August 27, 2020

Banana Peanut Butter Brownies

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Banana Peanut Butter Brownies

August 27: National Banana Lovers Day

During quarantine, online searches for “banana bread recipes” have spiked (which is way better than the number of coronavirus cases spiking). It seems that homebound people did not want to be wasteful of their limited groceries, had more time to spend in their kitchens and wanted to eat comfort food during the uncertainties in life. Having “been there, baked that” banana bread several times, we wanted to make something else with our blackening bananas.

Since we had peanut butter and cocoa powder in our pantry already, banana peanut butter brownies recipe was an easy choice to bake up besides banana bread. So if there are overripe bananas, bake banana peanut butter brownies while homebound and on National Banana Lovers Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Tasty)

Ingredients

  • 2 overripe bananas
  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, unsalted, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar (we used a little less)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup peanut butter

Directions

In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas. Add the butter, sugar and vanilla. Cream everything together.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until the batter is smooth. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with foil/waxed paper/parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on the sides to be able to pull up the brownies after baking. Mist with cooking spray or grease with butter. Pour batter and spread evenly over the prepared pan.

Scoop out the peanut butter in random places on top. Use a butter knife to swirl the peanut butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and wait about 5-10 minutes before lifting the foil/waxed paper/parchment paper side handles and transferring to a wire rack. Cut into squares when completely cool. Yield: 16 brownies (or 9 large brownies).

Notes

  • This is a versatile recipe. Add half a cup of walnuts, chocolate chips or peanut butter chips to the batter before baking.
  • This is an eggless recipe so the brownies bake up more cake-like than packed and dense. Eggs were a precious find at the grocery stores during quarantine—just like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, yeast and flour (in our area).
  • Search our blog for other banana recipes.
 

August 27, 2016

Banana Pancakes

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Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

bananapancakes

August 27: National Banana Lovers Day

Pancakes are among our favorite breakfast/brunch foods to have on Saturday mornings when we have more time to relax instead of rush out the door to beat the traffic to work. We have cooked traditional buttermilk pancakes and sometimes others made with blueberries and poi before. But we love the ones made with mashed bananas the best because the pancakes are so moist and naturally sweet (we omit the sugar in the recipe). Banana pancakes are perfect for breakfast, brunch and especially National Banana Lovers Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Food.com)

Ingredients

  • 2 bananas, ripe and mashed (about 1 cup)
  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar, granulated white (we omitted this)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
  • 2 cups buttermilk (see Notes)
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • ¼ cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • oil for frying

Directions

Peel and mash the bananas. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar (if using) and baking soda. Add the walnuts (if using). Beat in the eggs.

bananapancakessteps1

Pour in the buttermilk and melted butter. Add the mashed bananas. Mix well until moistened. Grease a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, pour some of the pancake batter. Wait until it slowly bubbles and browns on the bottom before flipping it over to finish cooking. Transfer to a plate, keep warm and finish cooking the rest of the pancakes. Serve in a stack with a pat of butter, syrup and slices of fresh banana, if desired.

bananapancakessteps2

Notes

  • Buttermilk can be made at home! Instead of the packaged product, simply mix 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh squeezed lemon juice to 1 cup milk and let it stand for 5-10 minutes. Mix well before using in the recipe.
  • Banana pancakes also may be enjoyed on September 26, which is National Pancake Day in the United States, and on Shrove Tuesday/Fat Tuesday, a movable feast day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.
  • We prepare these pancakes ahead of time and refrigerate them when we expect to have overnight guests. Banana pancakes are still moist and flavorful to heat up for breakfast the next morning, which is a time-saver!
  • Love bananas like we do? Look for other banana recipes by searching our blog.
 

August 27, 2010

Banana Lumpia

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Banana Lumpia

Banana Lumpia

August 27: National Banana Lovers Day

“Cutie Bites” was the name of the snack for which Islander and Mary Ann B., her childhood best friend, won first place in their junior high honors class many years ago. Their banana lumpia (also known as turon in the Philippines and banana spring rolls or fritters in other parts of Asia and the Pacific Rim) was the best-in-show at a school food fair. Although they only made a few dollars profit, the lessons were invaluable as they learned about food preparation, packaging, marketing and sales. The young entrepreneur’s slogan was: “To be specific, ‘Cutie Bites’ are terrific!” Banana lovers will agree—banana lumpia is a terrific treat for National Banana Lovers Day.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • ripe bananas or sweet plantains
  • spring roll wrappers
  • sugar or cinnamon-sugar
  • 1 egg
  • oil for frying

Directions

Beat the egg with a tablespoon of water and set aside. Defrost the spring roll wrappers, separate the sheets, place in a container and cover with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Banana Lumpia

Peel the bananas and slice them into quarters. Place a slice in the middle of the wrapper (with one corner pointing down) as shown below. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar or cinnamon-sugar on it. Fold the sides of the wrapper inward. Then fold the bottom of the wrapper upward and roll tightly toward the top corner.

Banana Lumpia

Moisten the top corner of the wrapper with the egg wash. Roll and seal. Place each spring roll in a container lined with wax paper. Continue rolling all the bananas, separating each layer with a sheet of wax paper.

Banana Lumpia

Cover the container with foil and freeze until solid. Transfer the frozen banana lumpia to zipper-top freezer bags until ready to cook. Heat the oil in a deep fryer. Do not defrost the banana lumpia.  Carefully plunge them frozen into the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon-sugar before serving.

Banana Lumpia

Notes

  • Islander and Mary Ann B. worked together again on another award-winning project as high school freshmen. Their topic, “How Do Colors Affect Humans?,” won an honorable mention in the science fair display category. See our blog recipe post for colorful sugar cookies on July 9 (National Sugar Cookie Day).
  • Banana lumpia can be served as simply as a street food—hot from the vendor’s cart. Or they can be served as fancy as a restaurant-style dessert—cut a couple of them in half diagonally, arrange on a plate with a large scoop of ice cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce or sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or cinnamon-sugar.
  • Search our blog for other posts about banana recipes.