Banana Muffins

 

Banana Muffins

1st place Kentucky State Fair 2023 

Ingredients:

3 bananas medium sized -overripe is a must

2 Tbs vegetable oil

2 Tbs soft butter

1 large egg

Pinch cinnamon 

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

Sprinkle batter light brown sugar-about 1 tsp per muffin

Optional-3/4 cup toasted nuts, reserve a handful to top muffins if using. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees-use middle rack of oven.

Prepare muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Bake either cupcake sized muffins, or using larger liners, for larger bakery style muffins.

Makes: 24 cupcake sized muffins or 12 bakery style muffins. Additional bake time needed for larger muffins (see below)

Directions: 

Mix together mashed bananas, sugar, soft butter, egg, oil, and cinnamon. Mix in sour cream. (Will be a little lumpy) Stir in flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Do not over mix. Pour into prepared  muffin pan with liners—using an ice cream scoop can help portion muffin batter evenly. Fill liners to 1/2 way. Sprinkle light brown sugar-about 1/2 tsp on each muffin. Bake at 350 degrees, on the middle rack 20-25 minutes for cupcake sized muffins. Add 5-7 additional minutes to bake time for larger bakery sized muffins. 

Toothpick will come out cleanly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. 

Fudge Brownies

These brownies were first-place winners in the 2025 fair!

Fudge  Brownies

Can be made using a bowl and wooden spoon. If using a mixer-be careful not to overmix.

12 Tbs melted butter (1 1/2 sticks)

1 Tbs vegetable oil

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup warm coffee

1 semi-sweet baking chocolate bar chopped (4 ounces) (Baker’s Chocolate)

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp espresso powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Hershey Special Dark Cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Prepare an 8x8 baking dish with parchment and non stick spray.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter, add chopped chocolate to the melted butter, stir to help the chocolate melt (if needed, pop the melted butter and chocolate pieces into the microwave for 20 seconds to help the melting process) Add the coffee, vanilla and espresso powder. Stir and set aside.

Mix together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, add the sugar and eggs, and oil  and mix to combine 1-2 minutes. Batter should be shiny and glossy looking.

Pour in the butter/chocolate mixture. Stir 

Add the flour/cocoa mixture mixing until just combined. Mix together flour combine. Don’t over mix—mixing the flour too much will make tough brownies. Batter will be shiny and a tiny bit lumpy… 

Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake 30 minutes.  Check for doneness, brownies will be set around edges and a little softer in the center, but a toothpick will come out WITHOUT wet batter from the center.

Allow brownies to cool. Lift out of pan using parchment paper.

Did you know??

Baking in metal or glass baking pans can vary bake time. Dark pans can bake a little more quickly, always keep an eye as the end of the baking time nears.

Zucchini Variation: add 1 1/2 cups of finely shredded/grated zucchini.  Grate and then squeeze off some excess water. Fold the zucchini into the prepared batter.  The zucchini adds moisture and isn’t very detectable—it blends in beautifully while adding nutrients.  Check brownies at 30 minutes-the added zucchini version may require an extra few minutes of bake time.

Quick Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

2 sticks butter-softened

4 ounces chocolate melted (Baker’s Chocolate semi sweet baking bar)

2 Tbs dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Heavy cream 2-6 Tbs to thin.

With a mixer, beat the butter for 2 minutes. 

Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a microwave, in a small bowl, break the chocolate into bits and heat in 20 second intervals, stirring each time until melted.

To the butter, add powdered sugar, cocoa powder,salt, and vanilla. Mix well.  Add the melted chocolate and mix.

Add 1-4 Tbs of cream, whip mixture until light and fluffy.

Fish Food Snack Mix

 

Fish Food-kids snack mix:

2-3 cups of each snack:

Colored Gold Fish Crackers 

Orange Gold Fish Crackers

Popcorn-popped

Cheese balls

Rice Chex Mix

Swedish Fish-optional

Mix snacks together in a large bowl, portion into serving containers or serve in a large bowl with a scoop.

Fruit Salsa with Honey-Lime Drizzle

 Fresh Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Chips

Karri Perry; Blue Ribbon Favorites 

Baked Cinnamon Tortilla Chips:

Using soft flour tortillas, cut tortillas into wedges, to make “chips”

Place cut tortillas on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Spray the tortillas lightly with coconut cooking spray or butter spray.  Sprinkle generously with a mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon.

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes on the middle oven rack. Check back every 3-5 minutes until the tortillas are lightly golden and crisp.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Store cinnamon chips in an air tight container.

Fruit Salsa with Honey Lime Drizzle

 Finely dice ½ cup each of:  watermelon, strawberries, honeydew, and fresh pineapple.

 ½ teaspoon lime zest

2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon honey

Dice the fruits and set aside.

Zest the lime.

Pour the fresh juice into a small bowl, add the zest and honey.  Stir together the juice, honey and zest.

Add the diced fruits to a medium mixing bowl.

Gently pour the juice/zest/honey mixture over the diced fruit.  Stir gently until the fruit is well mixed. Refrigerate fresh salsa up to 2 days.

Serve with the baked cinnamon tortilla chips.

**Yes you can swap the fruits to make other fruit salsa combinations.  Consider: mango, cantaloupe, kiwi, grapes, blueberries or cherries

Lemonade Sugar Cookies

 

Be sure to get the LorAnn Lemon emulsion for this recipe— it’s a beautiful lemon flavor, that makes these cookies spectacular! A listing of where to purchase is below.   Affiliate links from Amazon are included. Affiliate links may earn a  commission on sales.

Lemonade Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

***

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 tsp lemon zest

1 cup softened unsalted butter

1 egg + 2 egg yolks (at room temperature is best)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tsp lemon emulsion (LorAnn Bakery Emulsion) Available at Michael’s, Amazon, Jungle Jim’s and Cincinnati Cake and Candy

Available here: LorAnn Lemon Emulsion on Amazon

***

1/2 cup sanding sugar for coating the outside of the cookies

1 small drinking glass for pressing

parchment paper to line cookie sheet

Optional Glaze:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Sprinkles

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.  

With a mixer, mix sugar and lemon zest together for 1 minute. Add butter and cream butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add egg and yolks one at a time, blending well after each.  Mix in lemon juice and emulsion.  Add dry ingredients to the wet, blending until just combined.

Drop 1 inch dough balls into the sanding sugar.  I use a small ice cream scoop.

Roll dough in sugar.

Place cookie dough about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  

Gently press cookies to about 1/2 inch thickness before baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are slightly golden on the edges,

Let cookies rest 1 minute on cookie sheet before moving to cool on a cooling rack.

Optional Icing: Stir together the confectioners sugar and lemon juice. Top each cookie with a little lemon glaze, add extra sprinkles while the glaze is wet. Allow cookies to dry before storing or serving.

For ice cream sandwiches, choose two cookies that are similar in size. Add a large scoop of vanilla ice cream to the bottom of one cookie. Top the ice cream with the second cookie. Press the cookies together to squish the ice cream to the edges. Roll edges in sprinkles. Freeze ice cream sandwiches on a tray in freezer until ready to serve.

Strawberry Cake

Strawberry Cake

Karri Perry, Blue Ribbon Kitchen

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:

3 1/2  cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon fine salt
2 sticks unsalted butter-softened

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk 

1 1/2 cups finely chopped strawberries (chop just before adding to the batter)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

***

Directions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place rack in middle position.

Spray with non-stick spray and line cake pans with parchment paper.

Measure the flour, salt, baking powder, set aside.

Cream the butter for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and eggs, beating on medium 3-4 minutes until mixture is light yellow, glossy and airy. Add the oil and vanilla extract.

Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture, mix well, and be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk, mix to combine.  Add the remaining flour, followed by the remaining buttermilk. Mix just enough to combine, but do not over mix.  Be gentle.  Give the chopped strawberries a drizzle of lemon juice, and fold in the freshly chopped strawberries.

Pour batter evenly into two parchment lined and greased 8

or 9-inch cake pans.
or 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins (filling cupcakes 3/4 of the way)

Bake cakes on middle rack of oven, 40 minutes or until cake is set and very lightly browned around edges and a toothpick comes out cleanly.

After 3 minutes, run a paring knife around edges to loosen any sticky cake from the sides. Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack, removing parchment paper. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

For Cupcakes: Bake in cupcake liners. Bake on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until cupcakes are set in the middle and a toothpick comes out cleanly.  Be sure to fill cupcake liners equally and only fill 1/2 way to 3/4 way full to keep the cupcakes uniform in size.  

Optional: Add the strawberry frosting to the the center of each cupcake, use an apple corer to create a small hollow in the center of each cupcake.

Quick Butter Cream Frosting & Strawberry Filling/Frosting

2 sticks of unsalted butter softened to room temperature

1-2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 tsp salt

16 ounces (1 pound) confectioner’s sugar

1 cup of dehydrated strawberries-pulverized to a powder or dust (I picked mine up at Target near the dried fruits and nuts

Directions: Beat butter on medium until thick and fluffy for 3 minutes.  Add the vanilla, salt, and half of the confectioner's sugar.  Beat until combined (2 minutes)  Add the second half of the confectioner's sugar and add the whipping cream Whip until light and spreadable.  Thin with more cream if needed.  Add a few tablespoons more of confectioner's sugar is you prefer a thicker frosting for piping.  Reserve 1-2 cups of the vanilla frosting to create the strawberry filling/frosting.

For Strawberry filling/frosting:  Us the reserved 1-2 cups of the vanilla frosting.  In a food processor, measure 1 cup of dehydrated strawberries.   Pulverize 1 cup of the dehydrated strawberries--to a fine dust. (or...use a zip top bag and a rolling pin or a small smoothie blender to accomplish the crushing of the dehydrated strawberries) Add the pulverized dehydrated strawberries to the reserved frosting and stir well.  Use the strawberry frosting as a filling between the layers of the cake.

For a stacked cake, place a cake round on a platter.  Top bottom cake layer evenly with  strawberry filling, add the second cake round on top.  Frost cake with the vanilla buttercream frosting.  Garnish with fresh strawberries or make marshmallow fondant strawberries (see below)

Marshmallow Fondant (for added design work)
(Yes, you can make a smaller batch, just cut in half)

 1 Bag good quality mini marshmallows 16 ounces

2 lbs- confectioner’s sugar

¼ cup water

Gel food coloring

Non-stick spray

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the marshmallow with the water, stirring until smooth with no lumps.  (If you want all one color- add gel food coloring now)  (If you want white fondant, or want multiple colors you can knead in gel coloring later, before rolling.)

When smooth and silky, transfer melted marshmallow to a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, lightly spray bowl with non stick spray before adding melted marshmallow.

Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar on low.  Mix on lowuntil most of the sugar is incorporated.  Remove from bowl and knead with hands …adding a small amount of water if too dry, or a small amount of confectioner’s sugar if a little sticky.

Place kneaded fondant onto plastic wrap, lightly spray wrap with non-stick spray before wrapping fondant.  Double wrap the fondant with plastic wrap to make sure the fondant is safe from air while it rests.  Fondant may be a little sticky, but looking very much like Play-Doh, smooth and uniform.  Let fondant rest for 24 hours before rolling.  Fondant may be kept in refrigerator, wrapped for up to 2 weeks.  Let come to room temperature before using.

**The fondant can be made by hand without using a mixer, simply stir in confectioner’s sugar and knead the fondant by hand on a large work surface.  

***Can be made on the stove-top, without a microwave, simply melt marshmallows and water in a nonstick pan on low until smooth.