Sugar Rush #2: Banana Pancakes

I am not a morning person. Not even a little bit. I often wish that were a morning person. What at beautiful concept... to wake up with the sun, go for a run, get the day started early. But alas, if I'm up before 9:30 am, it has to be for something HUGE.

Every now and again, I am up early enough to be deemed acceptable by most of society. When such an earth-moving event happens, I need a breakfast that is just as earth-moving. But most of all, it needs to be easy as heck to make because there's no way I'm fully conscious at that time.

 THANK THE BREAKFAST GODS FOR BANANAS AND EGGS! When I'm really in a hurry, I'll just grab a banana and run. If I'm flat out lazy, I'll fry up an egg. But not too long ago, I had an epiphany and decided to combine the two things. And thus became banana pancakes. I am...so happy. 

You should get happy too! It really is as easy as you'll read below. It's also a great gluten/dairy/wheat-free breakfast option, since so many people are following those diets nowadays. Plus, it's absolutely filling and tastes amazing. Try it out next time you're in a rush! Or just because. I won't tell you how to live your life. Happy eating!

So here's the low-down:
Banana Pancakes
2 large eggs
1 ripe banana (mashed)
Optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon and/or 1/4 tsp baking soda (fluffier pancakes)

1. Heat up skillet/pan on medium heat.
2. Beat eggs and mix with mashed banana.
3. Spray your skillet/pan with cooking spray. Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter onto heated surface.
4. When the edges look dry (about 2-3 minutes), flip your pancake! Cook for an additional 2 or so minutes until fully cooked.
5. Repeat until all the batter is used up!

Add toppings if you want too! Sliced strawberries, powdered sugar, greek yogurt (my preference), chocolate chips, whipped cream etc.

Have you ever had Vietnamese cinnamon before? It's sweeter and spicier than usual. My favorite!

Why is the first pancake always such a failure?

Much better!

Chocolate chips are always a great addition. 

Such a happy pancake!

Sugar Rush #1: Matzah Caramel Crunch

Thus begins a brand new series! Even though I didn't have time to make a video, I still wanted to share a delicious recipe with everyone. With Sugar Rush, the recipes may not come with a full on tutorial, but that doesn't mean it won't still have that easy peasy, Short and Sweet touch. Moving on to what I have in store today!

Passover just started Monday evening, and that got me to thinking of matzah. Although I'm not Jewish, I have sat at quite a few Seder tables. The table is always set impeccably, the dining room overflowing with food and wine. And no Passover would be complete without a few raucous rounds of "Dayenu" and a viewing of The Prince of Egypt. It's a great holiday in my opinion, even if it does take about fifteen steps to get through dinner. But if there's one thing that's taken especially seriously, it's the matzo.

What's matzah (matzo, matzoh, matza)? It's a thin, unleavened bread. It's pretty much like crackers. Now, everyone has heard of matzah balls. Man, do I miss matzah balls... But what about matzah for dessert? If you're going to try anything this Passover, try this: Matzo Caramel Crunch. Goodness gracious. This stuff is like crack. It turns the bland matzo that tastes almost as good as the cardboard box it comes in into something addicting and irresistible.

Crunchy. Sweet. Chewy. Hint of saltiness. Caramel-y. Chocolatey. Oh, and did I mention that it's totally customizable? If you're a sea salt fiend like me, sprinkle some of that on top of the chocolate while it's still melty. Or throw some toasted almonds on there. Or some coconut flakes. Whatever you want!
Keep it all Kosher, of course ;)

Matzah Caramel Crunch
4-6 pieces of unsalted, unflavored Matzo
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Toppings (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line large cookie sheet with foil. Spray with cooking spray, then place parchment paper on top of foil. It's gonna get sticky up in here.
3. Place matzo pieces corner to corner on tray. Break off smaller pieces so that every surface is covered.
4. In heavy bottomed saucepan, cook butter and brown sugar on medium heat until boiling (about 3 minutes). Stir, stir, stir.
5. Continue boiling for additional 3 minutes. Don't stop stirring!
6. Pour caramel over matzo until completely covered.
7. Place tray in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. If it looks like it's browning too quickly, reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips/pieces on top. Let the residual heat melt the chocolate. Spread evenly.
9. While still warm, break up the crunch into desired pieces. Place tray in freezer to set crunch completely.
10. Remove crunch pieces from tray. Store in airtight containers, or just watch as they disappear!

Short & Sweet #5: ICE CREAM MUFFINS

I always hear the phrase: "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."

That's exactly what I thought when I came across a recipe that claimed that you can make muffins out of just a pint of ice cream and flour. Preposterous! Unheard of! I simply can't believe it! Seriously though, I'm all about easy, time-saving recipes. But this one had me feeling skeptical. I suppose the logic behind its potential success makes sense. Ice cream does have a lot of ingredients that go into muffin batter (eggs, sugar, milk, etc). BUT SERIOUSLY? Could it really be that easy? I had to try this witchcraft for myself. And you know what? It actually worked!

 Are these the best muffins I've ever had? No.

 As a seasoned baker, could I whip up something better from scratch? Probably.

 Is this a great quick-fix, last minute way to make yummy muffins? Abso-tiddly-lutely.

So with that being said, I want all of you out there to try it out as well! Like I say in my video, the possibilities are endless with this type of recipe. Although the original post calls for plain vanilla ice cream, I found that Chunky Monkey worked out magnificently. What should be next? Cookie dough? Mint chocolate chip? Mango? Oooh...I am positively swimming in ideas right now! Let me know if this works for you too and what flavor of ice cream you would choose!



Ice Cream Muffins
1 pint of ice cream (flavor of your choosing)
2 cups self rising flour
OR
2 cups all-purpose flour plus 3 tsp baking powder

1. Soften ice cream ahead of time for about one to two hours until workable consistency.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
4. Grease muffin tin or line with paper cups.
3. In large mixing bowl, fold softened ice cream together with flour (and baking powder if using all-purpose flour).
4. Once batter is well-incorporated, portion out into muffin tin.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let muffins cool on rack.
7. Marvel at the magic that just happened in your kitchen, then ENJOY!

Original article here