Desserts

I love baking but most days don't eat what I bake. I am excited that I am going back to work and that Shawn is back state side and has an office that he can take things to. With that being said I had a cookie exchange to go to for my mommy group and made this little beauties.

I could of eaten them ALL.

I was good and only had a couple but cant wait to have a reason to make them again.

Easy Pretzel Turtles


small pretzels
Rolo candies - one bag has about 55 candies
Pecan halves - or optionally peanuts, cashews, and m&m's

Optional: almond bark or white chocolate for drizzling

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Unwrap your Rolo candies and place one on top of each pretzel like a cute little hat.

Place pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Any longer is probably too long. You just want the chocolate on to look glossy and melty, but they should still hold their shape.

Remove pan from oven and take a pecan and gently press it right into the center of the chocolate candy.

Here's where you can be creative. You don't need to stick to pecan halves. I also love cashews and peanuts (I used honey roasted peanuts here). And for kiddos and those who can't eat nuts or don't like them, M&M's make a great little topper, or those mini Hershey's kissables are cute too. I always throw a few of those in for color and because the kids like them.

If you want to get fancy you can give them a little drizzle of almond bark or white chocolate. Just melt some in a plastic baggie and nip the corner off to drizzle. A little goes a long way; I used a half a square of almond bark for half a batch and had plenty left over.





Also the other day I was board and wanted to back something. Being in the kitchen is a stress reliever for me. I had some banana in the freezer that I wanted to use so I whipped up a couple loaves of Pineapple Banana Bread. SO YUMMY !!! I froze one and we have been munching on the other one.

Pineapple Banana Bread


3 Cups Flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 Cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 Eggs, beaten
1 Cup butter - Melted
2 Cups mashed banana
1 Eight (8) ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained
½ Cup coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
Combine first 5 ingredients

In a LARGE separate bowl combine remaining ingredients, add flour mixture to this wet mixture


Stir until dry ingredients are well folded in and moistened

Spoon batter into greased pans (loaf pans, muffin tins whatever)

Bake at 350 for about an hour and ten minutes (70 minutes) give or take depending on your pan - bake until a toothpick comes out clean .