{Guest Post} Banana Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

With the wonderful banana and chocolate chips, you may not even notice the oat bran, honey, and molasses in these Banana Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins.

Today, I’m excited to welcome Maeghan from The Way to His Heart. Maeghan and I met a few years ago and have kept in touch ever since. It’s been a pleasure watching not only watching her own family grow, but also her blog. Maeghan takes gorgeous photos of family-friendly recipes and has had recipes featured by Cooking Light Magazine.

Maeghan, thanks again for posting today – Sophie and I can’t wait to try out your muffins!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bran MuffinWhen you’re expecting your second child you really focus in on what things to plan for. You’ve been down this road before and you know exactly what it will be like. I think the biggest part for me was making sure that my daughter was still taken care of and feeling loved while we welcomed her brother into the world. Back when I was expecting my son George, I took some time away from my blog, The Way to His Heart, to settle into our new life and other blogger’s helped out and wrote some wonderful guest posts. Now that Liz will be welcoming her son, she is doing the same and it is my time to return the favor.

I met Liz a few years back at the Mixed conference, along with chatting on a cooking forum. She was actually pregnant with her daughter at the time and I was away from mine for the first time. What I wanted to offer to her, and to you, is a great and delicious snack when she’s in a rush. These Banana Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins are absolutely delicious and my daughter and husband have no clue that they are remotely healthy for them. Not that clean eating needs to be hidden, but with the wonderful banana and chocolate chips, you may not even notice the oat bran, honey, and molasses. You can feel good about snacking on these and know that when you’re in a rush, like a new mother definitely can find herself often, you have something nutritious to snack on. The best thing is that these muffins can be frozen, so Liz can make them ahead of the baby’s arrival and pop them in the freezer, then grab a few at a time whenever she wants one.

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as we do! Congratulations on the arrival of your son, Liz. I can’t wait to see and hear all about him!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bran Muffin

Banana Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup oat bran
  • 1/3 cup skim milk
  • 3/4 cup mashed over ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 4 Tbsp miniature chocolate chips, divided

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and lightly coat 10 muffin cups with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine oat bran, milk, banana, and vanilla extract. Set aside and allow to to soak for at least 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together.

In a glass measuring up, stir together the melted butter, honey, and molasses until thoroughly combined. Once the oat bran mixture has soaked long enough, add the honey mixture to it. Then, add the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in 3 tablespoons of chocolate chips.

Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips onto the tops of the batter and press them slightly into the batter.

Bake for 19-21 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from a slight touch. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool until cool.

Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze.

*For a vegan version, use coconut oil, non-dairy milk, and maple syrup or agave in place of the honey.

Yields 10 muffins

Source: Amy’s Healthy Baking

Banana Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins on Books n' Cooks

{Guest Post} Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

This chocolate peanut butter pie was included in Food & Wine’s Best of the Best cookbook compilations. The creator of the pie says that this pie is always included in her restaurant, The Loveless Cafe in Nashville.
 
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
 
If you’re looking to indulge, or simply to drool over some gorgeous photos of desserts, I highly recommend checking out Eva Bakes. I first teamed with Eva when she reached out about doing a bake along from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook. She ended up with a perfectly formed rum cake. I ended up with one that fell apart and turned into a rum cake trifle. Since then, I’ve watched her post baked goods that I’ve consistently bookmarked and added to the stack of recipes I had to try.  Eva, thanks for joining me and my readers today! I can’t wait to try out this recipe as well!
 

Hi everyone! My name is Eva, and I blog over at Eva Bakes. I want to thank Liz for allowing me guest post on her blog today.

I’m willing to bet that most of you reading this are peanut butter fans. Am I right? How about chocolate peanut butter? That’s supposed to be the ultimate peanut butter combination, as I hear. Well, I am one of those very strange birds that doesn’t like peanut butter. This has nothing to do with allergies. I just don’t like the taste or texture of peanut butter. That’s OK – more for you.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Anyway, my husband bought me a cookbook by Food & Wine called Best of the Best. It’s a compilation of the 25 best cookbooks they found in 2012 (yes, I know… I am making this recipe 3 years late. Sigh). Since I am a dessert blogger, I went straight to the dessert section.
 

Since my husband is a peanut butter fanatic, I wanted to make this pie for him. He was gone on a business trip for a few days, and my 4-year and I decided to surprise him with this pie. The pie was actually easier than I imagined to put together and didn’t take as much time as I originally thought. When my husband returned from his trip, he was excited to find this pie in the refrigerator and asked when he would be able to eat a slice.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

If you enjoyed this recipe or are a fan of sweets, I hope you’ll stop by my blog sometime and check out all my desserts!
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

This chocolate peanut butter pie was included in Food & Wine's Best of the Best cookbook compilations. The creator of the pie says that this pie is always included in her restaurant, The Loveless Cafe in Nashville.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10
Author Liz

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Crust:

  • 1 c. graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs you can use chocolate sandwich cookies too
  • 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbs. unsalted butter melted

Ingredients for the Filling:

  • 1/2 c. light brown sugar packed
  • 3/4 c. light corn syrup
  • 1/2 c. heavy cream
  • 1/2 c. smooth peanut butter do not use natural or homemade
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs

Ingredients for the Ganache:

  • 8 oz. dark chocolate chopped finely
  • 1 c. heavy cream

Instructions

Make the Crust:

  1. Process the crumbs in a food processor or high-powered blender. If you don't have either of these, you can put the cookies in a zip-top bag and crush them with a rolling pin or other cylinder-like object (like a bottle of wine). Transfer to a medium bowl and add the sugar. Mix well. Then add the melted butter and mix until the crumbs resemble wet sand. Transfer the crumbs to a 9-inch pie pan and press the crumbs on the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Set aside.

  2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the Filling:

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and free of lumps. Add the eggs until well incorporated and pour the batter into the prepared crust.

  2. Bake in your preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are puffy and the center is soft (it may appear underbaked, which is OK).
  3. Allow the pie to cool while you prepare the ganache.

Make the Ganache:

  1. Placed the chopped chocolate in a medium sized bowl. Microwave (or heat in a saucepan) the heavy cream until very hot. Pour over the chopped chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and chocolate together until smooth. Pour this over the pie. If desired, garnish with chopped peanuts. Allow the pie to cool and the ganache to set completely. You can also serve with dollops of whipped cream.

  2. Any leftover pie should be stored in the refrigerator and will keep for several days.

Recipe Notes

Yield: One 9-inch pie, about 8-10 servings

Source: Slightly adapted from Alisa Huntsman, via Food & Wine: Best of the Best; pages 105-106.

This chocolate peanut butter pie was included in Food & Wine's Best of the Best cookbook compilations. The creator of the pie says that this pie is always included in her restaurant, The Loveless Cafe in Nashville.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie on Books n' Cooks