Filed under: Snacks | Tags: Banana, Nilla Wafers, Nutella, sandwhich cookie
It’s 8:58 and I’m sitting on the computer checking email, Facebook, reading blogs etc when I notice the time. Every day, like clockwork, at 9:00 the kids start asking, no, start begging for snacks. They act as if it’s been so long since breakfast that they just may die of starvation if their hunger isn’t immediately satiated with crackers, candies, chips, anything. I thought I better preempt the whining, pleading, and crying for food and quickly slice up a banana and grab some crackers. As I sliced up a banana, I remembered seeing this post on Foodgawker for a no bake banana sandwich cookies from Bakers Royale. I had all the ingredients, so I thought it would be a fun snack that the kids could even help make.
Their is no recipe, it’s just a bit of nutella spread on mini nilla wafers, a slice of banana sandwiched in between and then rolled in sprinkles. In the original post, she used peanut butter, which would have been good too, but we just love nutella and bananas together.
I don’t know what it is about kids and sprinkles. Sprinkles make everything good, fun and edible. I think if I put sprinkles on broccoli, the kids would eat it up! Today, the kids didn’t whine about having bananas for a snack instead of chips and cookies (my husband’s idea of a snack.) Although letting the kids do the sprinkles was a bit of a mess, we had fun and they each happily ate their bananas.
We will definitely be doing this again. This was such a great no-bake sandwich cookie that was somewhat healthy. If I didn’t have my Sous Chefs “helping” I could bang a couple dozen of these out in less than one episode of Yo! Gabba Gabba. What? I know I’m not the only parent that judges how much time I have to complete an activity uninterrupted with the length of children’s programming 🙂
Recently I found out about a grocery service that delivers. Great, sometimes going to the store with two kids in tow is not fun (wait, did I say sometimes, I really meant every time) so having my groceries brought right to my door seems like a win-win. I can shop at my leisure, and I don’t have to deal with two preschoolers begging for treats, candies, and coins while I would like to quietly peruse isles. The service seemed to work well, the only catch was all fresh produce and meat can only be ordered by the kilogram.
Well I wanted some bananas, but almost 2 pounds is way more than we could eat before they went bad. Oh, and not to mention, someone (who shall remain nameless) has a little problem going number two after eating bananas. Sorry, is mentioning bodily functions T.M.I. on a food blog? Well if you have kids, you know that this is a topic that is regularly discussed. Yay for poop!
Anyway, I thought banana bread would be a great way to use up some of the extras, but I wanted to add a little twist. Nutella. I was very pleased with the way these came out, especially since I heavily tweaked the recipe. The banana flavor was present, but not over powering, it was slightly sweet, and the nutella added a nice flavor as well. My husband said he didn’t really care for it, but asked for a few slices in his lunch the next day to go with his coffee (faker!) The kids, on the other hand, loved it. I could barely shoot the bread before “M” was trying to eat a piece of “cake.”
Banana and Nutella Bread
*adapted from peanut butter-banana muffins at epicurious.com
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup nutella
2 large eggs
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 4 small loaf pans, or 12 muffin cups. Stir first 4 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat bananas, honey, nutella, eggs, applesauce, sugar and vanilla in medium bowl to blend. Beat in flour mixture. Divide batter among muffin cups or loaf pans.
Bake bread until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes for muffins, 35 for loaves. Transfer muffins or loaves to rack; cool.
Mom de Cuisine 