Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Icing

These Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Icing are delicious.   I mostly followed Martha Stewart's recipe (click here for original recipe link), you can't go wrong with Martha right?  I shared these at a belated birthday brunch for dessert and I watched my friend's 2 year old gobble up an entire cupcake!  The "cupcakes" are also great without icing too, they are like banana muffins.  But I was told the icing is one of the best parts haha.  Enjoy!

Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Icing

Printable Recipe

Ingredients for Cupcakes

1 ½ cup flour

1 teaspooon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup sugar

½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)

1 ½ cups mashed bananas (about 3 to 4 ripe bananas)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for Honey Cinnamon Icing

1 ½ cup powdered sugar

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 to 2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

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Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a bowl, mix sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add in bananas, eggs and vanilla.

Slowly add in dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Divide batter evenly in lined muffin pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean.

Remove cupcakes from pan and cool on wire rack.  

While cupcakes are cooling, you can make the honey cinnamon icing.

In a stand mixer, beat powdered sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and cinnamon until smooth.

Spread (or pipe) honey cinnamon icing on cooled cupcakes.

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Makes 12 to 15 cupcakes.

Pumpkin Chicken

Pumpkin chicken?  Yup!  I needed to use up some leftover pumpkin puree so I thought why not.  I adapted this pumpkin chicken recipe from Witty in the City (original recipe here).  I had to use honey instead of maple syrup since I didn't have any.  This pumpkin chicken was actually a little on the spicy side, so if you like a kick, this is your type of chicken dish.  Serve this pumpkin chicken over rice or egg noodles and definitely spoon some of that extra sauce on top.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chicken

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (4 pieces)

1 cup pumpkin (plain puree)

1 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon honey (or maple syrup)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

½ teaspoon garam masala (or curry powder)

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper.  Place in baking dish.

In a bowl, whisk together pumpkin, chicken stock, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, red chili pepper flakes and garam masala.

Pour pumpkin sauce over chicken.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Rotate baking dish halfway through baking and baste chicken with the pumpkin sauce.

Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken 2

I have previously made Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken and it is still one of my favorite slow cooker meals.  This is version 2 of my original recipe since I made it for my mom-to-be friend as a make ahead meal/freezer meal.  I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs this time and left out the onions.  The sauce is basically the same, and since I froze this before cooking, I didn't add in the sesame seeds (which is for garnish).   My cousin made the first version with chicken tenders and she said it was "so delicious."  My friend is also allergic to nuts so sesame was on the safe food list, yay!  I hope she likes this dish as much as I do!


Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken 2

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound chicken (I used 2 large chicken breasts)

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used low sodium soy sauce)

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon sesame oil

¼ teaspoon ginger, minced

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, sesame oil and ginger.

Add chicken into a freezer bag and pour sauce into bag.  Mix together sauce and chicken in bag with hands.

Freeze until ready to cook in slow cooker.  I would suggest defrosting the night before to cook in slow cooker the next morning.

Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or on high for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours, until chicken is cooked through.

Serves 2.

Slow Cooker Honey Chicken

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  After a busy weekend, sometimes you just need an easy meal to make on Sunday night.  If you need a simple summer recipe for dinner, this slow cooker honey chicken is great if you don't want to use the stove top or oven.  There are only a few ingredients and everything gets mixed into one bowl.  I love easy cleanup meals!  I served this honey chicken over white rice with a side of garlicky french green beans with slicked almonds.

Slow Cooker Honey Chicken

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound skinless chicken thighs, 4 pieces (You can use chicken breasts instead.)

1/3 cup honey

½ cup soy sauce (I used a low sodium soy sauce.)

½ cup ketchup

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of your favorite seasoning (I used Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute.)

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, and garlic.

Add chicken to honey mixture.  Pour into slow cooker.

 

Cook on low for 6 hours, until chicken is cooked through.

 

Serve over rice.

 

Serves 4.

Green Monster Smoothie 2

Since I'm done traveling for awhile I'm trying to get back to eating healthy again.  I am still loving these green monster smoothies for breakfast or as a healthy snack.  It is so easy to make a large batch to make ahead several smoothies.  This is a slightly varied recipe from my first green monster smoothie recipe.   I added in blueberries and it is a more tart flavor, so I personally like it better with just banana as in my original recipe.  I also freeze extra portions in these Ziploc Twist 'N Loc containers to take to work for breakfast in the mornings.  I usually take one out of the freezer in the morning and set it on the counter while I get ready.   Once I get to my office, I leave it on my desk for an hour to fully defrost.  These green monster smoothies are also dog friendly - my dogs love it as much as I do!

 
Green Monster Smoothie 2

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups spinach

1 ½ cups vanilla soy milk

½ cup plain greek yogurt

1 frozen banana, sliced

½ cup frozen blueberries

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 tablespoon honey

Directions

Mix all ingredients into a blender or food processor.

Makes about 4 cups.  Serve immediately or freeze.

Buddy and Ellie wait so patiently when they know they are getting something!

Banana-Strawberry Ice Cream

I have made one ingredient banana ice cream many times and updated the recipe with more tips too.  I finally decided to experiment some more and came up with this healthy banana-strawberry ice cream recipe using only four ingredients!  It is so simple and takes a few minutes to mix together.  With the hot weather in DC lately, this is a perfect dessert or snack.  I hope you try this recipe soon.  Enjoy!

P.S. I gave Buddy and Ellie a little taste and they liked it too!

Banana-Strawberry Ice Cream  

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 banana, sliced and frozen

4 or 5 strawberries, frozen

2 tablespoons greek yogurt (I used Fage Total 2%.)

1 teaspoon honey (optional)

 

Directions

Place all ingredients in the food processor (or blender) and process (or blend).   You may need to scrape down the sides and pulse a few times.  When it looks creamy, it is ready! 

 

Serves 1 or 2 if you feel like sharing :)

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

This slow cooker honey sesame chicken dish is amazing and so easy to make!  I loved it so much that I am actually looking forward to eating leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I have seen this recipe all over various food blogs, but naturally I changed some of it to my taste and to what I already had.  I used organic bone-in skinless chicken thighs, but you can use boneless or even use chicken breasts instead.  I also included sesame oil and ginger in my recipe unlike some of the others I have seen.  I didn't have cornstarch to thicken the sauce so I substituted flour instead.  Overall, this was a great dish and I will definitely be making this on a regular basis. 

Here are some of the recipes I found on other food blogs:  A Cook's Quest, Chef in Training, Eat Drink Love, Prevention RD, Six Sisters' Stuff, Table for Two, and Very Culinary.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound skinless chicken thighs, 4 pieces

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons onion, diced

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

¼ teaspoon ginger, minced

1 tablespoon flour (You may use cornstarch instead.)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, roasted

salt

pepper

 

Directions

Season chicken with salt and pepper and place into slow cooker.

 

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, sesame oil and ginger.

 

Pour honey mixture over chicken.

 

Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or on high for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours, until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken from the slow cooker.

 

Whisk 1 tablespoon flour into the sauce in the slow cooker to thicken sauce.  Cover and continue to cook for 10 minutes.

  

While the sauce is thickening, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. 

Add chicken back to the sauce and stir to coat chicken with sauce.

 

Serve over rice. Sprinkle sesame seeds over chicken.

Serves 4-6.  Enjoy!