Banana Cake Bars

 I got this yummy yummy recipe from this pin: Banana Bars

We had some guests over for dinner on Wednesday. Over the weekend a nasty stomach bug came for a visit so by Wednesday I was craving some serious comfort food. I wanted cheesy soups and fall desserts, but I just couldn't bring myself to make Autumn weather food when it was 100 degrees out. So I made a chicken broccoli cream dish over rice and these banana bars. I fell in love a little bit. These are so good!! I made half of the recipe and baked it in a 7x11 glass dish. Then I made half of the browned butter icing and poured it over the top. Next time I will half the bars but make the whole icing recipe. The icing is so goooood!! I am sad to say that I have not browned butter since I was in culinary school! Shame on me, I have really missed out! I had forgotten how good browned butter smells and the taste of this icing! Oh man it's a little nutty and oh so buttery and sweet and pairs perfectly with the banana bars. And now to give some credit to these bars, it is banana bread taken to the next level of deliciousness. It has the texture of a really good Texas sheet cake. Not as dense as a banana bread and I like that. I made these in the morning and as soon as the icing had set up enough to cut without drizzling I tasted it. It was warm and delicious and I felt happy. Later that night when we had them for dessert I was a little disappointed because I didn't love it as much as I had earlier. But then I popped it in the microwave for 12 seconds and I was back in my happy place! Eat these warm! Part of what makes me happy when I eat these is that I feel like its the perfect bridge dessert between summer and fall. Living in Texas we miss out on the crisp fall weather and the leaves changing. Its hard for me to get excited about soups and pumpkin treats when its sunny and in the 90's, but this is kind of summery and fallish at the same time, so its great for a warm September treat.

I almost forgot to snap a picture as I sat down to eat the last piece for breakfast!!

On a scale of 1-10 this gets a 9 for Yummers and is about a 4 for difficulty to make only because she isn't lying when she says browning butter can go from nice and brown to burnt in seconds. It can be hard to see the color of the butter because the butter fat sits on top as its boiling. You will start to know it's ready by the smell. It will start to smell very buttery and a little nutty, check the color then. It should be a nice golden brown. I had the milk and vanilla in a little bowl on the side to pour in immediately to cool down the browning process as soon as it was ready.

Brunchy Bites

I got these easy and delicious recipes from these pins: Banana Berry Bites and Crescent Cinnamon Rolls

I went to a playgroup brunch today. They called it a Boo-Hoo brunch. I had no idea what that was, apparently its a brunch for when you send your kids off to school and are feeling a little down and need some cheering up. I like it. I was a slacker and showed up with nothing to share but if I did remember to go to the store so I could make something these are the two recipes I would have made because they rock and are sure to cheer up everyone!
Have you ever tried the Philadelphia Indulgence Spread? If not get to the store and try it! Every time I eat it I am so grateful for this blog and that Indulgence and I were able to m"eat". Every time I make these Banana Berry Bites they are always a huge success and they are about as easy peasy as it gets. Cut the bananas, spoon on the chocolate and top with a berry. Since you cover up the cut ends of the banana with chocolate and a plate they don't brown for a while so they can sit out. I topped mine with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries too, all were yummy yummy!
Now the cinnamon rolls are the easiest I have ever made and they can hold their own in a cinnamon roll bake off. A few months ago my sister and I were planning the menu for a blessing brunch we were hosting. I told her I wanted to make these cinnamon rolls. She objected because she was planning on making her famous cinnamon rolls. So I made it a cinnamon roll showdown. I think we both made 3 dozen but hers were much bigger. Based on leftovers I was a clear winner, the baking dishes were scraped clean. The biggest problem was that both rolls were super delicious. She makes a traditional, big, dense gooey roll smothered in cream cheese frosting. They rock your taste buds. This was my first time making the crescent cinnamon rolls. They are so soft and lite and gooey and buttery and sweet and if left alone there is no way to keep yourself from devouring the whole pan. So we called it a draw since they seemed to be too different to compare. Shortly after that brunch we had family in town and I told my husband I was going to make the cinnamon rolls I had made for the blessing brunch. He got super excited and told me how he thought they were so good he ate an entire roll himself. This was a huge compliment to me because my husband does not like sweets, especially for breakfast! He then went on to describe to me how good they were and how the frosting was so good. I told him to stop right there because it was clear he hadn't tried my rolls because he was to full from eating the entire giant cinnamon roll that my sister had made. Oh well because I won't stop making these they are so stinkin delicious!!
I have a super hard time rating food on a yummy scale of 1-10. Both of these are off the charts deliciously yummy to me! On a scale of tricky to prepare these get a 1.5, so easy I really think anyone can make them, they may not look like the pictures but they won't last long enough for people to even focus on the presentation!