Banana zeppole

Zeppole is a kind of Italian doughnut. It is deep fried and dusted with powder sugar. Fresh zeppole is light and fluffy and quickly disappears at my house. Banana or apple can be used to add a fruity flavor to this little pastry.

1/4 c sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c water

1 c flour

4 eggs

2 medium ripe banana, chopped into small pieces

powder sugar and cinnamon for dusting

vegetable oil

In a medium saucepan combine buter, salt, sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add flour. Stir continuously until mixture form a ball. Turn the heat back on low and stir a bit longer until the dough is nice and smooth.

Transfer dough mixture into a mixing bowl. Add one egg at the time and use electric mixer to beat it together, continue with the remaining egg. Beat until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until ready to use.

To avoid banana turning brown, add it to the dough mixture just before you are ready to fry. Mix well.

Pour enough oil into a heavy saucepan, about 2 inches from the bottom. Drop teaspoonful of batter into the hot oil. When you 1st drop the little dough in, it will stick to the bottom, but it will puff up and rise to the surface. Don't overcrowd the pan, fry them in batches. Fry until golden brown on all side, scoop them out and let drain in a brown paper bag or paper towel.

When ready to serve, sprinkle them with powder sugar and cinnamon.

These little fruity fritters are a big hit with my family, they are wonderful and melt in your mouth, you can't just have one. Enjoy!

Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are awsome! They smell darn good! Those are commons I've got from my family after they finished tasting. My first batch was gone in a flash.
They are indeed quite good, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy in the inside, and they smell wonderful. I like my cookies nice and fat so I use well chilled butter, it keeps the dough cool and won't spread too much in the oven.

Adapted from Alsolutely Chocolate

Ingredients:

2 c all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3 sticks unsalted butter - yes, three sticks

3 tbsp instant espresso powder or 4 tbsp instant coffee - crushed

1 c confectioners sugar

1/2 c parked light brown sugar

1 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 c granulated sugar for dipping

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, coffee, salt and cinnamon. Add flour in 2 or 3 increment. mix well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips. Put the dough in the fridge for 1/2 hour to cool.

Heat oven to 350 degree. Put granulated sugar in a dish. Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into the sugar, place it on baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Enjoy them with a cup of coffee or tea. They are pretty hard to resist.