Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Crunchy Granola 巧克力花生醬香蕉蛋糕

My husband and I both love banana bread, but when it comes to peanut butter, we're not quite on the same page. As a typical American, he naturally loves anything that has to do with peanut butter - from peanut butter and jelly, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, he loves them all! As for me, peanut butter wasn't something I grew up with in Taiwan. In my childhood memory, peanut butter wasn't as popular at the time and the Western food was just starting to come into the market. I don't recall that we had much peanut butter at our house. Therefore, I guess I never quite developed a palate for it, but occasionally there are some peanut butter flavoured things that I like. For example, any peanut butter cereal or cinnamon flavoured peanut butter, and this bread here is also one of those rare occasions where peanut butter becomes my good friend.

Vegan Cranberry Chocolate Truffles 蔓越莓松露巧克力

 

When it comes to Valentine's Day desserts, fruits like strawberries or raspberries are widely used, but I've always thought that cranberries are such an under-appreciated fruit. They're often used for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but not much else. The truth is, they're a very powerful fruit. The dried cranberries used here contain good amounts of fiber and heart-healthy unsaturated fats, they're also high in vitamin C and have a lot of anti-oxidants, and so can be quite beneficial for your health. Recently, I visited Nutra-Fruit - a local store that specializes in cranberry products. I was really inspired by their product, so I decided to create this recipe for this year's Valentine's Day. (See my Valentine's Day Cranberry Heart Swirl Cheesecake, Homemade Cranberry-Vanilla Butter, Whole Wheat Cranberry Oat Scones)

Baked Pear & Ricotta Wonton Hand Pies with Rosemary and Chocolate 巧克力梨子奶油起司香酥派

Whenever I make Chinese wontons, I almost always have some extra wonton wrappers left. Of course, the simplest thing is to wrap them and store them in the freezer until the next use, but why not use them to make something completely different? Since pears abundant this time of the year, I thought they would make a perfect filling for the season. With the rosemary, it adds a fragrant woody aroma to make this dessert even more special, not to mention that it goes perfectly well with chocolate, too! There's no sugar, just a little maple syrup, and since it's not fried, you can pop as many as you wish without worrying about your health or feeling guilty. Next time you have some leftover wonton wrappers, turn them into this simple, yet sophisticated dessert!

Dark Velvet Hot Chocolate Overnight Oatmeal with Toasted Pecans 濃純黑巧克力熱可可燕麥粥

For all you chocolate lovers, this is the "it" recipe for your morning! I originally started out making this breakfast for my hubby (a hopeless chocoholic), but I confess, I even ended up loving this myself. I know you might be thinking that this looks like a dessert, and how can it be healthy?! Well, that's exactly what I wanted it to look like, but did you know that cocoa powder is one of those super foods? It's packed with fiber, iron, magnesium, and antioxidants. It can be beneficial for high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and also acts as an anti-depressant. If you're able to find raw cocoa powder, it would be even more nutritious.

Kahlua-Chocolate Banana Bread 卡魯哇巧克力香蕉蛋糕

I don't know about you, but whenever I surf around online looking at yummy food photos, it always makes me hungry. And I mean anytime, anywhere, and even after I just ate! That's how this banana bread recipe was born. （／_＼）I was pinning photos from Pinterest one night and I came across this Espresso-Chocolate Banana Bread recipe from Yes To Yolks. The idea of espresso, chocolate chips, and banana all together sounded so mouth-watering to me. I had just finished my dinner and had a belly full of food, but at that moment, nothing was going to stop me. I didn't care how late it was, I was determined to make that darned espresso-chocolate banana bread! (*≧m≦*)