HEALTHY BANANA BREAD (TOTALLY GUILT-FREE)

If your looking for an oil-free,sugar-free and scrumptious banana bread , don't look any further. Just preheat your oven, prepare your pan and bake away!

INGREDIENTS (Recipe Source : Foodloveeat)

2 cups Whole-wheat flour/Atta

2 cups mashed Banana (preferably overripe)

1/4 cup roughly chopped Dates

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Baking soda

A pinch of salt

2 Eggs (or 2 tbsp flax seed powder + 6 tbsp water)

Sesame seeds (enough to sprinkle on top)

METHOD

1.Grease and flour a loaf tin and pre-heat your oven at 150 degree C/300 degree F

2.Mash bananas with a fork, its okay if you've got tiny lumps here and there. They actually enhance the loaf's taste because you'll have tiny pieces of caramelized banana here and there to bite into.

3.Add eggs to the mashed banana and whisk well with a balloon whisk or a fork. (If your using flax seed powder,mix it with water and leave it aside for a while until it turns gooey. Then add it to the mashed banana.)

4.Mix whole-wheat flour with salt, baking soda and baking powder with a balloon whisk/fork. Add chopped up dates and mix well.

5.Add the mashed banana+ egg  (or flax seed) mixture to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. You may find the batter too dry and hard  to mix,but it's fine. Just be careful not to over do the mixing part.

6.Fill the greased loaf pan with the batter and sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the batter.

7.Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer/toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the loaf and   enjoy slices of your healthy ,scrumptious banana bread.

still warm,just out of the oven

VERDICT: Naturally sweet, right banana flavour, somewhere between dense and light because we used eggs instead of flax seeds - - - you'll probably get a denser loaf if you opt for flax seeds,but still yummy!

WHITE SANDWICH BREAD

INGREDIENTS

3 3/4 cup All purpose Flour
1 cup Warm Milk
1/3 cup Warm Water
1 envelope instant yeast(2 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp unsalted butter,melted

METHOD

1.Whisk together flour,salt and instant yeast in a large bowl. Mix warm milk, warm water, melted butter and honey in a separate bowl.

2. Add the wet ingredients ( milk+water+honey+butter) to the dry ingredients (flour+salt+instant yeast) and turn the dough onto a lightly floured board or surface. Knead the dough to form a smooth satiny dough. If the dough turns out too sticky to handle add a tablespoon of flour and knead once again. You may have to add more than one tbsp to get a smooth,satiny dough that doesn't stick to your palms while kneading.

3.Knead the dough for about 10minutes or until the dough springs back when lightly pressed with your finger.

4.Place the dough in a very lightly oiled large bowl, rubbing the dough around the bowl to coat lightly.  Cover the bowl with a dampened cloth/plastic wrap and place in a warm place for about an hour.

5. The dough must have doubled in size after an hour, transfer this dough to a lightly floured surface and gently press the dough into a rectangle 1 inch thick and no longer than 9 inches.

6.With the long side of the rectangle facing you, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself.  Turn the dough seam-side up and pinch it closed.

7.Place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9" loaf pan(I used a 11" one because I dont have a smaller loaf pan) and press it gently so it touches all four sides of the pan.  Cover with dampened cloth/plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot for around 20-30 minutes.

8.Bake at 180 degree C/350 degree F for around 40-50 min.( No preheating)
Cool loaf to room temperature, slice and enjoy the goodness of homemade bread.

Nutella on home-made bread, fresh out of the oven...now what could possibly be better?

NOTES

1. Inorder to get a crispier crust, place a baking pan on the lower rack of your oven and fill it with two cups of boiling water while baking (The loaf should be placed at the center rack only).

2. The quality of the dough largely depends on the yeast & kneading. Make sure the yeast is fresh and knead the dough well until you get a smooth,round ball. But do not overknead.

PUMPKIN DATES LOAF

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cup All purpose Flour
1cup Brown sugar*
1 ¼ cups Fresh Pumkin purée
1/3 cup Vegetable oil
2 Eggs
1/2 cup roughly chopped Dates(lightly floured)
1 tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Garam Masala(optional)
½ tsp Cinnamon powder
½ tsp Vanilla extract

Pumpkin Puree

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F. Grease and flour a 9" loaf pan (I used a 11" loaf pan).

2.Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl & set aside.

3.In another bowl, combine the sugar, the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.

4.Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisk just until combined. Fold in the roughly chopped and lightly floured dates. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold the dates into the batter.

5.Transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and pop it into your oven. Bake for about 1 hour, until the top of the loaf is brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Fresh out of the oven

NOTES

* The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of granulated sugar & 1/2 cup of brown sugar, I used 1 packed cup of brown sugar.

* All-purpose flour could be substituted for Whole Wheat Flour (Atta) for a healthier treat,  but won't taste as good as the AP flour one.

VERDICT: Tastes almost like a moist dates cake, the spices lend it a unique flavour.

WHOLE WHEAT MANGO BREAD

INGREDIENTS

Whole wheat flour-1 1/4 cup
All purpose flour-3/4 cup
Baking soda-1 tsp.
Salt-1/2 tsp.
Cinnamon powder-1/4 tsp.
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Coconut grated-1/4 cup
Cashew nuts-10-12
Raisins-8-10(optional)
Mango puree-1 cup(2-3 mangoes)
Egg-1 (beaten)
Coconut oil/melted butter-2 tblsp.
Yogurt-1/3 cup

METHOD

1.Preheat oven to 325 degree F/gas mark 3 and grease 9*5 inch loaf pan.Puree mangoes in a blender till smooth.

2.Combine/ whisk together ww flour, ap flour, baking soda, salt,sugar and cinnamon powder(dry ingredients) in a large bowl. Add cashewnuts, raisins and grated coconut and mix well.

3.In another bowl, whisk together mango puree, egg, yogurt and coconut oil(wetingredients).

4.Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until well combined.

5.Pour into loaf pan and bake @ 325 F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes clean.Cool for 10 minutes.

6.Remove from loaf pan and cool completely before slicing bread.

NOTES

1.Instead of cashew nuts, you can use walnuts, pecans or nuts of your choice.

2.Baking time varies from oven to oven. It took about an hour in our oven, always do tooth pick test.

WHOLE WHEAT GARLIC PULL-APART ROLLS

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour

3/4 cup All purpose Flour

1 tsp instant yeast

1 cup Warm Water

2 tsp Olive Oil

2 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

For the Garlic Spread:

4 Cloves of Garlic

2 tbsp butter(softened)

Salt to taste

METHOD:

1.Mix together both the flours,instant yeast,sugar,salt and oil. Add water to form a smooth and elastic dough. You may not need the entire 1 cup of water, so add it in parts.( In case you end up adding too much water and get a sticky dough,just add some all purpose flour and knead. If the dough is too dry, add more water.)

2.Knead the dough well for 10 minutes. You will know that the dough is ready when it springs back on pressing with your finger.

3. Oil a bowl with olive oil and coat the kneaded dough's surface as well with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and cover the bowl with a dampened cloth/towel. Place the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise for 30-45 min.(I left it for almost an hour)

4. While the dough's rising, prepare the garlic spread by crushing the garlic cloves well in a herb crusher or grinder( You could just chop it finely , but i felt that crushed garlic yields a better flavour). Add softened butter and salt to taste to the crushed garlic. Mix well. Grease a loaf tin and keep aside.

5. Once the dough has doubled in size/ risen well, punch it down in the bowl and knead for another 2-3min. Divide the dough into two equal parts.

6. Flour your workplace well and roll out one part of the dough into a rough rectangle(about half an inch thick). Apply half of the garlic spread on to it and roll it. Cut it into two equal parts. Further cut the two parts into halves to get a total of four spirals. Place the spirals carefully into the prepared loaf tin.

7.Repeat Step 6 with the other half of the dough and place spirals into the loaf tin. Allow the dough to rest and rise in the loaf tin for another 30-45 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F.

8.Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes or until the top portion turns golden and the bread sound hollow when tapped. Brush the top with softened butter as soon as you get it out of the oven to avoid a dry surface. Serve warm.

P.S. - SOURCE: Divya's Easy Cooking (Hop on to Divya's blog for step by step illustrations)

NOTES:

* You could add coriander leaves,chilli flakes, cheese etc to the garlic spread according to your taste.

* Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the rolls before popping them into the oven for a lovely sesame seed coated rolls.

* If you prefer separate rolls,instead of pull-apart bread rolls just place the spirals on a greased or lined baking tray. Place them half an inch apart giving space for it to proof.

* The quality of the bread depends mainly on two factors:

1.The quality and freshness of the yeast you use.

2.Kneading of the dough

*The rolls taste best when served warm.