Recipe highlights of the week

This post includes recipes for the following:

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan version)
Vanilla Ice Cream
Blackberry Crisp


I made banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies again on Monday. This time I tried a recipe that I'm pretty sure is vegan, so I thought I'd share it for my vegan and vegetarian friends. I think I liked the previous recipe I tried better, but these were still good, if a bit sticky. I added an egg to the second batch and they puffed up a lot more and were a little softer.

It's a great way to use up overripe bananas. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a way of working bananas into baked goods in a way my family likes, so I end up eating them all myself. These are healthy enough that it's fairly guilt-free. :)

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
from marina.horde.org

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
5 tbls low-calorie stick margarine
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup pureed banana (about 1/2 large banana)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda and oats. Set aside. Melt the margarine on the stove in a small pan; do not allow it to brown. Or place it in a glass cup and melt in a microwave oven set on high for 50 seconds. Pour the margarine into a medium-size mixing bowl and add the sugars, banana and vanilla extract. Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, stir until smooth.

Add the margarine mixture to the flour ingredients and stir until it forms a dough. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the dough by level tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven until lightly puffed and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. They should be a little soft, but not too squishy in the center. Remove from the oven and transfer to wire racks. They will firm up further as they cool. Serve the cookies warm or cool.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Since DH's sister and her 5 children stayed with us Monday evening, I decided to make homemade ice cream. It was a big hit. This is by far the best and easiest ice cream recipe I've tried so far. Figures . . . it's my mom's recipe. Nothing beats Mom's recipes!

Ice Cream

4 eggs whipped frothy (I used pastuerized egg product to avoid Salmonella. You could also mix the eggs with some of the milk and heat it to near-boiling.)
1 1/4 c. sugar, whipped into eggs
vanilla
lemon juice
4 c. milk
3 1/2 c. thick cream (heavy whipping cream)

Stir together cream & milk, mix into egg mixture and freeze in ice-cream maker.

I used 2 tsp. each vanilla and lemon juice, and used 4 c. cream and 3 1/2 cups of a 2% milk/plain live-culture yogurt mixture. The ice cream was smooth, creamy, and delicious.

I also added a couple of Twix candy bars, broken into pieces. My family used to make it with Butterfinger bars--my favorite (can't wait until I'm done nursing in about a year and can eat peanuts again!).

Yesterday the girls and I went to a friend's house to pick blackberries. The two older girls helped up pick and Baby E sat in the baby carrier where she could get a bit of shade. We had a lot of fun, and with 4 of us picking we got quite a few berries in an hour of picking.

One of the easiest things to bake with fruit is a fruit crisp. You just put the berries in a dish, sprinkle the topping mixture on top, and bake it. We served it with our homemade ice cream.

Fruit Crisp
from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

serves 6

5 C sliced, peeled apples, pears, peaches, or apricots; or frozen unsweetened peach slices
2 to 4 T sugar
1/2 C regular rolled oats
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, ginger, or cinnamon
1/4 C margarine or butter
1/4 C chopped nuts or coconut
Vanilla ice cream or light cream (optional)

For filling, thaw fruit, if frozen. Do not drain. Place fruit in an 8 X 1-1/2 - inch round baking dish. Stir in sugar. (For a berry crisp, combine 4 Tbs. sugar and 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour and toss with berries before placing fruit in dish.)

For topping, in a mixing bowl combine oats, brown sugar, flour, and nutmeg, ginger, or cinnamon. Cut in margarine or butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts or coconut. Sprinkle topping over filling.

Bake in a 375° oven for 30 to 35 minutes (40 minutes for thawed fruit) or till fruit is tender and topping is golden. Serve warm with ice cream or light cream, if desired.

I skipped the nuts and baked it in a 9 x 13 baking dish with a double batch of topping. It was delicious. DH and I thought so, anyway . . . the girls took one look and refused to taste it.