Thursday, July 17, 2008

Multi-Grain Banana Bread


I am always on a lookout for healthier alternatives to everyday treats. So when I saw Manasi's announcement for Healthy Cooking - A Cookbook Giveaway Event, I decided to go right ahead and try a new recipe that I put together last week, while considering a healthier approach to Banana Bread. Now, Banana Bread is a great favourite in my home and we adore it warm with hazelnut-cinnamon coffee!! But as we all know, Banana Bread is addictive and can become an adorably sinful if delicious treat.

I had, in fact, been toying with the idea of turning my favourite recipe for this yum cake around for a while and I have to thank the Healthy Cooking challenge for giving me the push that I needed to venture forth!!!! So, this is how I went about it: Firstly, I decided to substitute all-purpose flour with whole wheat, and a combination of grains including cornmeal and triticale. Next I dropped the white sugar and replaced it with soft brown sugar and some molasses. And finally, I replaced the butter in the recipe with canola oil. The result was a highly textured, dense, and moist banana bread with a rich malty-banana flavour. Absolutely and utterly delicious.


While this is also know in our home as the disappearing cake, I find that this cake stay best when stored in a refrigerator in an airtight storage box. Cut only as much as you are serving and enjoy it with your favourite beverage or with a lite soft cream cheese spread. Yummmm, and without further ado here's my recipe for Annarasa's Multi-Grain Banana Bread.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup mixed grains (cornmeal, soy, rye, triticale, rolled oats, wheatgerm, flax meal)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Canola Oil
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups mashed very ripe bananas

Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 325F. As I like to make smaller loafs, I used 2 samll loaf pans. But a larger pan will work just as well. Grease the pans well.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the flour and the grains. Blend in the salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, eggs, vanilla extract, molasses, and sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Now add the flour-grain mixture, and the mashed bananas, and mix well using a spatula.
  5. Pour the prepared batter into the loaf pans. Bake for around an hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pans for around ten minutes.
  6. Turn out and allow the loafs to cool on the wire rack.
Enjoy :)

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3 comments:

  1. oh, that looks lovely AJ! rich, delicious and healthy, thanks for sending it my way!:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a great recipe! I didn't have molasses, so I substiuted honey. I also added in 1C of chopped walnuts. I used a 4.5 x 8.5inch glass pan. It's moist but not heavy. So good to have a healthy delicious recipe like this.

    p.s. - The amt. of baking soda isn't listed in the ingredients so I just estimated it. Also, it doesn't say to beat the eggs with the other wet ingredients and sugar.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Actually, the amount of baking soda is listed, but not the baking powder. I added 1/4 tsp. I am not sure how it will do. I looked up several recipes for banana bread and they called for baking soda but not powder.

    ReplyDelete

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