Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

 

• 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas)
• 1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter*
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce*
• 1/2 cup almond milk 
• 2 and 1/2 cups whole or quick oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper with enough overhang on the sides to easily remove the bars from the pan. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, mash the bananas. On medium speed, beat or whisk in the remaining ingredients in the order listed. Batter will be a little thick, but still pourable.
3. Pour/spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 25-28 minutes or until the center is set (it will still look relatively soft!).
4. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. After that, place the pan in the refrigerator for 1 hour until chilled. The bars are difficult to cut if they haven’t been chilled.
5. Remove bars from the pan using the overhang on the sides then cut into bars. Sometimes I drizzle melted peanut butter over each, but that’s optional. (Note: the parchment paper is always a little moist from soaking up some moisture from the bars.)
6. Cover leftover bars tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

(Source: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/peanut-butter-banana-chocolate-chip-oatmeal-bars/#tasty-recipes-76739)

Perfect Biscuits

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup cold butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup whole milk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• The secret to excellent biscuits is COLD BUTTER. Really cold. Many times the biscuit dough gets worked so much that the butter softens before the biscuits even go in the oven. Try cutting the butter into small pieces and stick back in the fridge pulling out only when ready to incorporate into the dough.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
• Use a pastry cutter to cut cold butter into flour mixture. Don't go too crazy here - you want to see small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough. 
• Add in the milk and egg and mix just until the ingredients are combined. The dough will be sticky but don't keep working it. You should be able to see the butter pieces in the dough.
• Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on to the top of dough so it won't stick to your fingers and knead 10-15 times. If the dough is super sticky just sprinkle on some additional flour.
• Pat the dough out to 3/4 - 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or glass. I ended up with nine this time but depending on who is snacking on biscuit dough, I can get up to 12 biscuits. 
• Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

(Source: https://www.momontimeout.com/perfect-biscuits-every-time-recipe/#recipe)