The Sensible Mom

Banana Bread

October 23, 2019 by Sandra 8 Comments

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe for banana bread with you for a long time.

It’s a recipe that originated in the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and that I’ve modified to my family’s tastes.

It’s delicious, trust me. For my family, this recipe is just right and we look forward to a tasty new loaf of banana bread once we realize that we have some very ripe bananas hanging around our fruit bowl.

Here’s the fabulous recipe:

Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees
Lightly coat a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or coconut oil
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt
In a separate bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract
Carefully pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and mix just until combined, do not overmix
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top of the batter
Bake for 60-70 minutes until the banana bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs
Let the banana bread cool for at least 45 minutes
Serve and enjoy!

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/10/banana-bread/

I love that this banana bread is not only scrumptious, but it’s easy enough for my 10 year-old daughter to make mostly on her own.

She recently made a loaf when we had company over, and it didn’t disappoint. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

Do you have a favorite banana bread recipe? What’s your favorite food to serve when you have company?

P.S. Here is the link to The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (referral link) on Amazon.com. I love this cookbook, and I love that the recipes are easy to modify to our tastes.

Delicious Recipe: Whole Wheat Pancakes

October 22, 2019 by Sandra 9 Comments

The thought of using whole wheat flour to cook or bake with, even a year ago, would have scared me. Seriously.

Not that we haven’t been eating whole wheat products for awhile now, I’ve just never cooked or baked with whole wheat flour myself. I didn’t grow up using it, and when I’d read recipes online, it seemed like most people would sub into a recipe a little whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour, but they wouldn’t use all whole wheat.

Then we changed our diet.

Again.

And the changes included eating more whole wheat and even replacing white flour with whole wheat flour. Scary. For us anyway. 🙂

The results?

Delicious. At least they’ve been delicious for our whole wheat pancake recipe.

Our entire family loves these pancakes, even our ‘picky’ eaters, who have become a whole lot less ‘picky’ as we’ve made more changes to our diet.

Here’s the recipe:

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (organic, if possible)

3 tbs. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3 tbs. unsalted butter, melted

2 cups of soured milk (I use rice milk or almond milk – just measure out 2 cups and then add 2 tbs. of vinegar and let it sit for 5-10 minutes)

1-2 tbs. of either butter (not melted) or coconut oil for the pan

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg, butter and then soured milk.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix.

Heat a pan over medium low heat, and then add the butter or coconut oil to the pan you are going to use to cook your pancakes.

Once the pan is hot and the butter/oil has melted, start cooking your pancakes.

Enjoy.

Do you cook and/or bake with whole wheat flour? Have you ever made whole wheat pancakes in the past?

P.S. We cook our pancakes in a stainless steel pan with butter. I don’t add butter to the pan after each pancake. I add it after about every 5th or 6th pancake.

UPDATE: I created a YouTube video that features this recipe with a few variations that you can see here:

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

October 18, 2019 by Sandra 1 Comment

A special thanks to Good Cook for the bakeware and kitchen tools I received to create
a delicious recipe for pumpkin spice cupcakes.

This fall, I’ve been going a little crazy when it comes to pumpkin.

But who isn’t, right? It’s that time of year. Pumpkin EVERYTHING.

I’m all for it.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
Since I have a strong love of pumpkin, I’ve naturally tried to get my family to share in this love, so that we can enjoy more pumpkin-laden foods together. Honestly, I’m surprised by how easy it has been this year. 😉

But I shouldn’t be. Because who doesn’t want to eat pumpkin spice cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting?

That’s right. They most certainly do.

Good Cook Bakeware
This week, I threw caution to the wind and made a huge mess in the kitchen baking with my boys. We made a big batch of pumpkin spice cupcakes using Good Cook bakeware.

And they turned out beautifully.

I actually compared the cupcakes made in the Good Cook pan to cupcakes made in one of my older muffin pans, and the ones baked in the Good Cook pan turned out superior in shape and size compared to the ones baked in my old pan. Those came out wider and flatter, but they still tasted amazing, which is what really counts.

Here’s the recipe:

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 cup of almond milk combined with 1 tablespoon of vinegar -- left standing for 5-10 minutes)

Instructions

Adjust an oven rake to the middle position, then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar, then adds eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add the pumpkin puree to the mixture, then slowly whisk in the buttermilk.
Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined.
Line muffin pans with cupcake liners and fill the cupcake liners about two-thirds full with batter.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes.
Cool completely, then frost with buttercream frosting (see recipe below).

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/10/recipe-pumpkin-spice-cupcakes-buttercream-frosting/

Buttercream Frosting Recipe
While the cupcakes are scrumptious on their own, the buttercream frosting makes them even better. I think you’ll love this recipe. It’s easy to whip up, and takes just a few ingredients.

Here’s the recipe:

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of butter, softened
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons almond milk

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl, stir ingredients together until incorporated.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/10/recipe-pumpkin-spice-cupcakes-buttercream-frosting/

Have you ever baked pumpkin cupcakes? What’s your favorite way to use pumpkin in a recipe?

Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe: Turkey Pot Pie

October 17, 2019 by Sandra 3 Comments

A special thanks to Good Cook for the bakeware I received to create a delicious recipe for turkey pot pie.

I love pot pies.

I think they’re one of the best comfort foods on the planet, so you can imagine how excited I was to have the time carved out to make two turkey pot pies using leftover turkey meat.

Turkey Pot Pie
The first pot pie that came out of the oven was history in no time at all, so I decided to make a second turkey pot pie yesterday afternoon before David came down with a fever and had to be taken to the emergency room and subsequently admitted to the hospital a day earlier than expected. That’s for another post, though. 😉

The good thing is that David is feeling better and my husband is going to be bringing me some of the leftover pot pie to eat as we continue our latest hospital stay. A little comfort away from home…

Achieving the Perfect Pot Pie Crust using a Good Cook Pie Pan
There are two things that you need to create the perfect crust for a pot pie. First, you need an awesome double pie crust recipe. I used the recipe that I posted here. Next, you need a fantastic 9-inch round pie pan. I used the one I received from Good Cook, and I was very impressed with how well it performed.

It’s important that both the top and bottom crust of a pot pie be just right — flaky, soft, and delicious. The Good Cook pie pan definitely got the job done, and I’ll be using it again and again, whenever I make a turkey or chicken pot pie.

Here’s the recipe for this Turkey Pot Pie:

Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
2 ribs celery, cut into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup flour
1-2/3 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-3/4 cups pre-cooked turkey, shredded or cut into small chunks
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
1 double pie crust (see link in this post for a double pie crust recipe)

Instructions

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, then preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook until vegetables have softened, around 7-9 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and thyme. Then add the flour, vegetable broth, heavy cream, bay leaf and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer until the mixture has thickened, about 5-7 minutes.
While the filling is simmering, roll out the bottom pie crust and place it in the bottom of the pie pan. Then place the pie pan in the oven and bake the pie crust for about 7 minutes.
Back to the filling, stir in the turkey and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf, then taste to see if you need to add more salt and pepper. After tasting and adding the appropriate amount of salt and pepper, stir in the peas and parsley.
Remove the filling from the heat and set aside.
Take bottom pie crust out of the oven and let it cool for about 7 minutes.
In the meantime, roll out top crust, so that it's ready.
Once the bottom crust has cooled for about 7 minutes, pour in the filling, then place the top pie crust over the filling. If necessary, trim the edges of the pie crust and then use either a fork or your fingers to pinch the edges of the crust all the way around the pie pan. Cut four slits in the top crust.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges of the pie crust are golden brown.
Allow the turkey pot pie to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/10/thanksgiving-leftovers-recipe-turkey-pot-pie/

I can’t think of a better way to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey than to create a simple pot pie that doesn’t take long to make and tastes great.

What’s your favorite way to use Thanksgiving leftovers?

Want more Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe inspiration? Be sure to stop by the Good Cook blog for over 100 mouth-watering recipes!

UPDATE: I created a YouTube video that features this recipe with a few variations that you can see here:

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