This simple banana bread recipe is quick, easy and oh-so delicious! I’m always on a mission to create a moist banana bread recipe, and have found one easy trick is to add fresh berries (you may remember my blueberry banana bread recipe – same concept!). Since we’re in the middle of fresh cranberry season I decided to use cranberries in this bread, and I love how they add a pop of bright flavor to every bite!
Quick breads are one of my favorite things to make, because they’re…well, quick! It’s always nice to have recipes that are super easy to throw together when you have company in town or just get a sudden hankering for something sweet with your coffee. If you’re new to baking, this is a great recipe to learn how to make banana bread. It’s such an easy banana bread recipe, and pretty dang foolproof.
Ingredients:
Bread
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 large bananas
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries (frozen can be used too)
Streusel
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350, and grease a loaf pan.
Whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through cinnamon, in a medium bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy – about three minutes. Add the milk, egg, banana and vanilla to the sugar and butter, mixing until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches on low speed, mixing until the batter is just combined. Overmixing is what makes breads dry and tough. Gently fold in the nuts and cranberries, and pour into the greased loaf pan.
Rub the streusel ingredients together with your fingers until it comes together in crumbs. Sprinkle streusel on top of the banana bread batter, and bake for about 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
Allow the bread to cool in the pan for at least 15-20 minutes before cutting in, and then enjoy!
This delicious peppermint mousse is festive, delicious and (my favorite), it’s actually a really easy chocolate mousse recipe! It was actually inspired by the homemade peppermint bark recipe I’m working on! I just love the flavor combination of peppermint and chocolate, and this is such a delicious and elevated way to serve it.
I’ve changed the recipe slightly to add the peppermint flavor, but the root chocolate mousse recipe is one from my middle school French class days.
I can still remember that feeling. The pit of dread in my stomach. I had finished all my homework, studied for upcoming tests, and finally climbed into bed around 10 at night. Then as I lay there, cozying up and willing sleep, my eyes flew open as I suddenly remembered. Tomorrow in French class was our French party, and I had signed up to make chocolate mousse for 35 people. Oh, merde.
Suffice it to say, everyone in my family knows this recipe like the back of their hand after countless late nights of making it. And we all still like it, so that has to count for something!
This is a great dessert for holiday parties, and just substitute vanilla for the peppermint extract and you can serve it all year round. This recipe doubles (and triples and quadruples) easily, so whether you’re serving 6 people or 35, it will be a success.
Ingredients:
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons water
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
2 teaspoons peppermint extract (or vanilla)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Directions:
Combine chocolate chips, water and salt in the top of a double boiler until melted. Meanwhile beat the egg whites until stiff.
Beat the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla extract. Fold (don’t mix) the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
Beat the whipped cream until fluffy, and stir into mixture.
Spoon into dessert cups and chill a minimum of 1 hour – we usually chill it for a few hours so it’s really set.
Serve topped with whipped cream and crushed candy canes, or garnished with fresh peppermint.
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Who’s ready for some holiday cookie-ing?? I know I am! There is just something about soft molasses cookies, isn’t there? These cookies are chewy, soft and spicy – and are a seriously easy molasses cookie recipe! I love a cookie that can be ready in under 25 minutes, don’t you?
If you want to pin this recipe, I’ve included an easy to pin image at the bottom of the post! That way you can easily save it for later!
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon sugar for rolling
1/3 cup molasses
1 large egg
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375. Whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through salt, and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg, mixing until combined. Add the flour mixture in two batches, mixing until just combined. Form tablespoon size balls, and roll each ball in sugar before placing on baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through. Cookies will be done when they’re cracked on top – mine were perfect at 9 minutes.
Today I have the great pleasure of introducing you to a friend of mine, Tasia from Two Sugar Bugs! She’s sharing her recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars, and I couldn’t be more excited! Can you imagine how perfect these would be for a Christmas party, with red and green sprinkles?? The recipe for these delicious bars is below, and be sure to find Tasia on Instagram here, and of course her baking blog here! Enjoy!
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From Tasia:
I met Kirsten earlier this year and we instantly bonded over motherhood, our love of food and wine and being new bloggers. Kirsten has been an amazing friend and resource for me. I love her sense of style, her honesty and her mad cooking and baking skills. I am honored to share my Sugar Cookie Bars recipe with you all and hope you find them as irresistible as I do.
Sugar cookie are my weakness, my kryptonite, they render me utterly defenseless! I can say no to a brownie. A chocolate chip cookie, no problem. A piece of cake, getting weaker…but a sugar cookie? No way. I cannot pass one up.
My friend Laura used to bring sugar cookies into work from time to time. She was known for them. They were rolled in granulated sugar and pressed down with a cup. The cookies were thick, soft and cakey, with a generous layer of frosting. I could eat six at a time. No joke.
One day Laura shared her recipe with me and i became famous for these little lovelies myself. Over the years, i have tinkered with the recipe and turned it into my own. Then one day I was feeling extra lazy and decided to press the dough into bars and add some sprinkles. I mean, who has time for rolling dough balls into sugar and pressing them with a cup? Especially when you want a cookie RIGHT NOW!! And sprinkles just make everything more fun, right?
Be careful not to over bake these bars. You are going to question yourself when you pull them out of the oven. They are going to look a little underdone, but this is how you get a soft cookie bar versus a soft cake-like bar. I also like to use a piece of parchment to line my pan so I can easily pull them out to frost and cut them. I can make much nicer bars when I am not fighting the sides of the pan. Notice I say “nicer” bars. Mine are never all the same size. I am in awe of those that can accomplish that feat. I am very challenged in this department even when marking them with a tape measure. I can accomplish nice straight cuts though. I do this by having the bars chilled and using a sharp knife that gets wiped clean between cuts. If any of you can offer advice to get all of my bars the same size, I am all ears!
You will love these sugar cookie bars because they are soft, chewy and loaded with sprinkles. Now you can be famous for sugar cookie bars too!
Sugar Cookie Bars
Thick, soft and chewy sugar cookie bars, bursting with sprinkles and topped with a generous layer of buttercream.
Servings: 20 Bars
Author: twosugarbugs
Ingredients:
Sugar Cookie Bars:
1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 sprinkles jimmies, optional
Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream or half and half
Instructions:
To make the bars:
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Line 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving a little extra overhang on the sides.
3 In a medium size bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or a hand held mixer), cream butter and cream cheese on medium speed about 2 minutes, until nice and creamy. Add the granulated and powdered sugars and mix until pale and fluffy, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extracts and beat until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
5. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and blend until just combined. Fold in the sprinkles with a spatula, if using. Be sure to use the “jimmies” for your sprinkles as the nonpareil type can bleed and turn your batter an unappetizing color.
6. Press dough into prepared pan using a spatula or lightly moistened fingers. The dough will be thick and somewhat sticky.
7. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until edges are barely browned and they will look a little underdone. You do not want to over bake these bars or they will be more like a cake and less like a soft sugar cookie.
8. Allow to cool completely in the pan placed on a wire rack.
To make the frosting:
1. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a hand held mixer) beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract, and heavy cream (or half and half). Mix on low speed until incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high and whip until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes, scraping sides of the bowl as needed. Add a pinch of salt if the frosting is too sweet. You can also add food coloring, if desired.
2. Once cool, remove the bars from the pan using the parchment paper or aluminum foil and frost, adding additional sprinkles, if desired. Use a sharp knife to cut to your desired size. If you want nice, clean cuts, wipe your knife with a towel between cuts.
I feel like cranberries are the unsung hero of the fall baking world. Every time fall rolls around, I make my way down a pumpkin everything rabbit hole, and don’t emerge until Christmas haha!
So this year I wanted to give this fun little berry some attention! These are the best cranberry orange muffins, and secretly way healthier than your average muffin. The tartness and natural sweetness of the cranberries allows for way less sugar, especially combined with the bright flavor of orange zest! You can find fresh cranberries in the store between October and December, but if you want to make these muffins in the off-season, frozen cranberries will do the trick.
The super secret weapon of this healthy muffin recipe? Spices! Cinnamon and cardamom are both sweet tasting spices, with no impact on the nutritional content.
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In an effort to make a healthy muffin recipe, I also replaced half of the butter with coconut oil, to reap the benefits of this super healthy fat. The coconut taste doesn’t actually come through at all, so if you don’t love coconut, fear not! On the other hand, if you prefer to use all butter (or all coconut!), go for it! 
Makes About 16 Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400, and grease a muffin tin. Whisk together the dry ingredients, flour through salt and set aside. Combine the wet ingredients, zest through orange juice. Add the dry ingredients, stirring until the batter just comes together. The batter will be thick. Gently fold in the cranberries and pecans, and distribute the batter into the muffin tin. This recipe makes about 16 muffins. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the muffin tops spring back when touched.
