I stare down overripe bananas at the end of every week and wonder what to do with them. You can only make so much banana bread before your entire family is OVER it.
This week I had an entire bunch that hadn’t gotten eaten and I just couldn’t bring myself to toss them. So I started rooting around under the cabinet for my loaf pans.
I spied my muffin tins and thought, meh, let’s change it up and make muffins instead. But I still wasn’t enthused.
No matter how good I grease the pan, I find that I have to overcook muffins and cupcakes to get them to come out clean (and I hate dry, overcooked baked goods) so I started looking around for cupcake liners.
Which I didn’t have.
Boy, I was getting closer and closer to throwing the bananas in the trash because this was all starting to feel like a chore and knew nobody around here was going to get excited for more banana bread even if it was in the shape of muffins.
OK, Mandy, snap out of it. Put your game face on and do better. Think. Make this fun! You are NOT the boring banana bread lady!
So I made some fresh, hot coffee, put my classic country playlist on (verrrry loud) and went at it. What? sorry, I can’t hear you, the music is too loud, mmmhmmm yeah I don’t know, go ask your dad… Down on the corner, by the traffic light, everybody’s looking as she goes by… they turn their heads and they watch her till she’s gone…
I decided to add cinnamon and make a crumb mixture that I hoped would turn into a praline-y, crumble-ish topping then finish them with a simple icing drizzle.
And because they call me MacGyver of The Kitchen [nobody calls me that] I cut parchment paper into squares then lined my muffin tin with them so my banana muffins would look swanky.
AND!! I’m happy to report that my friend Mary actually thought they came from a bakery!! I gave her a couple in passing the other day and she said she first thought that because the liners were so professional looking. Holla!!
When The Baby, The Boy and Husband walked though later, every one of them stopped to asked what smelled so good. This is kind of a big deal because they’re used to the kitchen smelling like random food at all hours since I cook for a living. Then Husband followed me around until I was done taking pictures so he could have the first bite.
Attagirl, Mac.
The other obvious thing to do when you have too many bananas is to make BANANA PUDDING (just had some with Sunday dinner as a matter of fact!). Here are the two recipes I make the most:
UPDATE/CAUTION: I have made these without liners twice now since I first published the recipe. They turned out perfectly in my Wilton pan which has visibly wider muffins than my other pans. When I made them in another, more "standard" size muffin tin, the batter cooked over the edges - it didn't run over the sides of the pan and make a big mess but it came close. Unless your muffin tin is for larger than standard muffins, you should line it with "bakery-style" liners (usually brown craft paper), cut 5" squares from parchment paper (like I did above) or underfill the tins a bit - filling no more than 3/4 full at the most. The bakery-style or square parchment liners allow the batter to rise while still containing it.
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My men-folk are “meat & potato” guys and aren’t too fond of many vegetables. And even though one is 50 and the other is almost 15, I do just what I did when my kids were little: I hide, sneak and smuggle vegetables in everywhere I can.
I shred carrots into meatballs and meatloaf, I add finely diced mushrooms when I’m browning ground beef, I add fresh spinach to anything I can say “oh, it’s just herbs” when they ask “what’s this green stuff?”
I had this idea for a burrito bake where I wanted big, thick, beefy burritos to bake in this cheesy sauce (which is, btw, completely magical) but I didn’t want to have to use five pounds to meat to accomplish it.
And I didn’t want to add rice to the them because I always serve Mexican Restaurant-Style Rice as a side dish with meals like this.
Hmmm…
So I decided to add refried beans and cheese to the filling and see what happened. What happened is I got six thick meaty burritos that were cheesy and delicious and two big boys who were none the wiser.
Mwaahh-ahh-ahh-ahh-ahhhhhh!!
OK, so you may have a few questions already and I’ll try to get in front of them.
Two things set these two apart. Burritos are typically made with flour tortillas and enchiladas are usually made with corn tortillas. I prefer flour tortillas so I made these into burritos.
The other difference is that enchiladas are rolled with their ends left open and burritos are folded and rolled so that the ends are tucked in.
So, Mandy, why then did you use enchilada sauce in this recipe if you’re going to be so picky about recipe vocabulary? Well, because, dear, there’s no such thing as burrito sauce!
After trying (and failing) many times to make queso dip at home like they have at our favorite Mexican restaurant chain, I finally just asked what the secret was. Though they were a little sheepish in admitting it, the secret is white American cheese. It’s the only cheese that yields velvety, smooth cheese sauce without having to make a roux (which I’m not a fan of when it comes to cheese sauce).
I knew I could simply heat cream or half-and-half, add white American cheese and POOF! have silky, smooth cheese dip (yep, that’s all you gotta do) so I gambled here and hoped that by letting the cheese melt into to enchilada sauce, I’d create a cheesy, spicy sauce to smother these burritos in. And I was right!!
I’ve yet to find white American cheese anywhere other than the deli (though Kraft does make slices). If your deli attendant looks at you funny when say you need a pound of unsliced cheese, just tell him or her you need about two inches (providing you’re getting the standard square block of Land O’Lakes or Boar’s Head).
Seriously, I've yet to ask for it without a little hesitation from the deli. Most often I get two 1-inch thick slabs which, I think, is the thickest their deli slicer will go.
Meh, it's not rocket science. If you're a little over or a little under, it'll all turn out alright anyway. If you find that you have less than you need and want to add something else, add it in with the filling and leave the White American to work it's magic with the sauce.
MEXICAN RESTAURANT-STYLE RICE - A simple recipe with just a few ingredients just like the rice at our favorite Mexican restaurant.
MEXICAN STREET CORN - Esquites served off the cob as a side dish or warm salad with Mexican crumbling cheese, a creamy spread, fresh cilantro and chili powder.
BORRACHO BEANS - Savory, saucy pinto beans cooked low and slow with pork, spices and beer. The perfect side dish recipe for your next Mexican feast!
SEMI-HOMEMADE GUACAMOLE - An unbelievably easy and inexpensive semi-homemade guacamole recipe using fresh avocado, cilantro, onion and garlic with prepared guacamole.
RESTAURANT-STYLE SALSA - The BEST restaurant-style salsa recipe made in a blender with canned tomatoes and fresh ingredients.
My family LOVES to eat at our local Mexican restaurant. They will choose going there (or getting take-out in these Covid days) over any other restaurant 9 out of 10 times. And the thing that every single one of us makes sure to order each time?
The rice.
I don’t even know what you should call it. It’s not Spanish Rice. And for some reason I feel odd calling it 'Mexican Rice'. Maybe because I think we only call it that because Mexican restaurants here in America all pretty-much make it.
I bet if you went to Mexico and ordered 'Mexican Rice' they’d be like… que?
I’ve put a lot of thought and effort into coming up with this recipe. My family will eagerly tell you about all the failed attempts I made to get to this one best version. Baby Boy is such a Mexican rice connoisseur and down-right snob about it, he won’t even bother to taste it if it’s doesn’t “look right”.
I knew I was on to something when I set the first batch of this on the table and they all made the right noises. There were a lot of mmmmmms and ooooooooos and I noticed they piled hefty servings onto their plates.
Then Baby Boy took a bite and said THIS IS IT and I literally got up and danced a little jig! Seriously, this one perfect recipe is the result of at least 20 batches that didn’t hit the mark, so this was a big deal for me!
I don’t care for the random frozen vegetables you find in the rice at some restaurants. And Husband REALLY doesn’t like it so I never considered using them. Also, I can’t imagine frozen English peas and carrot cubes get used too much in authentic Mexican rice dishes.
I personally like finely diced sautéed onions in this but the fam says it’s a no-go so I don’t cook it that way. Plus, then it really does start to lean toward Spanish rice.
My Mexican Rice is a very simple dish with only a few ingredients, but I think two things really give it that little je ne sais quoi (sorry, I don’t know the Spanish equivalent to that phrase or I would try to be clever here): sautéing the rice and the use of olive oil.
Sautéing the rice really develops the flavor and brings out an almost nuttiness to it. I think (though I could be wrong because I have nothing to back this up with) by browning it a bit, the rice grains hold their shape better and have a better texture in the finished dish.
I’ve sautéed the rice in butter, canola oil and olive oil and the rice done with olive oil is hands-down the best. Now, that being said, I buy the mildest olive oil available because I love to cook with it a lot and don’t want to overpower the flavors of the dish with a super-strong olive oil. I’ll mention this in the recipe notes but if your olive oil is strongly flavored, consider using half olive oil and half butter or canola oil.
Speaking of olive oil… there is a little shop here in Lexington, SC called The Classy Cruet that specializes in it. I popped in there one day to kill some time while Baby Girl was finishing up at the shop next door and legit fell in love. With olive oil. Crazy, right??
There is so much I didn’t know about olive oil. Well, I mean, I knew enough to know the $5.99 bottle at TJ Maxx is usually crappy and that extra virgin has a low smoke point but that’s about it. I tended not to cook a lot of dishes with it (other than Italian) because most that I’d used over the years were very strong and not always complimentary to what I was cooking.
I asked if there was a very mild flavored olive oil (because they were so nice and I kinda felt like I should buy something after wandering around so long 😬). Thirty minutes and two shopping bags full later, I was armed with Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a whole bunch of other stuff (highly recommend the garlic infused olive oil – major time saver when I don’t want to peel and chop fresh garlic and amazing to brush steaks with before grilling).
The Arbequina is one of their mild olive oils and the one that I use in this recipe (selection varies depending on olive harvest times – I hear the Picual is good too). I just popped over to The Classy Cruet website and see that they ship! Y’all should treat yourself to some good olive oil! These gals know their stuff and I must say, I am genuinely in love with this Arbequina.
A simple recipe with just a few ingredients just like the rice at our favorite Mexican restaurant and a perfect side dish to serve at home with your favorite Mexican recipes!
When it comes to oatmeal cookies, everyone has different preferences about texture. Thick or thin, cake-like or chewy, crispy or tender, and so on.
This is a recipe for what I like. And what I like in an oatmeal cookie is for it to be thick, soft and a little chewy. And this recipe is the BEST EVER if you’re looking for that combo!
If that’s not what you’re after, this might not be the recipe for you! Or it could be if you adjust a few things we’ll talk about below.
Butter has a lower melting point than shortening so cookies made with all butter will spread farther in the pan yielding thinner, crispier, chewier cookies.
If you prefer thicker cookies, use a 50/50 combo of shortening and butter. I don’t recommend using all shortening for flavor’s sake.
If using a 50/50 combo, add an extra pinch of salt to the recipe (add two if you’re using unsalted butter).
Either can be used for oatmeal cookies but I always use quick-cooking oats. Old Fashioned oats are more traditional but I like to use quick-cook oats because they will yield softer, thicker, more tender cookies.
When using quick-cook oats, it’s important not to over-mix them to prevent them from breaking up too much (you still want to see and feel the oat texture).
To achieve my preferred cookie texture, I use ALL butter and quick-cooking oats which means thicker, softer cookies that are still chewy.
Quick-Cooking Oats are also my preference in no-bake oatmeal cookies, like these:
Two other things that might catch your eye in my recipe are the amounts of salt and vanilla I use. Those are not typos!
I use a whole teaspoon of salt (and salted butter and salty baking soda). Salt is as important to sweet recipes as sugar is and recipes with too little salt taste flat and unbalanced.
Middle Baby has a recipe (that she found on one of those Gen Z social media platforms I don’t understand) that uses TWO tablespoons of vanilla in a relatively small batch for chocolate chip cookies. The first time she made them I was amazed at the flavor (because I totally thought it was SURELY a mistake!). I’ve been using two tablespoons in all my cookie recipes since because the flavor is delicious!
Whatever floats your boat! I like all the things! All of one or a combination of everything together works for me! Just stick with about 2-2.5 cups total of whatever you’re adding (more than that and your cookies likely won’t hold together).
If using chocolate, I don’t add cinnamon but you certainly can if you want. When making classic oatmeal cookies with raisins I add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.
For picture-perfect cookies, reserve about 3/4 cup chocolate chips or butterscotch morsels to place on top before baking (not raisins or nuts as they may burn).
