Cooking at night

So, I am not a morning person. Big whoop! Now that I no longer have to work at 530, 630, or 730 in the morning, does it really matter?

I usually get a second spark of energy at 8:00 at night. This night it was more at 9:00 and I decided to make a Chocolate Cake and Oatmeal Banana Pancakes. Haley and I are crazy over pancakes, and these are a healthier version, especially on a school day! I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I just like to cook and bake in the evening!

I am sharing both recipes with you here tonight, and I really hope that you will try them. I don't share recipes often, because I rarely follow a recipe and I NEVER write it out in it's entirety, but I will try to do so here!

Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour
1 3/4 cup sugar ( I use 1 1/2) see, I never follow a recipe!
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cold coffee
1 egg
2/3 cup oil

Sift the dry ingredients together, add sour cream, egg, coffee, oil  and mix just until moistened. Pour into 2 round cake pans, lightly floured. Bake at 35o degrees until a toothpick inserted, comes out clean!

Now I will show you a picture, of my completed cake, with icing. However, I do not use a recipe for icing. I just mix a 1/4 cup of melted butter with some cocoa and icing sugar, vanilla and a splash or 2 of milk until I get the smooth, chocolaty icing that Haley says is great as she is dipping her fingers in!

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 ripe banana
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter

Melt butter, add sugar and blend. Mix in the egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla, and banana. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix just until blended together.

I of course add a healthy dose of cinnamon, because I LOVE cinnamon and it is good for you!

These are great to make on the weekend, or spend an afternoon, making a double batch and then freezing them so that you have them ready to go on a school day! Yum! I top mine with bananas, just to keep with the theme, but you can top them with whatever you like! My apologies for not having a picture of these, but trust me, they are fabulous!

Enjoy.

Have a great rest of your week people!