Brown Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Bars

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup mashed banana (from 1 large ripe banana)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-by-8-inch square baking pan nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

First, brown the butter. Cut the butter into tablespoons. Place in a medium skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat, swirling it in the pan occasionally. The butter will foam and pop, so be careful. Continue to swirl the pan often. Remove pan from heat once the butter starts to brown and smells nutty. There will be small brown bits on the bottom. The butter should be an amber color.

In a large bowl, combine the browned butter and brown sugar. Stir until smooth. Add in the egg and stir until combined. Stir in the mashed banana and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and flour. Stir until just combined. Don’t over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan, spreading into an even layer. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set and edges are light golden brown, and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting into squares.

(source: https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/brown-butter-banana-chocolate-chip-bars/)

Apple German Pancakes

1 apple , thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
5 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small bowl, toss apple slices, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice together; set aside.

Cut the butter into pieces and place in a 9×13-in. baking dish.

Place in oven, just until the butter has melted. Remove from oven. Sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter, and top with sliced apples mixture.

In a blender add the eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla; cover and process until smooth.

Pour batter over apples .

Bake, for 18-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and puffy and center is set.

(source: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/apple-german-pancakes/)

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature, slightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided

DIRECTIONS:
Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth and combined.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter.

Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.

(source: https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-pumpkin-bread/)