teacher by day - chef by night
I decided while in school yesterday that I wanted to make donuts for Fat Tuesday today (but I hate frying things and was not going to find & buy the cool new donut pan). After talking to my resident baking expert in my building, I …
Everyone LOVES brownies… seriously, what is not to love!? I have recently baked up two different brownies for people that I care a lot about.
![[Banana] Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes](https://www.teacher-chef.com/wp-content/themes/kale/sample/images/full1.jpg)
Cupcakes = Good
Banana Bread = Comfort ‘healthy’ Dessert
Peanut Butter & Jelly = Childhood Classic
Banana Cupcakes filled with Jelly & topped with Peanut Butter Frosting… oh yeah!
As I was getting ready to make cupcakes for my “kids” & co-workers at Big Boulder last week, I was also watching Food Network and browsing FoodGawker (honestly, in the evening – when does this not happen!?). The Neelys were making Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes and Evil Shenanigans had posted jelly filled banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting… it was a sign: I had to create these treats as soon as possible!
These cupcakes bring back memories of everything childhood (just don’t make them for most kids now since 1/2 the places you look are now peanut free – grr). Add a bit more jelly if you like (I wanted more) and feel free to make any cupcake to hold this childhood treat (a cinnamon swirled vanilla would probably be awesome).
Peanut Butter & Jelly (Banana) Cupcakes
Heat the oven to 350 F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl combine the mashed bananas and buttermilk until smooth. Add the butter, egg, and vanilla and mix until well combined. In a large bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well mixed. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until no large lumps of flour remain. [These are a more dense cupcake – so feel free to play with this as needed – but they held up well to the jelly & peanut butter as they currently are!]
Scoop the batter evenly between the paper liners and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when gently pressed in the center. Cool in the pan for three minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cakes are cooled completely take a small paring knife and poke it into the center of the cupcake in a cross pattern about 1 inch deep. Take a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip and fill it with the jam. Press the tip into the cross and pipe in about one tablespoon of jelly. Clean off the tops of the cupcakes before frosting. I don’t really think there was enough jelly when I did this, next time I’ll scoop out a hole to fill with the jelly.
To prepare the frosting cream together the butter and peanut butter until well combined. Add in the powdered sugar and half the milk and mix until smooth, fluffy and your desired piping consistency. (I used more than the full 1/4 cup of milk.)
Your thought of the day…. Peter Pan & the Lost Boys had it right when they said “I won’t grow up”. So remember to grow older & more mature, but don’t ever truly grow up (don’t ever lose that inner child!)
“Sweet and Spicy” – that explains me pretty well. I try to be sweet and do things for others, but I’m stubborn and don’t take garbage from anyone so I guess that I can be called pretty spicy usually too, and we wonder why I love those two flavors, haha! Enough about me – prepare to get into the kitchen for the best of both worlds!
Happy Valentines Day (weekend) Oh, the things we do for love! I had off on Friday to go to the dentist so knew I would have some kitchen time if I wanted and earlier in the week had come across this recipe for Chocolate Chip …
My family decided to have a “Ring-Wing-Off” for Super Bowl. Actually I think it started because mom said she bought 4 pounds of wings and they were going to make the wings for our Appetizer/Dinner Super Bowl party, with the four of us. But when she told me that, I said that I had wanted to make the wings – low and behold… wing challenge issued!
I knew that I was going to bake my wings, but went on the search for the best recipe. The problem was that I didn’t know what flavor exactly I was going for. I headed to FoodGawker & let my eyes be my guide. My eyes brought me to Life Ambrosia’s blog quite a few times! I spent hours (maybe exaggerating a bit, but not too much) looking through her different wings, the comments, the flavors, etc. Finally (after a round of eenie-meenie-miney-moe with myself) I decided to make these Asian inspired wings (she calls them Jalapeno/Ginger – mine had just enough kick but the sesame flavor was the one that really shown through)
Wing-Off Results
Dad made baked wings: marinated in his “whatever” sauce (a mix that is never duplicated using lots of spices, whats-that-here sauce, soy, molasses, ketchup, & who knows what else). Then they got baked (he made a mild version & a spicy version since he was sucking up to our “official” judge of mom who hates spicy things). After baking, they marinated some more and then got baked more right before serving. His texture was pretty good – a bit of a crunch from the double bake, the the flavor (in my opinion) was too sweet AND too bitey at the same time. (VOTE: Rich voted these #1, while Mom/Dad/Myself all voted them in 2nd place)
Rich went with the slow cooker & a BBQ/hot wing sauce (Jack Daniel’s) with some onion & garlic chopped. The flavor was ok, but not for wings… they would have been good slow cooked chicken thighs or something like that! (VOTE: we all voted Rich’s wings at the bottom of the wing-off, but his pizza was amazing as always)
Rachel (thats me) went with a single bake method (20 minutes per side – see recipe below). The wings marinated all afternoon. The flavor was deep in the wings due to the marinade & massaging every hour or so in the bag. They had a little bit of crunch from the marinade, but probably could have gone a minute or two longer (or maybe even broil for a minute on either side at the end!?) (VOTE: hands down winner from Mom & Dad, Rich put these at a tie for 2nd with his, and I enjoyed them but still am sick so didn’t really officially vote for anything since my taste-buds are off still)
Rinse and pat dry the chicken wings. In a bowl whisk remaining ingredients together. Place chicken wings in a ziplock bag & pour jalapeno mixture over the top. Seal bag and shake to coat (you could cook here OR put in fridge and let marinate, being sure to give it some love every hour or so to really let to flavors get ready to party)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken wings in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and cooked through (try to broil for more of a crunch – I’ll give that a shot next time) Serve & Enjoy!
Overall we had a great time “watching” the Super Bowl!! Why wouldn’t we have enjoyed it… we got out of the house, the dogs enjoy being at my parents, my dad did a 10cent-a-square football pool, and of course there was lots of great food: Rich’s always-loved pizza, wings, black bean ‘dip’ (will be blogged about & repurposed later this week), dad’s awesome stuffed mushrooms, fresh French Onion Dip, cheese ball, and cheese/crackers & veggies!
