Steve was in Texas all last week/weekend so it was a perfect time for me to head back to Snow Hill to visit the cutest toddler on the planet (with some work mixed in, of course). I had to help my mom cater a wedding, but I took the day off on Monday so that left plenty of time to play with Jake and bond with the fam. I actually took a few pictures of the days adventures, and the pretty weather definitly helped to capture some good shots.
Needless to say, Socrates thoroughly enjoyed his play time outdoors. It’s rare that he gets to run around freely in the city since he’s not smart enough to not run out in front of the oncoming traffic (silly puppy). He’s slowly warming up to Jake after over two years of meet and greet sessions, but I still think he holds a slight grudge since Jake stole the love of his Grandma Doris and everything (who could blame him?) 🙂
I scrambled around in the kitchen before I left trying to use up all of my food that may spoil before I returned. I ended up freezing a bunch of my almost too ripe bananas to make ice cream a little later on this week, but I also decided to try out a banana doughnut recipe that I’d been eyeing for a while (and to finally use the doughnut pan that has been sitting in my kitchen all lonely for the past 6 months). These were really delicious right out of the oven, especially when coated in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
Whole Wheat Banana Nut Doughnuts
recipe adapted from Naturally Ella
Yields: 6-8 regular sized doughnuts
Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons coconut oil (melted so that it’s liquid)
1 egg
1 banana
2 tbs maple syrup
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease the doughnut pan with butter
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, nuts)
3. In a separate bowl, mash the banana. Whisk in the milk, oil, egg, and maple syrup. Pour the liquid into the dry and stir until just combined
4. Using a pastry bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off (I used a pancake pen), squeeze the batter in even circles around the doughnut pan
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes until doughnuts spring back to the touch. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, and then flip onto a wire rack to cool.
Once the doughnuts were cooled, I sprayed them lightly with olive oil (butter would also work, I just didn’t have any) and then dunked them in a mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. These are sweet enough on their own but I think the cinnamon sugar topping really gave them an extra boost. Either way, Socrates and I couldn’t keep our hands (paws) off of them!
life write now 