This chocolate cake recipe involves minimal cleanup -- the ingredients are blended in the very pan that goes into the oven.

Use very ripe bananas for moist cookies with lots of banana flavor.

Buttermilk is best for this recipe, but feel free to substitute a combination of milk and plain yogurt, or milk alone.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

To create a good texture for the apple crisp, the general rule of thumb is three parts fruit to one part topping.