Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is my husbands absolute favorite cake.  I love that it is so moist and easy. 

Ingredients

2 c sugar
1 1/4 c oil
4 large eggs
2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 c grated carrots
1 c chopped walnuts

FROSTING

12 oz powdered sugar
2 3oz cream cheese room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp milk

1.In large bowl, beat sugar and oil. Add eggs and beat well.
2.Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt into egg mixture; mix well; fold in carrots and nuts.
3.Place batter in greased 9x13 pan; bake for 45 minutes in a 350 oven.
4. FROSTING: Beat together powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, butter and milk; spread on cooled carrot cake.

Monkey Squares

This recipe came from "The Girl Who Ate Everything" who borrowed from TheWelcomeMat.  I haven't tried this recipe but am going to try it and take them to my mom who is in a nursing home.  She loves banana bread so I think this will be a nice change. 

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 10x15 jelly roll pan. Beat first four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla one minute. Add dry ingredients and blend one minute. Stir in nuts and spread in pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool and frost with Browned Butter Frosting (recipe below).

Banana bread option: instead of spreading into jelly roll pan, this recipe will make about two regular loaves of banana bread, or about four small loaves. Regular loaves bake about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Small loaves will bake about 25 minutes on 350.

Browned Butter Frosting

½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
about 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat past the melting point until it boiling, and a delicate brown. Remove from the heat and immediately add the remaining ingredients. This should be thicker than a glaze and thinner than frosting. Using a spatula smooth over the top of the Monkey Squares immediately. The frosting will be easier to spread once it's on the warm bread.