peanut butter and banana muffins

i like to give these to the nursery kids for their snack on sunday. also, the adults love them and i promised the recipe. this is from jessica seinfeld's "deceptively delicious" cookbook.

1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup carrot or cauliflower puree
1/2 cup banana puree
1 large egg white
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.
*i use a mini muffin pan.

in a large mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup of the brown sugar with the peanut butter, the vegetable and banana purees, and the egg white, using a wooden spoon.

put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix. add to the bowl with the peanut butter mixture and stir just to combine (the batter will be a little lumpy-do not overmix). add the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar and stir once or twice.

divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, 15-20 minutes. turn the muffins out onto a rack to cool.

store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 1 month.

*i substitute more banana puree for the carrot or cauliflower puree. but i do use a little less banana and add a bit of carrot juice. makes me feel better!

Gale Gand's Florentines

this recipe is from gale gand's 'just a bite' cookbook. it is an amazing dessert cookbook. gale gand is a famous, amazing pastry chef. she used to have a show on food network called sweet dreams. these are amazingly easy.

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 Tbs) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sliced almonds, preferably blanched
4 oz semisweet chocolate

mix the sugar and butter until smooth in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer). add the flour and mix. add the corn syrup and mix. working by hand with a rubber spatula, fold in the almonds. form the dough into a 1 1/2 inch thick log and wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper. freeze for at least 1 hour. the recipe can be made up to this point and kept frozen for up to 1 month.
heat the oven to 350 degrees.
remove the dough from the freezer and slice it into very thin rounds, less than 1/4 inch thick. transfer the slices to the cookie sheets and bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. let the cookies cool on the pan.
melt the chocolate. using an icing spatulat, spread the flat bottom of each cookie with a thick layer of chocolate, then set aside to cool, chocolate side up. let the cookies sit at room temperature until the chocolate is firm. serve chocolate side down. store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

*i made one batch a little more chewy than crisp, by cooking them for a little less time. they were really good.