Banana Bread Whoopie Pies with Fluffy Vanilla Bean Frosting

Have you ever tried banana bread in cookie form with a thick fluffy layer of frosting sandwiched between two of them? With these cookies now is your chance. They taste just like banana bread with an added bonus, a luscious layer of vanilla bean frosting. Lightly said, these cookies are amazing! I saw the Banana Whoopie Pies over at Martha Stewart and new I just had to try them. Lucky for me I keep a stock of overripe bananas in the freezer for emergencies such as this, where I need an overripe banana in it's prime but don't want to wait 7 more days for it to hit its peak ripeness. I used to question whether or not freezing bananas was a good idea until I tried if for myself a few months ago. It actually works great. You simply just leave them unpeeled and pop them into the freezer when they are nice and spotty. Then when you are ready to use them, thaw the frozen banana out (to room temperature, sometimes I cheat and even thaw them in the microwave) then peel and prepare them  as directed in your recipes. Their texture is different from that of an overripe banana that has not been frozen (I'm thinking of the word juicy, so be sure to add all those juices when prepping). They won't hold their shape well, but they are perfect for recipes that call for mashed bananas. Their color may not be the most pleasant, as the peel will blacken a bit when frozen, but this doesn't affect their flesh or taste so don't worry. 

I also wanted to mention to you that I finally found cheap vanilla beans! Where you are asking? My friend introduced me to this awesome website (indrivanilla.com) that sells them for 50 cents a piece! I seriously couldn't believe it! And they are pristine vanilla beans if you ask me. I was so excited when I got mine because they weren't completely dried, shriveled and lifeless. They just seemed so much fresher and even plumper than what I've gotten from the store (just FYI this isn't a sponsored statement of me trying to sell something for someone, I'm just so excited that I wanted so share the info about such a fabulous deal :). 

I made a few changes to the original cookie recipe. I didn't think 1/2 cup banana would give the cookies near enough banana flavor so I doubled it, then reduce the sour cream by half. I also decided to leave the vanilla out of the cookie portion because I wanted it all to come from the frosting so I could have an equal balance of banana and vanilla flavor. It is an entirely different frosting than what they had listed, but I think a cream cheese version would be delicious as well (although I'd use a lot more powdered sugar than they did, less cream cheese and add some butter of course =). Enjoy!

Banana Bread Whoopie Pies
Yields about 2 dozen 

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 2 large)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 recipe Fluffy Vanilla Bean Frosting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together mashed banana and sour cream, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed, whip together butter, granulated sugar and light-brown sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Blend in egg. Add banana mixture and mix until combine. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix just until combine. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoon fulls (about 1 1/2 Tbsp) and drop onto Silpat or parchment lined baking sheets placing them about 1 1/2 inches apart, then smooth edges and flatten cookie as needed (diameter of cookie should be about 1 1/2 - 2 inches. Alternately you can fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch plain tip with batter, then pipe dough into 1 1/2 inch rounds onto baking sheet - if you do this method you may get more than 2 dozen pies). Bake in preheated oven for 12 - 13 minutes until edges are golden. Allow to cool 2 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Spread and sandwich a layer of frosting between two cookies. Store in an airtight container (in refrigerator if not serving within a few hours) .

Fluffy Vanilla Bean Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup salted butter, at room temperature
seeds from two small vanilla beans 
4 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium high speed, whip butter and vanilla bean seeds until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract and blend 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Recipe Source: cookie portion adapted slightly from Martha Stewart, frosting - Cooking Classy

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Copycat Samoa Girl Scout Cookies

Who doesn't love a Girl Scout Samoa Cookie? They are by far my favorite Girl Scout Cookie. This past spring I purchased eight cartons of the Dreyers Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Limited Edition Ice Cream and hoarded them away in my freezer. I thought they'd last much longer then they did. I can only wish I could buy the Samoas year round, but since I can't I've had to improvise. That is why I've come up with my own version of the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies. These things are amazing! Tender shortbread, sweet chewy caramel, perfectly toasted coconut and a nice chocolate coating to finish things off. YUM!
I won't lie to you, these cookies are quite a bit of work...but, they are well worth the effort. These cookies don't use real butter or fancy caramel, it's the cheap stuff just like what I'm quite certain they put in the real thing (it helps to read the ingredients list on the package when you are making up a copycat recipe =) . It's not often I use shortening and until now I've never used a cheap chocolate coating for anything, but for these I think it's a must.
I know some of you are going to ask, what is desiccated coconut and where do I get it? Desiccated coconut is shredded coconut that has been dried to remove as much moisture as possible. I used toasted desiccated coconut (I used this one here) in these because it looks exactly like whats in the Girl Scout ones. You can purchase it at a specialty kitchen needs stores or online.
I hope you love these cookies as much as I do! Enjoy!

Samoa Cookies
Yields just over 2 dozen (recipe can easily be doubled)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup all vegetable shortening
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp milk, as needed

3/4 cups toasted desiccated coconut, divided
22 caramels, unwrapped (such as Kraft)
2 1/2 Tbsp milk
1 pinch salt

1 recipe Chocolate Coating, recipe follows (or you could use melted chocolate chips, I'd recommend half milk chocolate and half semi-sweet)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, blend together shortening, sugar and vanilla until combine (only about 30 seconds). Stir in dry ingredients. Add milk 1/2 Tbsp at a time as needed, until dough comes together. Roll dough out between two large sheets of parchment paper, to about 1/6" thickness. Using a 2" cookie cutter, cut dough into circles then using the end of a small pastry tip cut a hole in the center of each circle. Using a large sharp knife or pastry scraper (floured as needed), slide knife under entire cookie and lift the cookie off of the parchment paper and transfer to a Silpat lined cookie sheet. Re-roll dough as needed until you've used it all. Bake cookies in preheated oven for about 10 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Pour 1/2 cup desiccated coconut into a shallow bowl and set aside. Heat caramels, 2 1/2 Tbsp milk and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. Reduce temperature to warm, add remaining 1/4 cup desiccated coconut to melted caramel and mix to combine. Leave caramel mixture over warm heat (as you coat cookies), stirring caramel occasionally. Working one cookie at a time, spread about 1 tsp caramel mixture around the top of cookie, then immediately dip caramel coated side of cookie into the bowl of desiccated coconut then set on parchment paper (or cooled cookie sheets) and allow caramel to set. 
Prepare chocolate coating according to directions listed then dip bottoms of cookies (none caramel coated side) in coating and run the bottom of the cookie along the inside edge of the bowl scrapping excess coating off (you just need a thin coating). Place dipped cookie upside down (so the chocolate coating should be facing upward). Repeat process with remaining cookies. Once coating on cookies has set, flip cookies to opposite side. Pour remaining chocolate coating (rewarm as needed first) into a Ziploc bag, seal bag and cut a very small tip off one edge of the bag then drizzle chocolate coating over cookies. Allow drizzled coating to set then store cookies in an airtight container.

Chocolate Coating

Ingredients:
5 Tbsp shortening
3 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
In a microwave safe bowl, using a fork, blend together shortening and cocoa powder. Microwave mixture in 15 second intervals on HIGH power, stirring after each interval until completely melted. Add powdered sugar and mix until well combine and smooth. Reheat as needed on 50% power for about 15 seconds, then stir.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

My two favorite muffins are blueberry muffins and almond poppy seed muffins. So a few weeks ago I set out to create an almond poppy seed muffin with the a fluffy muffin top, that had a combination of just the right amount of sweetness and almond flavor and a perfectly tender crumb. This was probably my fifth try but finally I did it =). The saying that baking is a science is definitely true. I tried different temperatures, different liquids and fats and different ratios. I'm definitely a self taught cook. Baking school could probably teach me a few things but I learn the hard way, through trial and error.
 These poppy seed muffins are like the ones you get at the bakery with the delicious golden muffin tops that hang over the sides. I used to frequently eat an almond poppy seed muffin from the bakery along with a chocolate milk for lunch (it made more of a brunch). I don't know why but I loved the two of them together. You will definitely want to eat these with a nice cold glass of milk, or almond milk (if you haven't tried almond milk yet you really should, the stuff is amazing). Enjoy!

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
Yields 1 dozen

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 cup granulated sugar
10 Tbsp butter, softened
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, attached with paddle attachment, blend together butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add in egg, egg yolk and almond extract and mix until blended. Measure out milk into a liquid measuring cup then whisk sour cream into milk. Working in three separate batches beginning and ending with flour mixture, add flour mixture alternating with milk mixture to batter and mix on low speed just until combine after each addition. Divide batter among 12 paper lined muffin cups (in a non-stick muffin tin), sprinkle slivered almonds evenly among muffins and bake in preheated oven 16 - 18 minutes until lightly golden and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

If you've been following I'm sure you know by now that I love a good slow cooker meal. Who doesn't? Meals prepared in a slow cooker yield flavorful and tender results with such minimal effort. This soup is definitely proof of that.
If you don't have a slow cooker you could also make this on the stove top. I've also prepared it on the stove top before and added grilled chicken to it. If you choose to prepare it on the stove top add cooked chicken and allow the soup an hour to simmer over low heat so all the flavors have some time to develop and meld together. 
I love Mexican food. I could eat it everyday. It has such unique and exciting flavors. Addictive flavors if you ask me. I hope you enjoy another Slow Cooker Meal from Cooking Classy =).

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Yields about 5 servings

Ingredients:

20 oz boneless skinless, chicken breasts halves
3 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
3/4 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 small)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro 

Serve with:
diced fresh tomatoes
shredded Monterrey Jack or Cheddar Cheese (Mexican blend works too)
tortilla strips or tortilla chips, see recipe below for homemade baked tortilla strips
fresh guacamole or diced avocados
sour cream
hot sauce (optional)

Directions:
In a slow cooker, whisk together chicken broth, canned tomatoes, diced yellow onion, chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, coriander then season with salt and pepper to taste. Add raw chicken breasts, cover with lid and cook on low heat 7 - 8 hours. 
Remove chicken and shred. Return shredded chicken to slow cooker along with lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro and gently stir (if you wanted another filler you can add in some frozen corn or rinsed black beans). Serve warm with diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, tortilla strips, guacamole, sour cream, optional hot sauce and additional cilantro if desired.

Baked Tortilla Strips

Ingredients:
6 corn tortillas
olive oil cooking spray (vegetable works too)
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat both sides of tortillas evenly with cooking spray. Align coated tortillas in an even stack, then cut in half down the middle, then dice halves into about 1/4" strips. Arrange strips in a single layer (if they overlap a little that's find just make sure they aren't stacked on top of each other) on a Silpat lined baking sheet, season with salt to taste and bake in preheated oven 10-12 minutes until golden. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Recipes Source: Cooking Classy

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