Banana Pancakes!

Thank you SO MUCH to Cassey from Blogilates who introduced me to the wonderful world of Banana Pancakes. These babies are so quick and easy to make, and guess what? They only require 2 ingredients!

One Lazy Sunday ago, I wanted to make some breakfast. I actually don't eat breakfast often (I know, very horrible!!) mainly because I am a sleeper and I love to get every minute of sleep I can get before I run out the door and begin my day. Unfortunately for me, this led a life of not being able to make breakfast at all, let alone have time to eat it.

Anywho, having Sundays free, I was in the mood for some pancakes! I then looked online at YouTube and searched for recipes from Blogilates. I'm so glad I came across this recipe! Its super easy to make and it tastes delicious! No need for syrup, but if you do want to add more sweetness, then I suggest adding raw honey to this super healthy meal :)

Here is the recipe for you all to enjoy! Taken from Blogilates

Healthy Banana Pancakes
1 ripe Banana
2 Eggs

1. In a medium bowl, mash the banana until it becomes gooey
2. Add eggs one at a time and whisk until it becomes frothy
3. On a large skillet, heat and grease the pan with coconut oil, evoo, or even pam spray (I used pam)
4. When the pan is hot, ladle in desired amounts of pancake batter. You can make them big or small, whatever you prefer!
5. Flip the pancakes and cook until they turn golden brown
6. Add raw honey or any other syrup/butter of your liking, or enjoy it as is :)

Notes:
*I like to make sure the banana is mashed and gooey because if it is too chunky, you might not get a desired banana taste and it might end up like scrambled eggs with banana bits
* Add the eggs one at a time to ensure it gets mixed in properly
*The batter will spread quickly if the skillet is not hot enough

Here is a video if you'd like to see it get done instead! :)

Cookies n Cream Ice Cream Pie!!

So you all know that I recently bought an ice cream book from my last post. I absolutely love it! Making ice cream comes to a bit of a challenge to me. Maybe because I need to always remember to freeze my freezer bowl. I have that ice cream machine that looks like a bucket. I'm hoping to get a bit more advanced in ice cream making so I can invest my time into one of those $300 ones! But as for now, my lovely red bucket will do.

After enjoying some ice cream from Bi Rite, I absolutely HAD to buy the book. Well, as I was standing in line, I already decided to buy the book. But after having some ice cream, I knew my investment was well spent. Its also signed! Yay!

I love this book from Bi Rite Creamery because it is very detailed on how to make ice cream and what type you want to make. Not just with different flavors, but the style: such as pies, cakes, popsicles, sorbets, etc.

From this book, I decided to make a cookies n cream ice cream pie!

I first made the base of the Cookies N Cream ice cream by making a vanilla base.

Be careful when you make this! When you temper the cream to the eggs and back into the pot, it will literally take 1-2 minutes for the base to be finished. Don't wait for it to thicken too much or you would have over cooked it. (That's what I did on my first attempt!) Once the base has finished cooking, you want to strain it over a bowl in an ice bath! Once everything is cool, transfer the base to a container and stick it in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.

Once you finish, you can start on the oreo crust! It doesn't have to be perfect or anything! Don't forget to bake it!

Yum! Oreos are my weakness! I love how universal they are! You can eat them alone with milk, add it to some cupcakes, sprinkle it on macaron shells, or even chop it up and add them to ice cream!

I definitely think that churned ice cream looks beautiful with oreos! Once my ice cream was close to finished, I add the chopped oreo bits into it. It saves me a ton of time by adding it to the already churning ice cream rather than folding it in afterwards and being afraid that the ice cream would melt too quickly. 

Once your ice cream is finished, just dump the entire batch onto your cooled pie crust and spread it out!

Wrap it up in plastic and chill overnight! Then enjoy the next day, especially if it is a hot September afternoon. Cut it up and enjoy!

I had so much fun making this and I definitely enjoyed the reactions from my friends! I think I might try my hand in some ice cream again! 

Cookies n Cream Ice Cream Pie (From Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones)

Ingredients for the ice cream: (Makes about 1 1/4 quarts)

5 large egg yolks

1/2 c sugar

1 3/4 heavy cream

3/4 cup of 1% or 2% milk

1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c chopped oreo cookies

Ingredients for the crust: (one 9" pie pan)

1 1/2 c fine cookie crumbs

2 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

pinch of kosher salt

Directions

Ice cream:

1. Whisk together yolks and 1/4 c of sugar in a heatproof bowl. Set aside
2. In a medium saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, salt, vanilla extract and 1/4 of remaining sugar. When mixture simmers, turn the heat off
3. Scoop out 1/2 cup of the cream mixture to the eggs and whisk constantly. Add one more 1/2 cup of cream
4. Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook for another 1-2 minutes. It will slightly thicken enough to coat the back of a spatula. Do not overcook it will cook fast!
5. Strain the base into a strainer over an ice water bath. Once mixture cools, transfer to a container and keep it in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight
6. Churn the ice cream in your machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once ice cream starts to thicken up, add the chopped oreos or fold it in by hand.
7. Transfer the ice cream to a clean container and freeze immediately or pour over prepared pie crust and freeze immediately

Pie Crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 
2. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients together until well blended
3. Transfer to a 9" pie pan and press along the sides and at the bottom. Use a flat surface like a glass cup to make everything smooth
4. Bake the crust for about 8-10 minutes and let it cool before you add ice cream 

San Francisco Love!

If you asked me if I love the city, my automatic response would be "No". The commute is horrible, the traffic is tragic and driving up and down the streets are a nightmare. But I do admit that the city holds infinite opportunities and adventures for those who love to explore. I live approximately an hour away from San Francisco. Don't get me wrong, I love that I live only an hour away from the city, but I also don't like that I live an hour away! Coming to SF is more of a vacation for me rather than an everyday type deal. Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels this way, am I right? I have to plan my whole day if I plan to go to SF for even an hour!

Anyway, some girlfriends and I decided to head on over to SF for a spontaneous girls-only trip. We only REALLY wanted ice cream but we ended up doing more than just ice cream.

We visited the wonderful world of Bi Rite Creamery. The line for this small ice cream shop extends as far as the streetlights (But probably even further on a busier workday). I ordered the Salted Caramel (A MUST) and the orange cantaloupe sorbet because I have a weakness for sorbets. It was so delicious and definitely worth the wait. The plus side is that across the street from Bi Rite is a nice grassy field that you can sit on and enjoy. Bathe in the sunlight and get some Vitamins! 

After we finished our ice cream, we headed to Japan town and took a stroll to Filmore bakeshop since it was literally a 5 minute (or less) walk. Such a cute little bakery! I wish I got some photos but I didn't. I had no space for dessert, so unfortunately I didn't purchase anything either. Fun Fact: My chef from culinary school owns and runs Filmore Bakeshop with his daughter! 

After Japan Town, we headed to the beach! Ocean Beach is so beautiful and the sand is so nice and soft. I definitely recommend hitting up this beach if you ever visit the city. It's such a beautiful place to check out (photo above)

Lastly, we ended our trip with Moraga Steps. Definitely another landmark you MUST visit when heading to SF! It's so beautiful and definitely worth the hike up. 

That was my trip to San Francisco. I plan to visit more places next time I decide to take that 1 hour car ride or bart to the city. In my next post, I will share a dessert I made inspired by something from the city. Hint: It has to do with the AMAZING book I bought! :)

Baker Who

PS. I finally bought photoshop! My trial ended so it took me awhile to get back into blogging since I did not want to post up poor and unedited photos.