Ramblings and Chocolate Dipped Banana Bread Balls.

Hi guys, thanks for baring with me, I know I haven't been posting anywhere near as much as I should be just lately. I have been so, so tired. I started a new job, which I love but seeing as I haven't worked in so long, it is kicking my butt! I swear I shouldn't be this tired, it's actually quite ridiculous! By the time little man's bedtime rolls around, I have been falling in to bed myself.

The doctor started me on some medication a couple of months ago too, which I am thinking has something to do with it... I might have to get it changed to something else :/ Has anyone had any experiences with Zoloft?

Tonight, I was actually going to write a post that I have been putting off for a really long time. A post about why I am in fact taking Zoloft in the first place and a post about some of the things my family have faced in the last year... Yesterdays events in Boston however, has put that on the back burner for now. I can't stop thinking about all those poor people that have been affected by the heartless bombings, especially those who awoke this morning mourning the loss of a loved one. :( I can't get over how much evil there is in this world, it makes me so sad. I really do wish that things were different. AND on top of all of that! The town that I live in had 4 bomb threats today!! Both of the court houses were evacuated for most of the day as were the middle school and the high school! Luckily, nothing was found, but seriously! What the hell is wrong with people!? I really don't want my Son to grow up thinking that all of this is normal :( Ugh!

So instead of my intended post, I am going to be posting a recipe for Chocolate Covered Banana Bread Balls that might just bring a smile to your face, it certainly did mine when I made them. I'll start with the picture:

Looks good?

I found the original recipe for these on Pinterest. The link led me back to an extremely yummy looking blog called Inquiring Chef, you need to take a dig around over there, some of her stuff made me drool on my keyboard!!

Here is how I made them:

I started off by making the Banana Bread, I have been using this recipe for a really long time and it always comes out so good!!

You will need:

2 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
¼ Teaspoon Salt
½ Cup of Butter
½ Cup of White Sugar
½ Cup of Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
3 Very Ripe Bananas!

• Pre heat oven to 350°
• Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
• In another bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars.
• Stir in the eggs and the 'crushed' banana (I usually squish the banana between my fingers)
• Combine both mixtures and stir just until you see no flour left! It is VERY important not to over mix!!
• Bake for 1 hour

When cooked, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely!


For the Banana Bread Balls, you will need:

• 1 8oz Container of Cream Cheese (I used Mascarpone)
• Around 8 oz of Milk Chocolate Morsels and another 8 oz of Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels, you could even use white too if you wanted!
• Shredded Coconut and Crushed Walnuts for the toppings (You can use whatever you want though!!

Now you need to grab a sharp knife and cut the  hard crust off the banana bread, you can discard this bit, or spread butter on it, which is what I did... I cannot let banana bread go to waste!

In a large bowl, crumble the insides of the banana bread with your fingers until it is in small pieces. Add the cream cheese and mix really well, until it all comes together.

Using a teaspoon, separate the mixture into roughly 40 or 50 balls. Roll the balls in your hands. The original recipe said that it made 60, but I think I must have made them a lot bigger because I only managed to get 40! Place them on a tray lined with wax paper. I didn't have any wax paper, so just put them straight on the baking tray) They should look like this:

Melt your chocolate in two separate bowls. I used the microwave. Just make sure you check it and stir it every 10 seconds until it's melted completely! And using two forks, roll each ball around in the chocolate until fully coated!

The messy bit!

Sprinkle some shredded Coconut on some of them and Crushed Walnuts on the others and leave them on the counter to set for about 10 minutes or so and then transfer them to the fridge until they harden.

My pictures are so not as good as The Inquiring Chef!

 

And there you have it. Chocolate Covered Banana Bread Balls. So good!!! My next ones will be the Brownie ones!!

Please let me know if you make these and how they turned out!

I hope everyone has a great evening. Hold your loved ones tight ♥

~ Tasha