Banana Almond Chocolate Chip "Ice Cream"

I have a new, favorite treat.

It tastes surprizingly like ice cream, but it's much less guilt-producing!

Who knew that sliced, frozen bananas, when blended, tasted like ice cream?!

My friend Colleen's son did; that's who! (Thanks for sharing, Colleen!)

This is an excellent way to use up bananas you can't otherwise find a use for.

I have a freezer full of frozen bananas I've never gotten around to using.

Not anymore, though!

I mix the following in my Nutribullet, but I'm sure a blender would work, too.

1 sliced banana, frozen
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 1/2 teaspoons flaxseed
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of chocolate chips

Blend it all up and enjoy with a spoon or straw. Delicious!!

In addition to the nutritional information below (which I gleaned from My Fitness Pal), add 78 calories for the chocolate chips.

The same amount of ice cream would be at least 450 calories 

and contain 75% of the recommended daily allowance for fat calories.

Tina's Oatmeal-Banana-Chocolate-Chip Pancakes

Ever since I first made my cousin Tina's wonderful pancakes, they have been a family favorite. This morning, I made them for out-of-town guests (college girls) who were blown away by their deliciousness. One of them declared very seriously that they were the "finest" pancakes she'd ever eaten, so I figure it's about time I share the recipe. It's very simple:

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup flour (and extra, if needed) I used a mixture of wheat and white flour this time.
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oatmeal (I like the long-cooking kind)
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
1 ripe banana (mashed)
2 Tbls honey
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
3 Tbls oil

Mix liquid into dry ingredients with a wire whisk, just until blended. Let sit for about 10 minutes. If needed, thicken with extra flour.

I served these with my husband's maple-butter syrup: Mix room-temperature butter into warm (not hot) homemade maple syrup. One of the girls is from Canada. If you know anything about Canadians, you know they know their maple syrup. She was over-the-moon over ours :)

For six girls, I tripled the recipe, and each girl ate 2-3 6" pancakes. They were eaten so quickly that I forgot to take pics of the finished product, but don't worry; there's always next time!

Tripled Amounts:
Dry Ingredients:
3 cups flour (and extra, if needed) I used a mixture of wheat and white flour this time.
7 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup oatmeal (I like the long-cooking kind)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas (mashed)
6 Tbls honey
3 eggs
3 3/4 cups milk
9 Tbls oil (an ounce more than 1/2 cup)

"Best Muffin Ever!"

The name of this recipe is inspired by Mr.4444's declaration while eating one of these moist, somewhat-healthy muffins.

I really should call them "Everything But the Kitchen Sink Muffins," because that's what I added,

but the recipe on which I based this one is called Banana-Blueberry Buttermilk Bread. Regardless, these muffins are wonderful, so if you're looking for something yummy to make for breakfast, you've come to the right recipe! (They are also, apparently, delicious without my additions of chia seeds, flax seeds, pecans, and oatmeal, so don't feel like you can't make them without those.)

I always feel guilty throwing bananas away. Yes, I'm aware that they can be frozen, but I often do that and never use them. This morning, I decided to actually do something with the beautifully-ripe bananas on my counter.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1 cup white flour
1 1/4 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup (plus a splash) low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup (plus a splash) your favorite oil (I used grapeseed, because that's what I had.)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used Splenda brown sugar.)

1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans, optional, of course.)

Whisk buttermilk, oil, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl. Add bananas.

Mix dry ingredients together.

and fold into banana mixture, just until blended. This is when I decided to throw the extra splashes of oil and buttermilk in; I knew I had added one and a half cups more of dry ingredients that weren't in the original recipe, so I felt it needed a little more moisture. If you leave the chia seeds, oatmeal, pecans or flax out, don't worry about the extra moisture.

Spoon into greased muffin tins; it'll all fit, like this:

and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Cool before eating 

or take your chances :)