Sour cream banana & roasted pecan cupcakes - Featured in Group Recipes & Bakeolious

I am a hopeless baker....so hopeless that the first time I tried baking a cake it was a disaster. My hubby had bought a box of cake mix and asked me to follow the instructions on the box. I did, but then I baked it in a toaster oven instead of the regular oven. A near fire was the result of course. I don't blame you for laughing at how silly I was. That was when I had no clue at what to use in a kitchen.

I love all my foodie friends’ cup cakes! They all look so lovely, especially recently. Some of them are so creative in coming up with spooky ones for Halloween. I hope someday I will come up with nicer and more creative cupcakes. So for now, I have baked some, but they are very basic. From a taste stand point, my darling hubby said they were delicious, but presentation is a fail by my own estimation. I am sharing this because I find this recipe makes really yummy banana cupcakes. I hope to see some foodie friends use it and come up with those amazing little things! Do buzz me if you use this recipe to make cup cakes so that I can enjoy some eye candies!

Makes 18 – 20 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1/4 c. butter

1 ¼ c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 c. sour cream

1 c. mashed bananas

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Method:
Line cupcake pan with cup cake papers. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, blend thoroughly. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Add bananas and pecans, mixing just until blended. Spoon batter into the paper cupcake liners. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 20 mins minutes. Cool well and before adding any frosting.

Mix greens and spinach with Roasted Butternut Squash, Bacon, Pecan and Maple Vinaigrette - Featured in Group Recipes

I saw this recipe from one of the foodie’s site but unfortunately I forgot to write down the url.  This recipe is adapted from the Kitchen of Once Upon a Plate.  the two things that I changed in this recipe included using pecans instead of walnuts (my hubby is a southern boy through & through) and I added spinach mixed into the regular salad greens (another favorite of ours.) We enjoyed this salad so much that we did not want the meal to end.  The flavors in this salad go extremely well with a favorite white wine, which for me is usually on the slightly sweet (demi sec) side of the equation. We drank an Australian Gerwurtztraminer with it that evening.Heaven!  

Serving: 4

Ingredients for the Salad:

1 packet 125 gm mix greens

1 packet 125 gm spinach leaves

3 cups butternut squash

5 slices of bacon

1 cup pecans

Ingredients for Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup

1/4 cup Sherry Vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive

1/4 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

¼  tsp Sea salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method to prepare Vinaigrette:

Place Maple syrup in a small pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and allow syrup to reduce by about half. In a small bowl, whisk together the reduced maple syrup with the vinegar, whisk in the Dijon mustard, then whisk in the oil until mixture is emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Method to prepare the salad:

Washed mix greens and spinach leaves and set aside. Remove skin and seeds of Butternut squash and into cubes/dice (about 3/4-inch). Slices of bacon, sliced crosswise into thin strips and fried until just crisp, drained. Spray some oil on the pan and roast pecans. Place diced butternut squash on rimmed baking sheet, toss with a tablespoon olive oil to coat, then sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast in hot oven turning pieces once or twice until just tender but not mushy. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Arrange mix green and spinach leaves in salad bowl and add roasted butternut squash, crispy bacon and pecans. Drizzle with Maple Vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper before serving.