Watch out, because these cookies are trouuuuuble

Start preheating the oven and pour yourself a nice frosty glass of milk, because it’s cookie time. It’s not often that I get the urge to bake cookies -- I’d much rather throw a lasagna in the oven -- but I’ve been playing around with this recipe in my mind for a little while. Glad I finally made it happen, as these cookies are so sweet and chewy and utterly addictive.

Oatmeal Pecan Butterscotch Cookies 
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup butterscotch chips

Place oven racks in upper third of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl, beating with electric mixer until fluffy before adding eggs, beating to mix thoroughly. Add flour, oats, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt, mixing on low speed until blended. Add pecans and butterscotch chips until incorporated. Drop batter by the tablespoon about 1-1½ inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies appear golden brown but are still soft. Remove cookie sheets from oven, letting cookies stand for 2-3 minutes before moving them to cooking racks.

Got bananas in your freezer? Make some muffins

I’ve got a freezer full of frozen bananas, and they’re not getting any prettier.
There’s nothing wrong with freezing overly ripe bananas, as they’re great to have on hand for banana bread. I’ve got at least half a dozen black, gnarly bananas on ice right now, and because I’m sick of hearing “Oh my God, when are you going to do something with these nasty things?!?!” each time the special man friend opens the freezer, I decided to take action.

I absolutely love banana bread, and have been trying to make it healthier by scaling back, or cutting out, the oil and/or butter many recipes suggest. I’ve also played around with baking muffins instead of a loaf because it cuts the bake time and the muffins are more portable and make for a great eat-at-my-desk breakfast.
The following recipe is my favorite to date.

Banana Pecan Muffins
Adapted from SELF

4 overly ripe bananas
2 cups flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup skim milk
½ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup chopped pecans
Paper muffin cups

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and pecans and stir or whisk to blend. In another bowl, combine bananas, milk, yogurt, egg and vanilla. Pour batter into bowl with dry ingredients and fold together until combined.
Place muffin cups in muffin tins and fill each cup to just below the top. Bake for roughly 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of muffin comes clean. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Panko, pecans dress up chicken breasts

I’ve been craving fried chicken, but rather than make it at home and make a huge, fatty mess, I decided to try a more lean and (slightly) less messy baked alternative.

A couple notes about this recipe:

Panko breadcrumbs are something I try to keep in the pantry because I like their crunch factor, even when baked instead of fried. You can find them at almost any grocery store with other Asian food products.

I incorporated pecans into this recipe because I have a ton of them and am trying to find new ways to slowly pick away at them.

The chicken breasts I bought were huge, so in order to maximize my crust-to-chicken ratio, I opted to butterfly each piece. As a result, Chris and I will be eating this chicken for lunch all week, which is just fine by me.

I rounded out this meal with rice pilaf and some chard sautéed with three chopped, fried strips of turkey bacon and a couple shakes of red pepper flakes.

Panko pecan chicken
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
½ cup panko breadcrumbs (also known as Japanese breadcrumbs)
½ cup pecan pieces, ground
1/8 cup grated Parmesan
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon onion powder
1 egg
¼ cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk panko, pecans, Parmesan, paprika, cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper together in a glass baking dish. Whisk egg and milk together in another glass baking dish. Dip each piece of chicken in egg and then dip in dry mix, making sure each side of each breast piece has a thin, even coating. Place chicken breast pieces on a baking rack set inside a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheets in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn each piece over and bake for another 15 minutes, testing thickest part of the meat to make sure it’s fully cooked.