Dessert Burrito!

I was hankering for something amazing this morning. No, I wasn't hungover, just craving. I thought that a dessert/breakfast burrito would be the best thing:
Prepare:
-Warm a tortilla in the microwave for 15 seconds
-Spread a good amount of nice peanut butter and Nutella down the middle of the tortilla
-Slice 1 banana down the middle and arrange on the tortilla, fold/wrap upCook:
-Heat a large flat pan on medium heat
-Place folded burrito on the pan and place a plate on top for seal and pressure, cook for 4 minutes (if it starts smoking, take it off!) and then flip over.
-Enjoy!Tips:
-This is pretty perfect on its own... you could add caramel or marshmellow fluff for a bit more of heaven.

Banana Chocolate Shake

Every now and then I get a craving for a creamy shake. The problem is that they're usually like 5$ and unhealthy, so I never buy them. I tried to make one at home that was maybe a bit healthier and definitely cheaper. It came out with pretty much the exact consistency I wanted, thick and creamy but still drinkable, which was very nice.

Prepare:
-Couple tbsp cocoa powder
-1 tbsp hot water
-5 cubes ice
-1 banana
-1/4 cup milk (I used soy)
-1.5 tbsp low-fat vanilla yogurt

Cook:
-I put the tbsp water in a big beaker that goes with my blender, then put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to boil
-Mix in the cocoa until it's a bit thicker and almost like a paste-Pour in half the milk and the yogurt and blend-Mix in the banana, ice, and the rest of the milk and blend again
Tips:
-You could change this in may ways... substituting ice cream for yogurt, using a different kind of milk, putting in berries instead of banana, different flavored yogurt, mixing in mint leaves... the world is your milkshake!

Banana Bread

Yesterday while walking through the lovely West End Markets, I happened to pass a Vietnamese-bakery stand, where the lady was selling banana bread. I got an instant craving and proceeded to buy several of the ripest bananas I could find in the next stall, eager to bake. Early this morning I went biking and hiking with two friends and, as it was a bit cold and we were hungry and had earned good food, I invited them over for some banana bread. In quick need of a recipe, I searched my favorite site and quickly arrived at this. Well, when a review gets that many ratings, you don't mess around with it. The bread turned out moist and delicious.
Prepare:
-Preheat oven to 350F
-Cream 1/2cup butter with 3/4cup brown sugar in a large bowl-Beat 2 eggs and add to the bowl-Mash 2 cups-worth of ripe bananas (this is a lot more than you'd expect... I'd have anywhere from 5-8 bananas on hand) -Add banana to the liquid mix-In a separate large bowl, sift 1 tsp baking powder, 1 pinch salt, and 2 cups flour-Mix the two together -Put in greased loaf panCook:
-Place in oven and cook for 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry
-Cool for 10 minutes if you can resist putting it piping hot into your mouth!

Tips:
-I would normally add chocolate chips, since I love chocolate, but felt more like a breakfasty-banana bread than a dessert cake. Adding chocolate chips right at the end would work well
-This turned out amazing but my only complaint would be that it was a tiny bit greasy. I would maybe substitute half or 1/3 the butter for apple sauce
-Creaming the butter and sugar was kind of a pain: leave the butter out for a while before you attempt it
-If banana is too plain for you on its own, the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, or vanilla (a tbsp of vanilla yogurt hand in hand) would go well

Update:
I have made this again with a few modifications and am glad to say they were only improvements! Changes:
-Used unsalted butter instead of salted
-Mixed about 1/3 cup of rolled oats with the flour
-Add dried currants and cranberries in the final mix
-Mixed in a cup 1 tbsp water, 2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of oats and then spread that on the top of the bread before I put it in the oven. It made it nice and crunchy and delicious on top!

과일빙수 (Kwah-Il BingSu: Fruit Ice Bowl)

During the summer in Korea, these kinds of dishes are a very popular dessert item to refresh and cool down. Sold in most coffee shops, ice cream parlors, and spas, the exact contents vary but usually accord in a few base ingredients. The most common kind is 팥빙수, Pat BingSu, which has a sweet red bean mixed in. Unfortunately, I didn't have that lying around the house. The other really Korean ingredient that is really necessary is 선식, SunSheek, a cereal powder made from tons of different grains, rice, vegetables, and other dried goodies (website in Korean but a pic with all the contents). If you don't feel like purchasing it, it could be substituted for crushed cereal crumbs/crushed granola/etc. Regardless, it's very easy and tasty and a welcome change from the typical bowl of cereal in the morning.
Prepare:
-Peel and dice the fruits that you like/have: I used kiwi, banana, orange, and dried datesCook:
-Crush several cubes of ice, pour into a large bowl-Add fruit
-Add cereal powder on top-Add 1-2 tbsp of yogurt (I used vanilla)
-Mix up and enjoyTips:
-Other fruits that go well would be strawberry (or any berry), peach, pear, nectarine, or (seeded) grapes
-You could sprinkle some cocoa powder on top for a chocolatey taste, or some crushed mint

Nutella Pancakes with Banana or Coconut

I love chocolate. My mind frame is thus: if I'm eating something sweet, it's pointless if it doesn't have chocolate. As I was getting to sleep last night, I was dreaming about different ways to use Nutella in cooking, to give a rich, chocolatey taste. I decided that in the morning, I would make Nutella pancakes; of course, mixing one of the fruits that was made for chocolate: banana.
Prepare:
-1 cup of flour
-1 tsp of salt
-1 cup of milk (I used soy since I like the flavor. You can also add a spritz of lemon/lime juice to give it a buttermilk-type thing)
-1 banana, sliced
-1 beaten egg
-1 heaping tbsp of Nutella
Cook:
-Sift together flour and salt
-Make a little hole and pour in the beaten egg. Mix-Slowly add the milk, beating with every pour
-Add the Nutella. Mix well, as it's clumpy in the beginning but should even out towards the end
-Cover in saran wrap and put in the fridge for 30-60min to let it thicken a bit. The consistency should be pretty runny but not full-on liquid-In a pan on medium, melt some butter (normally, I'm an olive oil guy but I figured a situation like this called for butter)
-Drop 1/4cup of batter onto the pan, put the bananas on the top-After ~1 min (you should see a bit of smoke on the edges... you can feel firmness) flip it over
Coconut:
I had leftover batter after this morning (the mix makes about 6 pancakes) and so tonight for dessert I decided to try it with coconut.
Prepare:
-Same batter as above
-2 tbsp of coconut
Cook:
-In an unoiled pan, toast the coconut for about 1 minute or 2 until it starts getting brown
-Mix it with the batter and then cook the same as mentioned above

Tips:
-The pancakes weren't that sweet. You could add 1/2cup of sugar to the mix to sweeten it up. Also, chocolate chips would work quite well.
-I am not a syrup fan, so I ate 2 of the banana pancakes with honey and 1 with kiwi on top. Both were delicious
-Make the batter, make a couple pancakes, and then save the batter for later.