The Best Cornbread

I am not feeling very chatty today. I am running low on sleep and patience. We have a sick kiddo in the house and while he might be responsible for the lack of sleep, it is the other Little Men who are responsible for the lack of patience.

Man, it isn't even Halloween yet either. They really haven't had any sweets yet, so I am trying to figure out why they are being so very special right now. There is lots of crying, whining, and complaining.

You know that moment when you are being bellowed at from multiple children all yelling "MOM!" and everyone thinks there catastrophe it by far the most important? That is what it is like around here today.

I kind of want to yell "MOM" back and see what happens. I am pretty sure it will just add one more voice to the chorus. It might make me feel better though.

A couple of wees ago, I made this, what I am deeming The BEST Cornbread, to go with our Potato Cheddar Sausage Soup. I am really wishing it was yesterday so that I could have a big old slice slathered with butter.

I feel like cornbread right now. Well I feel like any good and therapeutic chunk of warm carbohydrate. Bread fixes everything. Well, I guess unless you are gluten intolerant and then it is the problem.

But for me bread fixes everything.

And I could sure use some today.

I highly recommend trying this cornbread out. The reason I dubbed it "THE BEST" is because I have tried tons of cornbread recipes out over our 14 years of marriage. I always come away with an "eh". I never hate them, but I never love them enough to use the same recipe again.

The search has ended. This is the bread. I will use this cornbread forevermore. It is that good. Hence the me wanting it to fix my bad day.

So if you love bread or are having a rough day or are having a good day or are having soup or chili or tacos, you should probably make this cornbread too. (PS I know that sentence was grammatically the worst)

Here is to better days full of less whining, from both the kids and me!

Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade

I wish I were a skilled baker. I most especially wish I were a skilled cake baker. Now don't get me wrong, I have constructed some decent cakes in the past. When my two oldest were younger I went all out making their cakes. However, they were not especially spectacularly baked.

I could construct and decorate a cake decently, but the cake baking itself was just eh, so-so.

Fast forward several cakes, a few parties, and realizing that we always had left over cake, and I eventually just stuck with making cupcakes for birthday parties.

Occasionally though, I still want to make a small birthday cake.

Like for Little's Robot Birthday Party, for example.

I shared the Robot Birthday Party details yesterday. This party came together in under a week. Basically, I was WAY behind, and I wanted the making of the cake to not take up too much time. So I scratched off making a birthday cake from scratch off my list...hehehe.

However, cake mixes from a box don't offer the density and structure that a good from scratch cake does.

Did you know that you can use a cake mix as your base and with just a few extra ingredients you can make it more like a homemade cake?

Well, you can.

Bam.

Mind blown!

I have actually tried a few recipes that claim to achieve this "from scratch" cake mix. I have been disappointed many times, not really getting the results I wanted.

I finally found the perfect recipe to create this Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade. Perfect, I tell you.  Don't judge the recipe by my less-than-perfect decorating. The cake was great, and it all started with a regular old store bought cake mix.

Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade
midget momma

1 box cake mix (I used vanilla)
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the wet ingredients. Add in half of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Then add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix the batter for two minutes.

Pour the batter halfway up a prepared pan (or 2/3 full cupcake tins).

Bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the pan. Then, while keeping the oven door closed turn up the heat to 325 and cook for the same time.

Cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on a cake rack.

Now go on out and make yourself a not-so-from-scratch from scratch cake.

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Frosted Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

Whenever we get a bunch of bananas my boys always immediately request banana bread. I have to remind them that I have to have really ripe bananas...aka old and freckled...to make yummy banana bread.

They then insist that they won't eat them so that they can get old.

Then less than 48 hours later, barely enough time for the bananas to grow accustom to their new surroundings, they are all gone.

Inhaled.

Long gone.

When I remind them of the banana bread, I am met with sheepish, yet satisfied, banana-eating grins.

"We will definitely not eat the next bunch!"

Well I have heard that before...and before...and before...

So imagine my shock and surprise when we got down to the last three bananas and they were starting to look just about ripe enough for bread. They had probably a good half a day till they were just perfect, but hey that was pretty good for my Little Men.

Then imagine even more surprise when as I went to cut up a banana for Bean, I was met with two, "NO!"s

The older two then explained that I needed to save the last bananas for bread. They hadn't eaten them so the bananas would get ripe.

So I set them aside and told the boys I would make banana bread.

Then I woke up the next day and was not in a banana bread mood. I mean my go-to banana bread recipe is delightful, but I still wasn't feeling it.

You know what I was feeling...

These--

I really wanted some banana bars. I found an old recipe for banana bars, frosted banana bars at that, among my paper recipes. They were totally calling out to me.

You might think that I would be freaked out by food calling my name, but you would be wrong. I tend to like when baked goods call out my name. It makes me feel like we are friends and that they, in all their sugary goodness, are not going to make me fat. 'Cause what kind of friend is that, right?

With the addition of dark chocolate chips, this recipe went from enjoy a largish serving on a pretty plate with a cool class of milk to eat a row straight out of the pan and emptying said pan in 24 hours.

The Little Men were not disappointed to find these babies instead of their beloved banana bread. In fact, they had a helping and proceeded to beg for more. I being the health conscious mom that I am promptly told them no and then the next day let them have a bit after a good lunch...and then a bit more after a good dinner...and then a bit more after the next's days lunch.

People if it hadn't been them eating them...

...it would have been me.

No one needs a sheet pan of banana bars to themselves, no matter how badly you want them. Sharing was requisite.

If your bananas make it to the day they are old and freckled, try this lovely little recipe out. Then promptly plan on taking a plate to your neighbor or you might wake up from a sugar coma finding you have eaten the entire pan.

You have been warned.

Happy baking!

But most importantly, Happy Eating!

Frosted Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

Printable Recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 medium or 2 large)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup of dark (or milk) chocolate chips

Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1-8 oz package cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a jelly roll pan and set aside.

In a bowl of a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Combine the flour, soda, and salt in a small bowl. Then add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix until well combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour into greased pan and smooth out to cover entire pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the bars are golden and test done with a toothpick.

Cool completely.

Make the frosting by creaming the butter and cream cheese. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat well. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars.

Cut. Serve. Devour.

Repeat.