Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie

My sister Diana has been making requests for me to bake her some sort of sweets when she comes into town, and of course, I am always willing and very happy to do that for her! This time she asked me to make her a Kentucky Derby Pie without bourban.....I had never had a Kentucky Derby Pie so I did a little research and found out that a Kentucky Derby Pie is a chocolate and walnut tart in a pie shell usually with a pastry dough crust. It is also commonly made with chocolate chips, pecans and Kentucky bourban, it is much like a chocolate pecan pie.

After I did some research I knew that I had the perfect recipe for her. It was this Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie recipe that I have been wanting to bake and try out for a while from Baked New Frontiers in Baking cookbook by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. It is a really great cookbook and I definetly reccomend getting it if you are a dessert lover!

They state that "the pie which is almost always served warm and a la mode, is a cross between a pecan pie and a chocolate chip cookie-a very good, gooey chocolate chip cookie." And it was! Everyone loved it and Diana said it was "heavenly" and kept raving about how good it was, even served at room temperature.

Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie: (Baked; adapted by me)

Yield: 1 (9-inch) Pie

 -1 ready to bake pie crust for a 9-inch pan, chilled 

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

-2 large eggs

-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes

 -2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-3/4 cup pecans, chopped

-1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put ready to bake pie dough into a 9-inch pie dish, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and sugars until combined. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs on high speed until foamy, about 3 minutes. Remove the whisk attachment and add the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Turn the mixture to high and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the butter. Beat on high speed until the mixture is combined. Scrape down the bowl, add the vanilla, and beat the mixture on high speed for 1 minute.

Fold the pecans and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into the filling.

Pour the filling into the pie shell and spread it out evenly. Top the filling with the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 25 minutes (this will prevent the crust from browning too quickly). Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done. If the knife comes out with clumps of filling sticking to it, bake for another 5 minutes and test again. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool before slicing.

The pie can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.

Hershey's Thick and Fudgey Brownies

As you know, I absolutely love brownies...they are my favorite dessert.....EVER!!! And, I hate to admit it, but, I could live off of boxed betty crocker brownies! I think that they are some of the best brownies because they are always dense, chocolately, fudgey, and moist and they just produce the perfect kind of brownie for my liking! I am always a little apprehensive about making brownies from scratch because I don't want them to turn out cakey because to me that is just a waste! I hate cakey brownies....if I wanted cake I would make a cake, which Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake is my go to chocolate cake recipe!

I decided to make these Hershey's Thick and Fudgey Brownies from a Hershey's cookbook that I have because I have had them bookmarked off for a while and I seem to have good luck with hershey's recipes. The name of the brownie being "thick and fudgey" made me want to try them out and the picture of the brownies in the cookbook looked absolutely delicious.

And let me tell you, these brownies did not dissapoint me at all and they tasted excellent. They were everything the name said and more! They were very thick and had a crispy and shiny top that combined so well with their inside texture which was very dense and oh so moist, chewy, and fudgey inside and they had the added bonus of chocolate chips running throughout them....YUM!

Hershey's Thick and Fudgey Brownies:

Makes 24 brownies

-2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

-2/3 cup HERSHEY'S cocoa

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1 teaspoon salt

-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted

-2 1/2 cups sugar

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-4 eggs

-1 3/4 cups (10-oz. package) HERSHEY'S Mini KISSES milk chocolates (or chocolate chips)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. (325 degrees F for glass baking dish). Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. With spoon or whisk, stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs; stir until well blended. Stir in flour mixture, blending well. Stir in chocolate pieces. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. 

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

Today is my Uncle Jim's birthday and he is also my Godfather so he has a very special place in my heart. He is always there for me and always gives me advice (whether it is good or bad) but, one thing about him is that he is very blunt about everything and tells you things how they are! I love and respect him and really care about him! So, Happy Birthday Uncle Jim!

 I wanted to make him something a little bit different from cookies or a cake and since he has a summer birthday I decided to use fruits that are in season right now. The combination of strawberries and rhubarb is so good together; it was both sweet from the strawberries and tart from the rhubarb and had the perfect crunchy, golden brown, and sweet oat crumble topping. 

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp:

8 servings

Ingredients:

-1 cup rolled oats

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

-1/8 teaspoon salt

-1/2 cup cold butter or margarine, cut into chunks

-2 cups rhubarb

-3/4 cup granulated sugar

-2 tablespoons cornstarch

-4 cups strawberries, rinsed and drained

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. With your fingers or a pastry blender, rub or cut butter into oat mixture until coarse crumbs form. Cover and chill.

2. Rinse rhubarb; trim off and discard green parts of stalks. Cut red parts into 1/2 inch-thick slices. In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, strawberries, and rhubarb and mix gently to coat.

 Pour into a shallow 2-to-3 quart baking dish or into 8 individual ramekins and sprinkle evenly with topping mixture.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling, about 45 minutes for a 2-to-3 quart baking dish and about 25 minutes for individual ramekins.

Sloppy Joes

I'm not a big meat eater and it's not very often that I get a craving for meat, but, when I do I usually crave sloppy joe's.....especially in the summer....there's something extra yummy about having sloppy joes in the summertime! It's weird I know! When I was little or even just a couple of years ago I would have never touched one!

But, these sloppy joe's are just too good! It is a recipe from my great grandma who passed it on to my grandma and my mom and now to me! There is nothing extraordinary about these, but, boy are they good! They are meaty, a little messy, and a little bit sweet from brown sugar and have chunks of veggies from a can of soup (the potatoes are my favorite!) and I like to serve them on hawaiian sweet buns.

Sloppy Joe's:

Makes about 8 sandwhiches

-1 1/2 pounds ground beef

-1 (10.5 ounce) can vegetable beef soup with barley

-2 tablespoons brown sugar

-a few splahes of distilled white vinegar

-1/3-1/2 cup ketchup (depending on how sloppy you want them!)

-pepper to taste

-6-8 hamburger buns

1. In a large pan, cook ground beef until brown and drain off excess fat.

2. In the same pan, add the soup, brown sugar, vinegar, ketchup and pepper to the cooked meat and simmer over low heat for at least 20 minutes.

3. Serve on buns and enjoy!

Sweetest Delights Seven Layer Bars

                         

These yummy little bars of heaven are reminiscent to Magic Cookie Bars, Seven Layer Bars, or Hello Dollie Bars, except that I combined all the flavors and candies that I absolutely love into one perfect little bar, which is why I named them Sweetest Delights after my blog!

They start out with a buttery chocolate chip cookie dough crust from a package, and then the crust gets layered evenly with chocolate chips, coconut, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, and then it gets a layer of sweetened condensed milk poured over top, and lastly it gets sprinkled with colorful M&M's. All I can say is absolutely fantastic, MMMMM and YUMMMM!

These perfect little treats have just the right amount of sweetness and they are a tad bit gooey in a really good way! They are buttery from the crust, a little chewy from the coconut, smooth and sticky from the sweetened condensed milk, and have a little crunch from the M&M's and all of the chip flavors combine together so wonderfully!  Basically, these bars are perfect to play around with.....you can add or take away anything from these bars to adjust them to your likings! Add nuts, dried fruits, different candies, and different flavored chips! Have fun with them like I did and enjoy!

Sweetest Delights Seven Layer Bars:

-1 (17.5 ounce) package of chocolate chip cookie mix (plus egg and butter called for on the package)

-1 cup chocolate chips

-1 cup shredded coconut

-1/2 cup peanut butter chips

-1/2 cup butterscotch chips

-1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

-1/3 cup M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper leaving an over hang on the sides, and then spray the parchment paper with cooking spray.

Make cookie dough according to package directions and then press it evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cookie dough evenly with chocolate chips, coconut, peanut butter chips, and butterscotch chips. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over top and then sprinkle on the M&M's. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes (do not overbake, the edges will be golden brown and the middle may look slightly underdone) and then cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars and serve. 

Chicken Caesar Wraps

I pulled out all of my summer magazines the other day that I have collected over the past couple years because I want to make some of the recipes that I have marked off. These chicken caesar wraps have all the yummy tastes of a caesar salad wrapped up in a tortilla; crisp and cool romaine lettuce, salty parmesan cheese, chicken, and tangy caeser dressing and are great for busy weeknights and when you are on the go. They are quick and simple to put together, they have very few ingredients, they are nice and light and refreshing and are just perfect for any summertime meal and are great served with fresh fruit and potato chips (sour cream and cheddar ruffles are my fave)!  

Chicken Caesar Wraps: (Paula Deen)

Makes 6 servings

-1 (3 1/2 pound) rotisserie chicken

-1 small head romaine lettuce, shredded (about 8 cups)

-1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

-1/2 cup prepared Caesar salad dressing

-6 (10-inch) flour tortillas

Skin, and debone chicken, discarding skin and bones; shred chicken.

In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, lettuce, and cheese, tossing gently to combine. Add dressing, tossing gently to coat. Divide chicken mixture evenly between flour tortillas. Roll up tortillas to enclose chicken mixture.

French Silk Pie

                           

This pie is one that is calling all chocolate lovers and chocoholics, hence the reason I made it! Because I love, love, love chocolate!  This is a very, very rich and decadant chocolate french silk pie that has a very intense chocolate flavor, and the texture of the filling is so smooth, creamy, and dreamy and it has a yummy and crunchy oreo cookie crust. This is a very good pie and a small sliver goes a long way! Plus, it is simple and quick to make and put together and it doesn't call for many ingredients and it looks like such a fancy dessert!

French Silk Pie (Paula Deen):

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie

-2 1/2 cups crushed cream-filled chocolate sandwhich cookies (I used a mix of strawberry milkshake filled and regular oreos because that is what I had on hand and the pink filled oreos looked so precious on top)!

-6 tablespoons butter, melted

-1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

-10 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped

-2 cups miniature marshmallows

Garnish: oreos, whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and melted butter, stirring until combined. Press mixture into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup cream, chocolate, and marshmallows; cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, and let stand for 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat remaining 1 cup cream at medium-high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold cream into chocolate mixture. Spoon into prepared crust; chill for at least 4 hours. Garnish with cookies and whipped cream, if desired.

Baked French Toast Casserole

I made this baked french toast casserole for my dad over the weekend for Father's Day along with potatoes and sausage! His favorite meal of the day is breakfast and this casserole turned out  really, really fantastic and we both enjoyed it!

It was sweet, but, not too sweet and the middle was  soft and oh so fluffy and it had a great cinnamony flavor with a hint of nutmeg. The top and the sides of the casserole were slightly crunchy from the topping of brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup that caramelized so perfectly on top. The topping also dripped in between the slices of bread giving it a gooey syrupy filling which was sooo good! I garnished it with powdered sugar and strawberries and served it with maple syrup and some leftover strawberry sauce that I had.

Baked French Toast Casserole: (Paula Deen; adapted by me; I halved the recipe and made a few other changes in the praline topping. For Paula's recipe go to Here to find it!)

Ingredients:

-8-10 ounces of French bread (I bought a 16 ounce loaf and cut it in half and used a little bit extra)

-butter for pan

-4 large eggs

-1 cup half-and-half

-1/2 cup milk

-1 tablespoon sugar

-1/2 tablespoon vanilla

-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-Praline Topping, recipe follows

Directions:

Slice french bread into 1-inch thick slices. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9x9-inch baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and beat with a whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate over night.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 45 minutes (cover the baking pan with foil for the first 20-25 minutes and then take the foil off and finish cooking the last 20 minutes to prevent the top from burning), until puffed and lightly golden.  Serve with syrup and desired toppings.

Praline Topping:

-1/2 stick butter

-1/4 cup packed brown sugar

-1 tablespoon light crn syrup

-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and blend well. Spread over bread as directed above.

 

Frozen Brownie Sundaes

This is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis and I saw her making these yesterday and knew that I had to try them out right away because brownies and ice cream are two of my most favorite desserts and combining them together is pure decadance! My mouth was basically watering the whole time she was making them!

These turned out wonderfully and even with all of the steps they were a breeze to put together (I also made 3 cheesecakes today along with these brownies!) and are the perfect summer time dessert. The combination of the rich, fudgey, and dense brownie with the cool and creamy ice cream and the milk chocolate topping were amazing! And then the added bonus of strawberry sauce...MMMM! It was really great and the perfect compliment for this dessert because it was slightly tart which balanced out the richness of the dessert and the color of the sauce just popped and was so beautiful! My brother said this was like the best dessert he ever had! I definetly reccomend making these and enjoying them on a hot summer day!

Frozen Brownie Sundaes: (Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients

Brownie Layer:

-vegetable cooking oil spray

-2 tablespoons water

-1/4 cup vegetable oil

-1 large egg, at room temperature

-1 3/4 cups brownie mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)

-1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

-2 (1.4-ounce) milk chocolate-toffee candy bars, coarsely chopped (recommended: Heath or Skor) (I didn't add these)

Ice Cream Layer:

-1 pint dulche de leche or caramel ice cream, softened

Chocolate Layer:

-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

-1 3/4 cups milk chocolate chips

Sauce:

-1 (12-ounce) bag frozen strawberries, thawed

-1/3 cup powdered sugar

-1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

Brownie layer: Preheat even to 350 degrees F. Spray and 8 by 8-inch glass baking pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches of paper to overhang the sides. Set aside. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray

In a large bowl, mix together the water, oil and egg. Add the brownie mix and stir until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and candy bar pieces. Transfer batter to the pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into the cener of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the brownie layer completely in the pan.

Ice cream layer: Using a spatula, spread the softened ice cream on top of the brownie layer and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

Chocolate layer: In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium-low heat until hot but not boiling. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate mixture over the ice cream layer. Freeze at least 1 hour.

Sauce: Put the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth.

To serve: Remove the laters from the pan and peel away the parchment paper. Cut the layers into squares and drizzle with the strawberry sauce.

Enjoy!

Almost-Famous Maple-Butter Blondies

This recipe is a copycat recipe for Applebee's famous maple-butter blondies that I got from the Food Network Magazine. In every issue they have one copy that recipe where the Food Network kitchens whip up very similar recipes to some of our favorite foods from our favorite restaraunts. The blondie's at Applebee's are served warm on a piping hot skillet with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream that drips down the sides of the blondies and has this really yummy maple caramel sauce drizzled all over.....if you have never had one it is absolutely fantastic and I adore there deliciousness! Of course, I was so excited when I came across this recipe for them and couldn't wait to try them out!

The results of my copy that maple-butter blondies if I do say so myself were........absolutely wonderful! I really, really enjoyed and so did my boyfriend's sister who also loves them and even my boyfriend said he couldn't stop eating them and he doesn't even really like the applebee's one! The blondie tasted pretty close to what the actual Applebee's blondie tastes like. These blondies are more cakey than dense, which normally I don't like at all....but these are one exception! They were moist, soft, buttery, nutty, and filled with white chocolate chunks. My maple caramel topping didn't turn out (me and boiling sugar and butter never seems to work...it intimidates me!) so I just served it with store-bought caramel sauce and butter pecan ice cream and it was soooo yummy and decadant and they are also great to eat just plain!

For the Blondies:

-10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan

-1 cup walnut pieces

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

-3 large eggs

-2 tablespoons vanilla extract

-6 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks or white chocolate chips

For the Topping:

-1/3 cup maple syrup

-6 tablespoons unsalted butter

-1/4 cup heavy cream

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1. Make the blondies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13-inch pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter or spray the pan with cooking spray. Pulse 1/2 cup walnuts in a food processor until almost fine (do not overprocess). Whisk the ground nuts, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Beat 10 tablespoons butter and the brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate and the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts.

3. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the blondies are light brown around the edges and spring back when pressed, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly on a rack.

4. Meanwhile, make the topping: Place the maple syrup and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the mixture bubbles and thickens, swirling the pan, about 6 minutes. Add the cream and continue to cook until the mixture is the consistency of caramel.

5. Use the foil to lift the blondies out of the pan, then cut into large bars. Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream or your favorite ice cream, the maple-butter sauce and the walnuts.

Blueberry Streusal Muffins

This is a really yummy, quick, and easy muffin recipe that is perfect for breakfast, a brunch, a snack or dessert. They were moist, tender, fluffy, and bursting with pretty plump blueberries. They had a slightly crunchy top from the delicious streusel topping, I really loved the sweet streusal crunchy topping on the muffins, I think it was my favorite part!  You can add any kind of fruit you want...have fun and experiment with different fruits! My cousin Tommy asked me to make him some more!

Streusal Muffins: (Paula Deen)

Makes 15 muffins.

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1 cup sugar

-2 large eggs

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/2 tsp. almond extract

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-3 teaspoons baking powder

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1 cup whole milk (I used skim)

-1 pint fresh fruit

Streusal Topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin pans liberally with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add eggs and extracts, beating just until blended.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Fold in fruit. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling three-fourths full. Sprinkle evenly with streusal topping. Bake for 20 minutes, or intil a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans immediately.

Streusal Topping:

Makes about 1 cup

-1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

-1/4 cup butter

In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

This double chocolate gooey butter cake is a Paula Deen recipe and there are so many different types of variations of this cake, which is really more like a bar or a brownie than a cake. Paula Deen is pretty famous for these cakes and I know why.....because they are really, really yummy and they were enjoyed by family and friends who gave me rave reviews about them! They had a slightly crunchy and crumbly top, followed by a very lucious gooey and fudgey center that was so delicious, and a soft cake-like crust. You can garnish these with powdered sugar, fresh berries, and whipped cream or just serve them plain!

Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake (Paula Deen):

Ingredients:

-2 sticks butter (seperated), melted

-1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

-1 egg, plus 2 eggs

-1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

-3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder

-1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1 cup chopped nuts, if desired (I didn't use nuts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 stick melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside. In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 1 stick of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in the nuts, if desired, with a rubber spatula. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.

Bake for 40-50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake, the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces. Garnish with desired toppings.

Banana Raspberry Crumble Bread

This banana bread turned out to be the best banana bread I have ever made and my most favorite one. This bread was sooooo delicious and it smelled so yummy while it was baking. It was so moist, flavorful, and sweet with the crunchy crumb topping and slighty tart from the beautiful sweet little red raspberries. This bread is perfect for breakfast which I enjoyed this morning with a glass of milk or it is great for a snack! This bread is to die for so I reccomend getting in the kitchen and baking this now!

Doesn't it look so pretty!?

Banana Raspberry Bread:

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1 1/4 cups sugar

-2 large eggs

-2 ripe bananas, mashed

-1 1/2 cups flour

-1 tsp. baking powder

-3/4 tsp. baking soda

-1/3 cup buttermilk

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 cup fresh raspberries

Crumb Topping:

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-1/3 cup flour

-1/4 cup butter

In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan well.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs and bananas, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, stirring well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Lightly fold in raspberries.

 Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan and top evenly with half of the crumb topping mixture. Pour remaining batter on top and bake for 25 minutes (reserving the rest of the crumb topping in the fridge). Sprinkle remaining crumb topping on the partially baked bread and bake for another 25-35 minutes. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.