Banana Yogurt Muffins with a Whole-Lotta Chocolate
February 5, 2011 § 2 Comments
There’s no sense in beating around the bush: While these muffins are chalk full of chocolate, in my book, this is a “slimmed-down” breakfast. That’s not exactly a caveat, but as I am a muffin fanatic, and I don’t shy away from the decadent stuff, I think a mere acknowledgment is merited for this recipe.
The base of these little bites are a blend of white whole-wheat flour and oat bran. While these muffins have no oil or butter, I added plain, whole-milk yogurt & mashed bananas to the mix to keep these muffins from turning into dense-as-brick hockey pucks. (Note: I have not tried this recipe using lower-fat yogurts. While I always encourage experimenting, whether in cooking or in the more-exact chemistry of baked goods, I imagine that a non-fat plain yogurt would certainly affect the texture of these muffins as the yogurt is the only fat source on the ingredient list.)
I’ve dabbled with the sugar ratio — if you’d like, add a bit more (1/2 a cup) but I found that the bananas (and chocolate!) added plenty of sweetness on their own, so I’ve settled on a mere 1/3 of a cup for the whole batch.
One thing to note: If you make these muffins in batches (one batch tonight, one batch tomorrow) and wind up refrigerating part of the dough, before baking the chilled dough, add a little bit of almond milk (1-3 tablespoons) so that the batter becomes more liquidy and is reconstituted back to its original texture. While these breakfast treats are best the day-of, they’re still quite moist the second day and make great snack leftovers. If you still have a muffin stockpile after that, I recommend freezing them and thawing them (they freeze and thaw wonderfully) before serving.
Ingredients:
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 cup oat bran
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 (heaping) teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup chocolate chips/shavings
1 cup plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 cup mashed, overly ripe banana (about 2 large bananas, preferably ripe to the point of squishy-ness and blackened skins)
2 tablespoons almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins and set aside.
2. Mix dry ingredients, including sugar, with a fork. Add chocolate chips to the dry ingredients (by tossing chips/chocolate shavings in the flour mixture, chips will not sink to the bottom of each muffin).
3. In a separate bowl, mash banana. Add yogurt, almond milk and vanilla. Stir well. Add to dry ingredients and stir, just until incorporated.
4. Fill 4/5 of each muffin (nearly to the top) with batter – they won’t rise a terrific amount. Bake until slightly golden around the edges and when the center bounces back a bit, with the touch of an index finger (or when the knife comes out clean). About 18-22 minutes, but keep an eye out — cooking times will vary depending on the size of the muffin tin.
Snack Addiction: Rosemary Spiced Nuts & Pretzel Bites
November 30, 2010 § Leave a Comment
I hosted my very first Thanksgiving this year! I bought a small, sweet pumpkin from Forever Young Farm, stuffed it with buttermilk-cornbread stuffing and chucked the whole thing in the oven for an hour — perfuming the house with scents of rosemary and winter squash — and called the feast, “Save a Turkey; Stuff a Pumpkin!”
In the two weeks preceding Thanksgiving, I hemmed and hawed: When should I serve the thick, vegetable soup? How many desserts are too many desserts? What can I give my guests at the peckish, midday hour to hold them over until my (undoubtedly delayed) afternoon mega-feast? This last question put a twist in my noodle. I wanted to serve appetizers that would be satisfying, but not put a brick in the stomach. I often resort to simple blender-whiz things like hummus or riffs on that idea. But this year, I decided to steer away from spreadables. Instead, I roasted thick wedges of sweet potatoes and topped them with a tangy-avocado salad spiked with feta and nibbles of dried cranberries. To drink, we clinked pear ale in champagne glasses. To clear the palate, I filled a glass bowl with aromatic, sweet & spicy mixed nuts. It was a delightfully satisfying beginning: No flavors rivaled one another; it wasn’t boring (no carrots, celery and globby ranch dressing). It was a serendipitous start to a crisp day, spent near the warm oven, over bubbling pots and side-by-side with dear family.
Ingredients:
1 cup cashews (raw, unsalted)
1 cup pecans (raw, unsalted)
1 cup almonds (raw, unsalted)
2 cups pretzel bites
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon mild, Santa Cruz chili powder
1 teaspoon ancho powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
Method:
1. Toast nuts in 325 convection oven for 10 minutes until fragrant and slightly browned.
2. Meanwhile, mix together sugar, syrup, spices and salt on the stove. Once nuts are toasted, toss with pretzels in syrup and place on lined baking sheet. Bake an additional 10 minutes until crisp. Cool completely, then break apart and store in an air-tight container. Can be made several days in advance.
Diet Notes: vegan
Autumn-Spice Muffins
September 30, 2010 § 4 Comments
It was 100 degrees today; yesterday it was 102; it’s supposed to be 104 tomorrow. WHERE IS AUTUMN!? Tomorrow is October 1 and I’m sweating bullets.
In a futile (but savored!) attempt to usher Fall to my doorstep at a faster clip, I’ve whipped out last year’s canned pumpkin and all my fall spices. In the last 7 days I’ve used up a quarter (a quarter!) of a jar of ground cinnamon.
Don’t be alarmed: there’s only a spry amount of spice in these fluffed-up muffins (inspired by this beautiful, vegan blog). But, during my muffin “trials,” I’ve been simultaneously attempting to duplicate Starbucks’ “pumpkin spice syrup” to sweeten coffee, thus depreciating my spice jars at a fast pace. Tomorrow morning I’ll be stirring Batch #4 of the simple syrup over the small, gas burner. When I hit the spice/sugar-proportion jackpot, I’ll post that recipe. (A few more tweaks are in order, first.)
In the meantime, here are muffins with fantastic flavor that will warm your house with really good smells. These muffins call for pumpkin puree and brown sugar — both add extra moisture to the batter. (Note: For the fat-conscience, that means that the oil content is minimal.) What’s more, with these proportions of moisture and leavening agents, the pumpkin muffins — made with whole-wheat flour to boot — are airy and light. No hockey pucks here! Delicious straight out of the oven, these freeze-and-thaw wonderfully and stay good on the counter top for several days.
Ingredients:
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon each: cloves, all spice, nutmeg, cinnamon
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup almond milk (or milk alternative)
turbinado sugar (or “Sugar in the Raw”), for dusting
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter/grease muffin tins. Combine dry ingredients & sugar in a large bowl. Mix in chocolate chips and thoroughly coat with flour mixture. (This will prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom of the batter.)
2. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Slowly add to dry ingredients and stir, just until incorporated.
3. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar (or “Sugar in the Raw”). Depending on the size of each muffin, the baking time will vary. For very-large muffins (with approximately 1/2 cup of batter per muffin), the cooking time hovers around 25 minutes. For smaller, 12-muffin tins, the baking time ranges between 16-19 minutes. Test with a knife; when it comes out clean, remove muffins from oven and cool, in the tin, for at least 10 minutes. Run a dull knife around edges of each muffin and slowly lift from tin. Allow time to cool completely before packaging.
Diet Notes: vegan
Zucchini Spice Muffins
August 26, 2010 § 1 Comment
Upon returning from Guatemala and California, I started perusing my bookmarked cookbooks, flipping through crispy, new Cooks Illustrated & Bon Appetit magazines and revisiting old recipes that could use a face-lift. Since gardens are exploding with zucchini and summer squash, I decided to tackle zucchini bread. I started with an old favorite, then tweaked the whole grains, oil, zucchini and sugar. I fiddled with the proportions until I landed this combination, below. I find these muffins even moister than the original version, which I can tip my hat to the molasses and brown sugar swap-out.
One thing to note: In my Zucchini Chocolate Cake recipe, I expel as much liquid as possible from the zucchini before adding it to the batter, so as to not add any additional moisture to the cake. In this recipe, the extra moisture is desirable, so I simply shred the zucchini and place it directly into the batter. No sugaring, no osmosis!
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/3 cup veg oil
¼ cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup brown sugar
1 + ½ cup shredded zucchini
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup oat bran
½ cup white flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon all spice
bit of nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
few dark chocolate chips to sprinkle on top
Method:
1. Preheat to 350 degrees on convection or 375 in a standard oven.
2. Mix wet ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients. Fold into wet ingredients in alternative batches with the shredded zucchini.
3. Scoop into muffin cups or a greased muffin tin and sprinkle with a few chocolate chips. Bake approximately 20-23 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a cooling rack before packaging or freezing.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
Granola Bar Cookie Bites (also vegan!)
June 18, 2010 § 1 Comment
These little guys might not look like much, but I’ve eaten four “trial” batches of them for two consecutive weeks and have yet to tire of them. While they’re great for dessert, I prefer popping one in my mouth before early morning jogs and in the late afternoon, before I pick 726 tomatoes from the garden. They’re unintentionally vegan, which is a plus for some, and they have a warm flavor from the mild, molasses-y brown sugar and cinnamon. The texture is what really knocks my socks off — the unsweetened, natural coconut flakes are a must! If you don’t have almond butter, swap it out with natural, chunky peanut butter. I’ve done both, but prefer the subtler taste of almonds in this granola bite.
Ingredients:
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons real coconut flakes (unsweetened)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tablespoons dried berries (I enjoy the varying size and sweetness of dried cherries mixed with dried blueberries)
1/3 cup almond milk or milk equivalent
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or any neutral-flavored oil)
3 tablespoons almond butter, natural & chunky
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees on convection (or 350 in a standard oven). Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine dry ingredients & sugar and toss with a fork. Add dried berries and chocolate chips to the flour mixture and toss. (This will help them adhere to the dough.)
3. Add almond milk (or milk equivalent), oil and almond butter to the mixture and stir with a spoon until combined. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for a few minutes, until the oven is heated. Shape into small balls, about half the size of a golf ball, and place about an inch-apart on a cookie sheet (they don’t spread). Bake for 11-13 minutes until slightly golden on the top. Remove from oven and let sit on the cookie sheet approximately 3-5 minutes, until set. Remove from sheet and cool on a wire rack. They keep well on the counter for several days and freeze-and-thaw without fault.
Diet Notes: Vegan
Chocolate-Chunked Banana Bread
May 3, 2010 § 1 Comment
A few weeks ago I filled my grocery basket with 18 fair trade bananas, on sale at my local supermarket. Ever since, I’ve been pureeing bananas (hello, banana soft-serve “ice cream”!) around the clock. But while the “soft-serve” is undeniably addictive and a cinch (blend 1 overly-ripe, frozen banana in a Cuisinart until smooth & top with chocolate!), my obsession these days has been banana bread. My family and workmate have been extremely obliging, helping me tweak each trial and, at long last, I think we’ve finally nailed a good combination of ingredients.
A few notes about this recipe: Many of my quick breads & muffins use only oil (no butter) to yield a moist bread that has a longer shelf life. I wanted this bread to be moist, but also firm enough to handle a spread. I was wary of using only butter because I didn’t want it to be tough and chewy. So, I dabbled with a new butter/oil experiment: I decided to mix them. I used half oil, half butter. I loved the texture and crumb size and was pleased that it maintained its moisture, even after several days on the counter top.
Another note: do be sure to measure the quantity of banana “mush” that you put into the bread. You don’t want to skimp here. I’ve experimented with various amounts and want to caution: when I used a mere 1 cup (approximately 3 medium bananas) the results were only so-so. My workmate determined that there wasn’t enough banana flavor and I thought the bread was denser got stale faster. Stirring 1.5 cups of banana mush into the mix does the trick. However, if you only have a scant amount of banana-mush, replace the missing quantity with additional plain, whole-milk yogurt.
To ensure an aesthetically-attractive loaf, nicely cooked through the middle with no burned edges, I suggest taking a peek 45 minutes into the baking time. If the top looks golden brown, I tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top and curl under the pan edges and continue baking until the knife-test comes out clean (usually just over 1 hour).
One final note: This recipe also makes great muffins. For one of my trials, I made two different sizes of muffins (small and very small) to give away at work. If you’d like to do the same, I suggest lowering the oven by 25 degrees (300 degrees on convection; 325 degrees standard oven) and baking between 17-23 minutes, depending on the size of the tin. The muffins and loaf freeze and thaw perfectly, so don’t hesitate to make in advance and enjoy later in the week.
Ingredients:
1 + 1/2 cup mashed banana (approx. 4 medium-sized)
2 eggs
1/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable (or neutral-tasting) oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup dark chocolate, chopped in chunks and slivers
Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees on convection. Alternatively, heat oven on standard setting at 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan; layer bottom of pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine mashed banana and sugar. Beat until thoroughly incorporated. Melt butter (in an oven-proof dish in the heating oven or in the microwave). Allow it to cool for a few minutes before adding to the liquid batter. One at a time, add each egg, followed by the yogurt and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl mix flours, soda and sea salt. Chop chocolate into chunks and combine with flour mixture. (This will prevent the chocolate from falling to the bottom of the loaf.)
4. Bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes, but take a peek around 45 minutes. If your oven runs hot, the loaf might be browning too rapidly on top (mine always does). If so, tent with tin foil and continue baking. The loaf will be finished when the knife comes out clean. Let the bread rest for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. This loaf stays good on the counter for several days and freezes and thaws wonderfully.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
Espresso Double-Chocolate Cookies
April 7, 2010 § 1 Comment
It has been eons since my last cookie bake-off. This winter I used my oven for two primary purposes: to test out a new grapefruit sourdough muffin and to roast about 10 too many rutabagas. Suffice it to say, I’m glad to be back in the kitchen whipping sugar into butter.
Trial 1 of my Chocolate Espresso cookie experiment was a flop even though my dad loved them! Now, let me back up a second. Generally speaking, my dad is my recipe barometer. He loves to try new foods and he’ll also tell me if my bowl of quinoa tastes like pebbles. But no one in my family (save my grandpa and perhaps a smattering of cousins) likes or has ever liked coffee, save moi.
Knowing I was solo on the coffee-fan bandwagon, I made these cookies one afternoon when I was home alone; I planned to tote them to a gathering with friends later that night. But, as luck would have it, my dad arrived as I was scraping the cookies off the sheet pan. “Oo!” he said, eyeing the cooling rack. “Uh, just warning,” I said, pointing my spatula at the cookies, “These are espresso cookies. They’ll taste sort of like coffee.” My dad hesitated and then picked up a cookie. Taking a tremulous bite he chewed a moment and then, to my surprise, he grabbed two more: “I love them!” he said, “They don’t taste like anything!”
Sigh.
Back to the drawing board.
Clearly, the flavor in those cookies were lacking – not enough coffee and definitely not enough chocolate. I also found the texture to be a bit off; they were gooey in the middle when they were warm, but resembled fossilized pancakes after they cooled. So, I started tweaking. I doubled the cocoa powder; I added more chocolate-covered espresso beans. I let the dough rest longer in the fridge. I added brown sugar and whole wheat flour for good “chew,” but balanced both with their respective counterparts – a bit of white flour to add a little airiness, plus a bit of evaporated cane sugar (you can use white sugar if that’s what you have handy). Several batches and 2 pounds of chocolate-flavored espresso beans later, I found a winner. Each bite is speckled with crunch (both from coffee bean and chocolate) and the surrounding cookie dough has flavor. And an added bonus: I can eat three cookies without any caffeine-induced jittery aftershocks.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1-2 tablespoons espresso powder (*err on the lighter side if you want a stronger chocolate flavor)
1/2 cup cocoa powder, high quality
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons almond milk (or milk alternative)
1 cup chocolate-covered espresso beans
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Methods:
1. Cream butter and sugars for several minutes, whipping air into the mixture so that it turns creamy-colored and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and almond milk. Beat an additional minute or two.
2. Combine flours, baking soda and powder, cocoa and sea salt in a separate bowl and mix with a fork until combined. Slowly fold flour mix into the wet dough and, if using an electric mixer, stop just before the dough is fully incorporated. Stir the remaining few times with a spoon and hand-mix chocolate-espresso beans and chips into the dough.
3. Chill dough a minimum of 6 hours, preferably over night. This is key – allowing the dough to rest will yield a lasting, chewy texture. After chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a greased baking sheet, scoop dough into balls. For large cookies (approximately the size of a large lime) bake 11-13 minutes. For smaller cookies (approximately 3/4 the size of a golf ball) bake 8-10 minutes. The edges won’t appear brown and the center will appear gooey and underdone – don’t fear. Let them sit (and continue baking) on the warm sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
Banana Crumb Muffins
February 13, 2010 § 2 Comments
I’ve been experimenting with a new muffin recipe. While I promise not to walk you through each of my blunders, Cooks’ Illustrated-style, I thought I’d take a moment to share two distinct changes I made from the original recipe, and why I veered off course.
If you take a peek at the ingredient list below, you’ll see a 1/3 of a cup of vegetable oil. The original banana crumb recipe – inspired by Marcia, a Tucson Bunco Babe – called for 1/3 cup melted butter. While that recipe yields delicious, flavorful results, I found that when I swapped oil for butter, the muffin was so moist it seemed to melt in my mouth. What’s more, when I used oil, the shelf life of the leftovers was longer and maintained the texture, while my buttery muffins grew stale and chewier in the same amount of time.
The second distinct change I made was the inclusion of brown sugar in the batter. I recently learned from the latest Cooks’ Illustrated magazine that brown sugar – like corn syrup – is hygroscopic (meaning both corn syrup and brown sugar attract and retain water). That’s why cookie dough that contains high levels of either of these two ingredients yields moister, chewier cookies. The original muffin batter calls for 3/4 cup of sugar. I swapped out a third of the sugar and replaced it with brown sugar. The results were wonderful: the muffins were moist with a subtle, warmer flavor that I attributed to the more molasses-y taste of brown sugar.
For the record: I love dense muffins (especially berry-bran!). But this time, I wanted to create a light, airy muffin that you might eat with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea. I was aiming for coffee cake, not pound cake.
Muffin Ingredients:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 bananas, mashed (approx. 1.5 cups)
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/4 cup lightly-packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup lightly-packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin tins. In a medium-sized bowl combine flour, soda, powder, salt and spices. Combine with a fork.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly beat egg. Add banana, sugars, oil and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Slowly add flour mixture to liquid, gently stirring. Stir just until incorporated; don’t over-beat. (If the batter is over-stirred, gluten will form, yielding a denser muffin.)
3. Prepare crumb mixture: combine flour, cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Break in butter until the dough resembles coarse peas. Set aside.
4. Ladle muffin batter into greased tins. Fill 3/4 of the way to the top. Sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 15-18 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let sit in muffin tins for about 5 minutes before removing. Serve warm or at room temperature. These muffins also freeze and thaw wonderfully.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
Pumpkin Apple Crumb Cake
December 22, 2009 § 2 Comments
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: in my book, dessert for breakfast is ideal, not a no-no. This cake is perfectly suited for the wee hours and it makes a lip-smacking after-dinner treat, too. Inspired by Everybody Likes Sandwiches and Gourmet magazine, this sweet is bookmarked into my breakfast recipe bank with zeal!
Ingredients:
For the apples
2 cups crisp apples, chopped (peeled & cored, approximately 3 medium-sized apples)
2 tablespoons evaporated cane sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the cake
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup plain yogurt, whole-milk preferred
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons evaporated cane sugar
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Apple Prep:
In a brimmed skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter on stove over medium-high heat. Add chopped apples and saute until they start to caramelize and turn a golden-brown color (approximately 4-6 minutes). Add cinnamon and sugar. Saute another minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cake Prep:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9″ cake pan.
2. Mix flour, brown sugar and salt. Break-in butter until the mixture becomes crumbly (about the size of pebbles). Set aside 2/3 cup for crumb topping at the end.
3. Beat pumpkin, yogurt, spices, baking soda and evaporated cane sugar until smooth. Add room-temperature eggs.
4. Fold in apples (and all the butter-sugar juice from the pan) into the batter.
5. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top. Bake approximately 1 hour or until golden-brown around edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for at least a half hour. Using a dull knife, run around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Serve warm with homemade whipped cream or enjoy at room temperature. This cake freezes and thaws well, too.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
Uber Healthy, Moist and Savory Pumpkin Bread
November 22, 2009 § 5 Comments
Last week my grandma was perusing the “Food” section of our local newspaper and found a bread recipe chock full of flax seed meal and pumpkin puree for fall flavor and moisture. While the recipe doesn’t explictly say this, I noticed an oil/fat substitution involving a couple of bananas—there is virtually no fat in the entire recipe, save a couple of eggs.
There was a time about three years ago when I was very enthusiastic about fat substitutions. My cookies had no oil, just apple sauce; my blondies had no butter, just bananas. Suffice it to say, I ate a lot of cardboard desserts. It didn’t take long for me to embrace the fatty stuff.
So, it was with a bit of skepticism that I glanced over this “healthy” recipe. My grandma encouraged me to try it anyway, so I swallowed my pride and bought a new bag of flax meal.
This recipe made two loaves, both of which were devoured in 3 days by my entire family (I single-handedly demolished one of them). Even after three days, the bread retained its moisture, chewy texture and warm taste of fall spices. I made a couple of tweaks to the original recipe (my version below), but I didn’t alter the shockingly high amount of flax seed meal (3/4 of a cup). I imagine, though, if you don’t have that much on hand in your fridge, you could substitute oat bran for some of the flax seed meal. That’s my hunch.
I loved eating a thick slice of this loaf, slightly toasted, smeared with a generous dollop of raw, toasted almond butter. And for the record: if you shy away from banana breads, the fall spices/pumpkin supersede the banana-taste.
Ingredients:
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup ground flax meal
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Methods:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 22 x 11 x 6cm loaf pans.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk liquids.
3. In a separate bowl, stir dry ingredients. Add liquids to dry, stirring lightly, just until incorporated.
4. Bake 60-70 minutes, until top of each loaf is golden-brown and a knife/toothpick comes out clean. The bread will give away from the sides.
5. Remove from oven and let cool for a few hours until cool or barely warm. The breads will slide right out of each pan. Cool completely before sealing in an airtight bag or container. These breads also freeze well; wrap in plastic wrap and seal in an airtight bag to freeze. On occasion, I’ve found that plastic-wrap can lock in moisture and leave gooey spots on breads when left thawing; I recommend letting it thaw without any plastic around it.
Diet Notes: Nut-free
