calories to boot.  You can go ahead and make this recipe using dairy milk or a mix of dairy and almond milk; it's up to you.

Yummmmmmm,

         

Banana Pudding
adapted from Food Network magazine Jan/Feb 2012

2 c. plain unsweetened almond milk
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
pinch of kosher salt
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large bananas
6 graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces (or Nilla wafer cookies)
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder or cinnamon

Heat the almond milk in a saucepan over medium heat until almost simmering, whisking often.  Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch, salt, sugar, and egg in a medium heatproof bowl. Temper the egg mixture:  Pour about half of the hot milk into the bowl and whisk vigorously until smooth. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking vigorously, until thick and starting to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally.  The pudding will continue to thicken as it cools.

While the pudding is cooling, cut the bananas into thin slices. Layer a few banana slices, a few pieces of graham cracker and 2 tablespoons of the prepared pudding in each of 4 glasses; sprinkle with cocoa or cinnamon, then repeat to make 2 more layers. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for an hour. Makes 4 servings.

       

Ingredient Lineup:

Tempering the eggs isn't as tricky as it may seem!

Just think of when your hands are frozen on a cold day, and the last thing you should do

is put them straight into hot water.  Ditto for eggs!

You'll put a little of the hot mixture into the cooler eggs, whisking to mix in evenly.  

Then you'll whisk the warmed up egg mixture into the pot on the burner
to bring the entire milk-egg liquid up to boiling. Tempering accomplished!

Better For You Banana Bread

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to muck with my Mom's Banana Bread recipe to see what I could do to make it a smidge healthier.  I nixed all the white flour, cut the butter in half, got rid of a third of the sugar, added a banana, and threw in graham flour for some whole grains and fiber.

Wait.  Whoa.  Graham flour?  Yeah, I had no idea that it even existed until I bumped into a recipe calling for it a few months back.  According to the Whole Foods website, Graham flour is "Hard whole wheat flour with a coarse and flaky outer bran layer and finely ground germ. Though its most famous use is in crackers, it adds texture to all baked goods."  Basically, it's like using whole wheat flour and wheat germ.  Most sites say to substitute graham for part of the white flour in a recipe.  I decided to go all out and eliminate every speck of the white flour.  Survey says?  Yum!! 

I'm really, really happy with how my recipe mods turned out.  While it's still not what I'd call health food, it tastes scrumptious, and it's a little bit healthier than the original version.  We rate it a big 5 Spoons, and I'll be adding this recipe to my permanent collection.

Enjoy!

Better For You Banana Bread

1/4 c. unsalted butter, room temp

2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. Graham flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. mashed, overripe bananas (3 large or 4 medium)
1/4 c. buttermilk **

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Stir flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl and set aside.  Using a mixer with a large or medium bowl, cream butter and sugar on low speed, scraping the bowl and beater often.  Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.  Add in dry ingredients, half at a time, scraping the bowl between each addition.  Add the mashed bananas, mixing until combined.  Scrape the bowl and then pour in the buttermilk, mixing until combined.  Pour batter into prepared baking pan, and bake for approximately an hour, or until it passes the toothpick test.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a cooling rack.  Allow to completely cool before slicing with a serrated knife.

** Note 1:  If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute 1/2 c. sour cream.  Or you can "make" buttermilk by stirring 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar into 1/4 c. regular milk.  Let the lemon juice-milk mixture "sour" while you're mixing all the other banana bread ingredients.

** Note 2:  When I buy buttermilk for a recipe, I divide up the entire carton into 1 cups and freeze them in individual quart size freezer bags.  This way, I always have buttermilk on hand, and I don't waste leftovers.  I've used thawed buttermilk in my cornbread and banana bread recipes with great results.

Behold, Graham Flour:

It looks (and is) like wheat flour with wheat germ.

Ingredient lineup.

(Note:  I use my pastry blender to mash bananas.)

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Yum City.