Cinnamon Banana Globes with Honey Peanut Butter Frosting

Day 3:

Kindness

So we went a little out of order with the fruits of the spirit and skipped to kindness because it's Earth Day! And what better day to discuss kindness when we are also reminded to be kind to the beautiful planet God blessed us with! Now we didn't just make some plain-jane cupcakes...this is a fresh, scrumptious take on banana bread. So if you've got some super ripe bananas and a desire to mix it up in the kitchen, you've come to the right blog! These are sure to please a banana-lovin' crowd even without the fancy food dye.

Cinnamon Banana Globes

 

What you'll need for the cupcakes:

• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 cup of softened, unsalted butter
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 4 eggs

What you'll need for the Peanut Butter Cream Cheese frosting:

• 8 ounce package of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• A splash of milk (for consistency)
• 1 1/2 tbsp of honey

What to do:

First preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Separate the egg yolks from the four eggs, putting them in a small bowl. Then put the egg whites in a medium mixing bowl and beat them with the mixer (using the whisk handle) until STIFF peaks form. This will take a bit of time, but they should turn out fluffy and white. When you pull the whisk out of the bowl, the egg whites should stick straight up.

In a separate medium bowl, cream the softened butter. Then add the mashed bananas, egg yolks, and vanilla. Mix really well. Now, add 1/3 of the egg whites. (Be sure not to over mix them)

Combine all your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt) in a large bowl. Gently fold in the wet ingredients into the dry. Once that's fairly well combined, add the remainder of the egg whites. Stir until just combined. 

Then, if you're making the earthy effect on your cupcakes, divide the batter evenly into two separate bowls. Use blue food coloring in one and green in the other. (The richer and darker the color, the better, in our opinion!)

Then line the cupcake tins and fill them 2/3 the way full. If you're using the food coloring, just layer the green and blue into pretty patterns so it looks like this:

Now bake them for about 12-16 minutes.

Icing:

Using the mixer again, combined your softened cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. 

Add the cups of powdered sugar one at a time.

Now add the vanilla, honey, and splash of milk.

We cut the cupcakes in half and put the icing in the center so you could see the earth part of the cupcake. But if you didn't do the food coloring, go ahead and just swirl or spread it on top any way you'd like! I suggest piping the icing because these cupcakes are difficult to put icing on, but only because they're so darn moist!

It may not look SUPER delicious because of the food coloring, but trust us, it's good!

*

Molli says:

We are called to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). That means being different, being the opposite of what your circumstances may encourage you to be, and being the loving light in the darkness. The point is for us to draw people to Jesus (Matthew 5:16). We aren't supposed to appear perfect, because we're not. But we are supposed to show others that no matter how things are going, we're joyful, at peace, and kind because we have Christ. Being kind isn't for personal gain, it's for a gain in Christ's kingdom. Although, it does make for a lot less regret when you're kind too everyone. 

An unkind Christian is just an oxymoron. Be kind to people, even to those who aren't. Don't expect non Jesus followers to act like Jesus followers. I know it's a hard pill to swallow, but treating others as you want to be treated starts with YOU. So inject kindness into yours and other's lives and feel the peace and smiles that comes with it.

Mallory says:

Working in customer service, sometimes it's really hard to show God's kindness to the people around me. I'll find myself getting irritated at a customer's ridiculous question or impatient when someone just can't seem to decide which movie they want to keep.

But we have to push past our barriers. Even when it seems impossible. We're called to set a good example and be kind to others always.

Jesus said "By this they will know you are my disciples, if you love one another."(John 13:35)

This applies to kindness just as much as it applies to love.

You never know what someone is going through, or what kind of day they might be having. 

Your kindness could be what brings all of the joy and light back into their dimly lit day. It could be just the reflection of Christ that their heart has been searching for.

What do people say about you when you're not around?

Do they think of how kind and gentle-hearted you are?

Or is it possible that they may have some less-than-nice things to say about your less-than-nice attitude? You may not always take care to make sure you are only acting out of kindness, but I can assure you that others (especially non-Christians) will notice. And, sadly, the bad always seems to outweigh the good in our minds.

So next time, before you block up your river of kindness and go into full irritable snake mode (yes, that's the best analogy I can come up with right now :P), think about how one little bitter word can change someone's day, and how the same amount of kindness can change it that much more.

*images*

1//2//3//4//5//6//7