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Hi Everyone! A miserable, rainy day like today definitely calls for a sweet treat, don’t you think? Instead of making my favorite Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Greek Yogurt (or this Nutella Swirled Banana Bread!) with the very ripe bananas that were sitting on the kitchen counter, I made something a little more special (but just as quick and easy!); This Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! Sure, you could just make the cream cheese frosting and eat it with a spoon (just kidding!) but it’s even better spread thick on this banana cake, topped with a handful of chopped nuts! The cake itself is so moist and delicious and makes for a great treat to go with your tea or coffee!

BANANA CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

*Makes one 8 inch cake*

YOU WILL NEED
BANANA CAKE
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or unsalted butter)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tbs baking soda
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
4oz cream cheese, softened
4 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Topping: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. First, preheat your oven to 350 deg F, and grease an 8 inch square (or round) baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and oil (or butter if you’re using butter instead of oil). Next, add in the egg, vanilla extract, applesauce and mashed bananas, and mix until you have a creamy mixture.

2. Next, sift in the rest of the ingredients: all-purpose flour, salt, ground cinnamon and baking soda, and mix until you have a smooth batter (it’ll still have some lumps because of the mashed bananas, which is fine). Using a spatula, fold in the 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans if you’re using them, then pour the batter into your prepared baking pan, and bake for about a half hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (If the cake begins to brown too much on top, you can cover it with a piece of foil to prevent it from burning.)

3. While the banana cake is baking, prepare your cream cheese frosting. This is my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe (it’s a Martha Stewart frosting recipe), and I use half of her original recipe for this cake. To make the frosting, make sure that both the cream cheese and the unsalted butter are at room temperature and completely softened, otherwise you won’t get a smooth frosting out of this! Using the whisk attachment on your mixer, mix together the cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla extract until completely smooth.

4. Once the cake is completely cool, (make sure it is COMPLETELY cool, you don’t want your frosting to melt off the cake!) spread the frosting on top using a spatula. I like to make it look very casual and just make frosting swirls using the spatula, but you can make it look as fancy as you like! I don’t go all the way up to the cake edges, but leave about a half inch border or so, because I think it looks pretty when you can see the cake! At the end, simply sprinkle with more chopped walnuts or pecans!

(*Recipe Notes: I tweaked and combined a couple of my favorite recipes to come up with this Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. You can substitute buttermilk, Greek yogurt, sour cream or plain yogurt for the applesauce that I used here, any of those would work well in a banana cake. You can also substitute butter for the oil that I used here. This cake isn’t overly sweet, which is why the cream cheese frosting works well with it (it’s the same cream cheese frosting I use in these Carrot Cake Cupcakes), but if you prefer a sweeter cake, add in extra granulated sugar, or even brown sugar to the cake batter! And the more ripe the bananas are, the more sweetness they will add to the cake! I make this cake in an 8 inch square baking pan, but you could use a round pan instead, and even double the recipe, and make it into a two layer cake for a special occasion!)

Happy Baking, Everyone!
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Hi Everyone! Happy weekend and happy spring! We had a rather unusual first day of spring here in Maryland yesterday, waking up to cold, snowy weather yesterday morning! It was the coldest first day of spring that I can ever remember, but now the snow has melted, it’s warmer outside, and on our walk at the park today I saw lots of daffodil leaves coming up out of the ground… looks like spring is fighting it’s way through after all! After this long winter, I wanted to bring a little bit of the coming spring indoors and since pansies are some of my favorite spring flowers, I bought a couple of pre-potted ones, re-planted them into a big white bowl and arranged them on the dining table surrounded by hyacinths (more of my spring favorites!) and lots of pastel colored eggs in egg cups! Here’s how I created this Simple Spring & Easter Pansy Centerpiece…

SIMPLE SPRING & EASTER PANSY CENTERPIECE

YOU WILL NEED
3 – 4 pre-potted pansies
Potting soil
Large white bowl

DIRECTIONS
First select your bowl, which is both wide and deep enough for you to plant the pansies in. I used a medium sized simple white “latte bowl” (similar in style to these Anthropologie bowls, but bigger) for mine. Begin by sprinkling a layer of potting soil into your bowl, then carefully taking the pre-potted pansies out of their little plastic pots, and arranging them into the bowl. Add in extra potting soil to fill in the bowl, making sure the flowers are well planted. Water the pansies whenever the surface of the soil feels dry, and make sure they get plenty of sunlight during the day! Planted in a bowl like this, they’ll last for up to a week!

For more Easter projects, check these out:

 
Left: Mossy Easter Eggs (tutorial here) Right: Easter Egg Tree (tutorial here)

And if you liked this Simple Spring & Easter Pansy Centerpiece, check out some of my other flower arrangement ideas here:

 
Left: Teapot Flower Arrangement (tutorial here) Right: How to Create a Flower Arrangement using Grocery Store Flowers (tutorial here)

 
Left: Simple Carnation Flower Arrangement (tutorial here) Right: Repurposed Tea Tin Flower Vases (tutorial here)
I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend, and that this spring is a wonderful one for you! Thanks so much for stopping by today!
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Hello from a snowy winter wonderland, dear friends! I wanted to stop by and share a couple of pictures from our walk through the snow covered nature trails near our home today. The forecast last night called for 4 – 8 inches of snow today, but all we woke up to this morning was rain.  A couple of hours later the rain turned into snow, and another couple of hours later, the world outside transformed itself into a white winter wonderland! We decided to venture out for a walk in the afternoon and even though these pictures really don’t do it justice, I wanted to give you at least a little glimpse of how magical it was!

I love how everything is so quiet and still when it snows. The sparkly snow silently falls on the ground, and as if covers everything with a crisp white silence. Walking through the woods through the fresh snow, it was as if we were the only two people in this quiet world. All you could hear was the crunchy snow beneath our feet, and the occasional bird chirping to remind us that the world wasn’t completely frozen. There is a little path that leads through the woods to a small pond just a couple of feet away, but today, it looked more like a tree lined tunnel leading into snowy infinity.

Every time I walk through heavy snow, I think of my grandpa and how he used to have to walk through the mountains in Slovakia to get to school in the winter. It took him and his friends a couple of hours to get there every morning, and I can’t even imagine how cold and exhausted they must have been by the time they got to school! He said that some days they didn’t even make it there, because the snow was too deep to walk through, so they just had fun playing in the mountains. I guess the 1930’s were a very different world!

We came home covered in snow, our toes close to frozen, and so hungry from walking through all that snow! The day ended on a warm & cozy note; with a big bowl of hearty beef stew, a stack of magazines and a hot cup of tea! What better way to end the day! I found the new issue of Martha Stewart Living in our mailbox today, with the title “Bring on spring!” on the cover… even though I’ve been ready for spring for the past couple of weeks, this beautifully snowy walk was worth enduring the bitter cold weather for a little longer!

The snow is still coming down as I write this, and I’m ready for another hot cup of tea! I hope you’re all staying safe & warm wherever you may be!

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday and happy March! Even though the month started off snowy and icy this weekend, the official beginning of spring is less than three weeks away now! Hopefully the weather catches up with that soon! I wanted to stop by and share a super quick and easy breakfast recipe with you today. One of my favorite sweet breakfasts are banana walnut muffins, and this baked oatmeal is basically those flavors, but in a slightly lighter and healthier oatmeal version! It’s a quick breakfast to throw together and bake off in the morning and it keeps you satisfied at least until lunchtime! If your mornings are very busy, you could bake this off the night before and re-heat a portion every morning, or bake individual little oatmeal cups that you can grab for a quick breakfast on the go!

YOU WILL NEED

2 1/4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups fat-free milk

1 egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 large ripe banana (or 2 medium sized), mashed

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Optional: 1 banana, sliced, to top oatmeal before baking

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla extract. Add in the rolled oats, brown sugar (this oatmeal is not super sweet so add in more sugar and/or honey if you like it sweeter), ground cinnamon and baking powder and stir well, until all ingredients are well combined. Mash a ripe banana (you want the banana to be ripe so you get lots of it sweetness in the oatmeal!) and coarsely chop your walnuts, add both into the oat mixture, and stir to combine. Preheat your oven to 375 deg F.

2. You can either bake this in a baking pan (I use one that measures about 8×10 inches), in which case you will want to very lightly spray it with cooking spray, then pour your mixture in (you can line the bottom with parchment paper to prevent sticking, too). If you want extra banana flavor, add banana slices on top of the oatmeal before baking. Bake for about 25 – 35 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown and the center has set (if the oatmeal begins to brown too much, simply cover it with some foil as it bakes). Or you can bake the oatmeal in individual muffin liners instead, in which case you will want to fill the cups about 3/4 of the way, and bake them for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until they have set and the tops are a light golden brown color. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then serve with fresh fruit, or milk, sprinkled with more chopped nuts!

(*Recipe Notes: If you prefer a sweeter oatmeal, add in some extra sugar, this isn’t overly sweet. You can also substitute honey for the sugar, if you prefer that. The riper the banana, the more sweetness it will add to the oatmeal, too. I use fat-free milk in my baked oatmeal to keep it on the lighter side, but if you want to give it extra richness and creaminess, use a mix of whole milk and half-and-half instead. And if you’re feeling extra indulgent, splash in some heavy cream!)

Happy Baking, Everyone! Have a great week!

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Hello Everyone! I’m so excited to share one of my favorite family recipes with you today, for a Czech sweet bread called Vanocka. Sometimes, especially on the weekends, I really crave a sweet, indulgent breakfast, and this is one of my favorites. A vanocka is a rich, buttery braid filled with raisins and almonds, that’s beautifully golden brown and glossy on the outside (sometimes dusted with confectioners’ sugar), and super soft and rich on the inside; utter heaven in a bite. What’s even better is that you spread it thick with some butter and (preferably homemade) jam… what could be better with a big cup of tea on a lazy weekend morning or cold wintery afternoon! Traditionally, this bread is made for Christmas, but it’s baked and sold in stores all year round, so it’s not necessarily just a holiday treat. This recipe is one that I’ve adapted from my grandmother’s recipe, which we’ve been baking for years. I love the consistency of this dough; it’s so soft and it rises beautifully, making this bread wonderfully rich and fluffy. The perfect slice of home when I’m craving one!

YOU WILL NEED

4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 package instant dry yeast

1 stick (8 tbs) unsalted butter, softened

2 egg yolks

250 ml lukewarm milk (approx. 1 cup + 2 tbs)

Handful of raisins

Handful of sliced almonds

Egg wash: 1 egg & 1 tbs water

Optional: confectioners’ sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl add the dry yeast to the lukewarm water, cover and let sit for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is frothy on top. Then, pour it into the bowl of your electric mixer, and add in the flour, sugar, 2 egg yolks, softened butter and salt, and mix until a soft dough forms. (I usually add in the four cups of flour, and if the dough is still too wet and unworkable, I add in more flour by 1/4 cups, so you may need more than 4 1/2 cups of flour, or may not. The amount of flour I add in differs almost every time, so add in just enough to have a soft dough.) Towards the end, add in the raisins and almonds (reserve enough sliced almonds to sprinkle the top of your braid at the end), and form your dough into a ball. Place in a large, lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size (1 – 2 hours).

2. Once your dough has risen, take it out and divide it into 5 pieces (3 large, and two smaller. The three larger pieces will be for the large bottom braid, the two smaller pieces will be for the “twisted” braid that will go on top of the large braid.) Roll each of your 5 pieces of dough into a rope. The three larger pieces should be rolled into a rope about 22 inches long each, the smaller pieces should be rolled into a rope about 14 inches long each.

3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. With the three longer ropes, make your braid directly on the parchment paper lined baking sheet (braid the ropes like you would your hair, and make sure you don’t braid it too tightly, the braid will expand as it rises again and bakes, so do it pretty loosely. Tuck in the ends underneath). Twist the two shorter braids together, then place them on top of your braid, tucking the ends under too. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise for another 30 minutes.

4. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F. Make your egg wash by whisking together an egg with a tbs of water, then brush your whole bread with it, and sprinkle it with your remaining sliced almonds. Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until nicely golden brown and well baked through (and an inserted toothpick must come out clean). If the bread starts getting too brown as it bakes, cover it with foil so it doesn’t burn (I usually cover mine after about 20 minutes of baking). Let cool (and dust with confectioners’ sugar if you want some extra sweetness) before slicing, then serve with a generous spread of butter and your favorite jam!

(*Recipe notes: To make sure the raisins are plump, soak them in some boiling water for a couple minutes and drain them before adding them to the dough. You can use regular or golden raisins, or you could also add in candied fruit, as well as the sliced almonds or other chopped nuts. As for the bread’s shape, you could do the braiding differently – – for example do the bottom braid out of 4 ropes instead of three and the top part out of three ropes instead of a twist of two ropes, or even do three levels of braiding instead of two. I just do this because I find it the easiest. Some people insert skewers into the braided bread so the top layer doesn’t slip as it bakes, I don’t do this but you can do it if you’re worried about it slipping. By braiding the bottom braid pretty loosely and nestling the top one into it, it ensures that the bread holds its shape and there isn’t any slipping. You can simply form the dough into a round loaf and bake it off like that too, if you want to avoid all the braiding business and save some time. I adapted this recipe from my grandmother’s, and I converted all the metric measurements into cups. Also, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature since you’re baking with yeast, and this will help the yeast to work better and your dough to rise nicely. Traditionally, the vanocka is baked with fresh yeast, not packaged dry yeast, which may alter the texture/taste just slightly. The vanocka is definitely best eaten the same day, but you can store it for a couple days. I always toast mine in the toaster the next day, and it’s just as delicious as when it’s fresh!)

For more of my beloved family recipes, check these out:

Left: Linzer Cookie Stars (recipe) Right: Linzer Cookie Hearts (recipe)

Left: Classic Apple Strudel (recipe) Right: Traditional Buchty – Sweet filled buns (recipe)

Happy Baking, Everyone!

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Hi Everyone! As the freezing temperatures outside continue, I’m on my fourth cup of tea, just trying to stay warm and thaw my hands out after coming in from the cold. I always seem to forget just how cold winter gets. As much as I like the snow, I’m impatiently counting down until the first day of spring … 28 more days to go! And until then, I’m filling my kitchen with extra warmth and sweetness to get through the rest of the winter. Besides being delicious, this Maple Almond Granola will fill your home with the warmest and sweetest aroma of the maple syrup, almonds and oats all baking together into a perfectly delicious breakfast treat or snack!

YOU WILL NEED

4 cups rolled oats

1 to 1 1/2 cups almonds, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 to 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 325 deg F and line a baking pan with parchment paper (I use a 9×13 inch baking pan). Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon, until you have a smooth mixture. Add in your oats and chopped almonds, and toss everything together until everything is well combined and fully coated in the maple syrup mixture. Pour everything into your baking pan and spread it out into an even layer using a spatula (pack it together pretty well). Bake for about 30 – 35 minutes, or until the oats begin to turn just slightly golden brown. Let cool, then break off into chunks, and add the dried cranberries, or any other dried fruit (or even chocolate chips! Dark chocolate chips would be delicious with the almonds and cranberries!) and store in an airtight container. Serve over yogurt or milk with fresh fruit or eat as a snack!

(*Recipe notes: Towards the last ten minutes or so of baking time, watch the granola very carefully, as it can go from not done yet to burnt VERY quickly. Bake it until it’s just slightly golden brown so you get a nice chunky texture, but don’t have a burnt flavor. Baking time will depend on your oven, you may need to bake it for longer/shorter. As for the ingredients, I didn’t use any additional sugar other than the maple syrup, so this granola isn’t very sweet. If you prefer a sweeter granola, you can add in a couple tablespoons of brown sugar, or honey, or substitute honey for the maple syrup all together and even increase its amount. You could also add other ingredients besides almonds and dried cranberries, like other chopped nuts or dried fruit (I like to add the dried fruit once the granola is done baking, not before), chocolate chips, coconut and various seeds. Add in as much or as little of the nuts/dried fruit/etc as you like!)

Happy Baking, Everyone! Stay warm and have a wonderful rest of your week!

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Hello Friends! I don’t know if there’s a dessert that screams Valentine’s Day more than chocolate covered strawberries do! They couldn’t be easier to make or more delicious to eat, and would make the perfect little edible gift this Valentine’s Day, since it’s less than a week away now!

YOU WILL NEED

Strawberries

Melted chocolate (I used milk chocolate)

Chopped walnuts (or other goodies to coat the strawberries!)

DIRECTIONS

First, line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper (you will need this later to lay the strawberries on). Next, melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water (you can also do this in the microwave, of course, I just always seem to burn the chocolate when I use my microwave! I think it might be a good idea for me to look at something like this Best Microwave Australia 2021 guide to look for a new microwave, because at this point I’m not sure if it’s me or the microwave that’s causing me to burn the chocolate. If you want to go the extra mile, you could even use a chocolate melter!), pour it into a small bowl, and let it cool for a minute or two. Wash and dry your strawberries (I like to leave the leaves on, I just think it looks prettier) and chop the walnuts (you could also use almonds, hazelnuts, sprinkles, melted white chocolate, or anything else you can think of!) then dip them into the melted chocolate, letting the excess chocolate drip off, then dipping them into the chopped walnuts. Lay them on the prepared wax or parchment paper and let them set completely. To package them, place each strawberry into a mini paper muffin liner and place them all into a small box. Wrap with a big bow and you have the perfect little edible Valentine’s gift! (…. or you could always eat them yourself if it’s too tempting!)

For more fun Valentine’s Day ideas, check these out!

Left: Heart Shaped Puff Pastry Pockets (recipe) Right: Strawberry Layer Cake (recipe)

Left: Valentine’s Day Paper Garlands (tutorial) Right: Felt Heart Ornaments (tutorial)

Have a great week, Everyone!

I will be linking to these awesome blogs!

Hi Everybody! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you will know how much I love to bake bread! I love baking all different kinds of breads, but the no-knead recipe is one of my all-time favorites. I’ve made a couple different flavor versions of it, and have another one to share with you today! This oatmeal bread has a great earthy flavor and is super hearty; it would be perfect alongside a big bowl of steaming hot soup on a cold wintery night!

YOU WILL NEED

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup plus 2 tbs rolled oats

1/2 tsp dry yeast

2 tsp salt

1 5/8 cup water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, 1/2 cup oats (reserve the oats for topping the loaf before baking) and water. (I used 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, but you could reduce the amount of whole wheat flour to 1/2 cup and increase the amount of all-purpose flour to 2 1/2 cups if you prefer it.) Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 12 – 20 hours (I usually make the dough the night before, then bake the bread off the following day) in a warm spot.

2. Once the rising time is up, uncover the dough, and you should see lots of bubbles on the surface (the dough will be very wet and sticky, but don’t worry, that’s exactly what it should look like). Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface, and quickly shape it into a round loaf. Sprinkle it with more flour, then cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for another hour or two, until it has doubled in size.

3. Preheat your oven to 450 deg F, and place a Dutch oven or covered casserole dish inside it as it heats up. Once the oven is preheated, carefully take the dish out, and quickly place your loaf in it (optional: you can sprinkle it with the remaining 2 tbs of oats at this point), then cover the dish and bake for 30 minutes. Then, take off the lid and bake for another 15 – 30 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap your fingers on it. Let the bread rest and cool before slicing.

*Recipe Notes: If you prefer less of a “whole wheat” flavor, reduce the amount of whole wheat flour and substitute it with all-purpose flour as mentioned above. My recipe also uses more salt and dry yeast than the original recipe does, but you can check out the original here.

For other no-knead bread recipes, check these out:

Left: NY Times No-Knead Bread (recipe) Right: No-knead Pesto Bread (recipe)

Left: Whole Wheat No-knead Bread (recipe) Right: No-knead Bread Bowls (recipe)

And speaking of cold winter nights, this is what it looks like outside right now… it’s a bitter cold wintery day, so a big bowl of soup and some of this freshly baked bread is definitely needed!

Happy Baking, Everyone!

I will be linking to these awesome blogs!