Got Bananas you need to use up? Tired of that same old banana bread? Try these Banana Bars made with Fage 0% Fat Greek Yogurt instead. They are made just that much more delicious here, by being topped with a Browned Butter Glaze.

Afternoon delight!

The original recipe for these came from my Aunt B as the most delicious Sour Cream Banana Bars (she is an awesome baker) so feel free to substitute sour cream for the Fage 0% Greek yogurt I use here if you want. I also increased the pecans and vanilla extract to my taste in the recipe below.

Banana Bars - my way (makes one half sheet pan)

• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup Fage o% fat Greek yogurt (may substitute sour cream or low fat Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (throw out any overly bruised parts before mashing)
• 3 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans (or other nuts of your choice or leave out if you don’t like them)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter and flour a jelly roll pan (half sheet pan aka 11 x 17 x 1″ pan) Cream the butter with the sugar, add the eggs and yogurt and beat at high speed for one minute. Add the banana and vanilla extract, beat 30 seconds more. Combine the flour with the salt and baking soda and mix into the batter. Add the nuts. Spread evenly into prepared pan and bake in oven for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and springs back when touched in the middle. Cool completely and then frost with browned butter glaze.

Browned Butter Glaze

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans or other choice of nuts (optional)

Brown the butter in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat until it turns a light golden brown. Mix in the other ingredients and beat with a whisk until smooth and spreadable. Spread evenly over cooled cake and top with chopped nuts if desired. Cut into bars.

Hope you enjoy!

FYI: I did not receive any incentive from Fage to post this recipe and BTW if you head on over to their page, I think they are running a Greek vacation give away contest. Plus they have coupons. Just saying…

Hi there sorry it’s been so long. The lovely folks over at Quirk Books were kind enough to send me “The Cookiepedia” by Stacy Adimando with photos by Tara Striano to look over.

I found the cookbook to be a fun read with a great assortment of recipes and luscious photos. It is pulled together nicely with categories listed as “Buttery, Chocolaty, Fancy, Fruity, Spicy, and Nutty & Seedy”, a fun graphic design and a user friendly spiral binding inside the covers. I have baked a few recipes from it and my favourite so far are these ”Mint Thins” cookies: (photo and recipe reprinted with permission from Quirk Books)

Mint Thins by Stacy Adimondo, makes: 3 dozen cookies

preheat oven to 350°F
 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
 1 cup powdered sugar
 1 egg
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 2/3 cup cocoa powder
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
 1/4 cup unsalted butter
 ¾ teaspoon peppermint flavor

Nobody you know will not come by when you say you’re
 baking homemade mint thins. (If they don’t so much as
 ask, consider defriending them immediately.) The question
 is: Do you want to share?

The baking and dunking takes
 no time (especially if you’re tasting as you go), but these
 bite-size treats do hold up best (and taste yummiest)
 once the mint chocolate has had ample time to set. If
 you’re protective of your stash, store them in the freezer.

They’re best with a chill anyway.

1. Cream the butter until it’s light and fluffy.
 Add the powdered sugar and continue mixing,
 stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as
 needed. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
 Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
 Add the flour mixture by halves, beating to
 incorporate after each addition.

2. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface
 and form it into a disk with your hands. Split
 the disk in half and place them in the fridge
 to firm up for 1 hour.

Tip:

If you’re short
 on time, do 25
 minutes in the
 freezer instead.

3. Working on a floured surface (you’ll need
 a decent amount, since the dough is sticky),
 roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Shape the
 cookies using a 1-1/2-inch round cutter and
 place them on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet.
 Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, then let cool
 completely.

4. Break up the chocolate into a bowl and set it
 over a small pot of simmering water (make sure
 the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Add the butter
 and the peppermint flavor and stir the mixture
 steadily until it’s fully melted and looks glossy and
 smooth. Remove the bowl and let the chocolate
 cool slightly.

5. One by one, drop the cookies in the chocolate,
 then scoop them out with a fork to let the excess
 drip off. (Tap the cookies against the side of the
 bowl to help drain the extra chocolate.) Move
 them carefully to a wire rack or parchment-paperlined
 baking sheet. When they’re all coated, move
 the sheet to the refrigerator or freezer to set.

Mint thins, meet chocolate chip
 cookie dough. You’re a match made
 in heaven.

Mint-Thin-Stuffed Cookies

Prepare a batch of the mint thins
 and store them in the freezer. Then
 prepare a batch of the chocolate
 chip dough on page 43. When both
 are chilled, sandwich the mint cookie
 between 1 tablespoon each of the
 chocolate chip dough, then press the
 dough around the mint thin to cover
 it completely. Bake according to the
 chocolate chip directions.

Run out and get the book :$18.95 from Quirk Books, ISBN #978-1-59474-535-5 wherever great cookbooks are sold.   BTW check out lots of other great books from Quirk Books here.

As the Kentucky Derby is about to get underway, I thought I’d post some mint juleps that we made the other night.  If you don’t have time to make the mint simple syrup, I’ve heard that you can put a half inch of extra fine sugar in the bottom of your silver cup, muddle some mint in there, fill it to the top with finely cracked ice and top off with some excellent bourbon and you’ll be feeling fine.

As for me, I don’t have the silver cups yet so I had to make do with a nice rocks tumbler. I made some mint simple syrup the night before, crushed my ice and used Woodford Reserve Bourbon. They were delightful. A straw cut to just above ice level makes the drinking easy and elegant. BTW the syrup is great for other drinks including iced tea during the summer.

Mint Simple Syrup

• one bunch spearmint (or you could try another variety if you wish)
• 1 cup caster or granulated sugar
• 1 cup water

Wash, dry and pick over the mint. Mash it in a mortar with a pestle or roll over it with a rolling pin. Bring the water to boil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add the sugar and cook until dissolved. Add the mint and steep, covered for at least one hour. Strain and chill overnight or in an ice bath.

Mint Julep

• Crush ice finely and fill a silver cup or crystal rocks tumbler
• put a jigger or two of simple syrup over the ice (depending on how sweet you want your julep)
• Top off with best quality Bourbon of choice
• Add a mint sprig for garnish
• Some people like to sprinkle powdered sugar over the top but I feel that it is unnecessary lily gilding

Just a note. Keep your crushed/cracked ice in the freezer until ready to make the juleps. You want clean, cold ice that isn’t watery for this drink.

You might want to root for “Stay Thirsty”, go little horse, go! But of course I am rooting for “Pants on Fire” with jockey Rosie Napravnik! Go #7!

Oh boy, Rick just pulled together two fresh juleps for us as the broadcast is underway. Cheers!

I admit I had never heard of a “Figolli” before Nanette of Gourmet Worrier invited me to participate in her “World Figolli Day” event. It turns out that they are a quite yummy traditional Easter treat from Malta.

Sort of a cross between a cookie and a hand pie, they are made from a citrus zest flecked,  egg yolk enriched, buttery short dough that sandwiches a delicious almond filling made fragrant with orange blossom water. You mix up the dough and chill it briefly, then roll it out very thinly, cut into shapes, spread the filling, then top with another cut out of the same shape. You bake them, cool them and then decorate them to your heart’s content.

I made lambs, sunflowers, eggs, butterflies and chicks using chocolate, butter-cream, white chocolate ganache and sanding sugar to decorate.

Lots of springtime fun here! You can find the full recipe at Nanette’s post here. I did add a splash of vanilla and almond extract to the filling- just to put them over the top.