Posts Tagged by banana

Easy Everyday Eggless Muffins

November 8, 2010 Posted by Lauren under Breakfast, Desserts, HOTR Eats
11 Comments

Good baking is all about precision. A good baker carefully measures out the right ingredients and mixes them in just so, causing an almost magical chemical reaction that results in something wonderfully delicious. Sometimes my Type A perfectionist self delights in this fact. I find joy in carefully following a recipe; meticulously scooping ingredients and mixing them together in just the right way to create a masterpiece.

But most of the time, I am not a good baker. I often get hit with a sudden urge to bake, yet a quick glance around my kitchen reveals that I don’t actually have all the ingredients. Not to be swayed, I find myself using my kitchen as my grounds for experimentation — throwing together whatever I can find, making substitutions where I shouldn’t and leaving out ingredients when I don’t have them, all in the hopes of creating something somewhat edible. As you can imagine for someone whose only “formal” training is a one-semester cooking class in high school, many times these experiments don’t turn out so well. But every once in awhile, I find something so delightfully simple that it just reinforces my crazy notion that someday I’ll be destined for baking greatness.

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These muffins are one of those examples. A simple list of ingredients that doesn’t include one egg, ounce of butter, or drop of oil. They’re moist and dense, which is just the sort of thing that I love. Now don’t get me wrong — I enjoy a good old buttery dessert from time to time. But these are my everyday muffins — muffins you can eat without guilt for breakfast, after lunch, or as a bedtime snack.

I’ve made two different versions that were inspired by this recipe (although I used that recipe as a starting point, I made a bunch of substitutions, so have listed out my own ingredients below). Both use the same basic ingredients and are ready in 30 – 35 minutes. Even though there aren’t any eggs, dairy, or butter in the muffins, they aren’t technically vegan because I used brown sugar. However, I’m pretty sure you could substitute in sucanat for the brown sugar and it would work just fine.

Banana {Chocolate Chip} Oatbran Muffins

Makes 6 muffins

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Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup oatbran
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 flax “egg” (1 TBS ground flax + 3 TBS water)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1 very ripe, mushy banana
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees & grease/line your muffin tin.

2.) Mix together the ground flax and water, set aside to thicken.

3.) In a separate small bowl, peel banana and mash up until it’s somewhat creamy.

4.) In a medium bowl, mix together flour, oatbran, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well-combined.

5.) If you’re a good baker, you could then get out a separate bowl to mix all your wet ingredients in the proper manner…or you could just add the banana, vanilla, and almond milk to the dry mix.

6.) By now, the flax + water mixture should have thickened to an egg-like consistency. Add to bowl and stir until well combined.

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7.) Let the mixture sit for a few minutes. This will make the muffins rise more when you cook them.

8.) Give the batter one final stir, then scoop into muffin tins, filling them most of the way to the top.

9.) Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown

10.) Let cool and enjoy!

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Apple Cinnamon Oatbran Muffins with Crunchy Granola Topping

(i.e. Apple Strudel Muffins – because that just sounds cooler)

Makes 6 muffins

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For these muffins, I substituted oat flour for the whole wheat. Because, well, I like oats in just about everything. And I figured oat flour would be no exception.

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Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup oat flour (I tried this as an experiment and loved it, but you could also use whole wheat)
  • 1/2 cup oatbran
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
  • 1 flax “egg” (1 TBS ground flax + 3 TBS water)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1 apple, grated

For the topping:

  • 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Coconut (optional)

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease muffin tin.

2.) Grate your apple, skin and all. This is super easy to do with a normal cheese grater, and when all is said and done, it’s actually faster than peeling, coring, and chopping. But if you really don’t feel like doing the work, I suppose you could use a food processor instead.

3.) Combine apple with cinnamon, set aside.

4.) Follow same directions as above, adding the apple cinnamon mixture and flax “egg” last.

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5.) Bake for about 10 minutes.

6.) Meanwhile, make the granola topping. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

7.) After 10 minutes, when muffins have started to rise but are still soft, remove from oven and press oat mixture on top.

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8.) Return to oven and cook for another 15 – 20 minutes.

9.) Let cool and enjoy!

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Who says you need eggs and oil to make a good muffin? These guys are oaty, delicious, and relatively healthy.

A Quick {Bread} Post

June 8, 2010 Posted by Lauren under Desserts, HOTR Eats
25 Comments

One of my absolute favorite things to bake is quick bread. I love the idea (and smell!) of freshly baked bread, and the recipes are always extremely easy. No yeast, fancy ingredients, or complicated steps required. In fact, you don’t even need an electronic mixer — just a couple of bowls and a good old fashioned spoon.

IMG_0513 I recently made two different types of quick breads that I wanted to share. The decision to make the first came when I unexpectedly uncovered a can of pumpkin in my pantry. Even though we’re officially out of pumpkin season, I was so excited by this find that I knew right away what I needed to do — bake bread.

However, a quick look in the fridge almost ruined those plans. I had no eggs, and as exciting as the challenge of baking a vegan version sounded, I’d never made quick bread without eggs before. Was it possible to make a delicious tasting treat without them — that even my carnivorous boyfriend would love?

Well my friends, I won’t leave you in suspense for very long. The answer (as I’m sure you can guess) is yes!! I found a recipe for vegan pumpkin bread on allrecipes.com that had gotten rave reviews. The original recipe calls for coconut milk, and claims that’s the secret ingredient to making it moist. I didn’t actually have that on hand, so I used almond milk instead. The bread still came out extremely moist and flavorful. Best of all – it easily passed the test. I didn’t tell EC it was vegan (in fact, I think I still haven’t told him), and he loved it…all the while never even suspecting a difference. You might call me a bad girlfriend…but I like to think that I’m a resourceful cook simply looking for an unbiased review. :)

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

(Adapted from Super Moist Pumpkin Bread on allrecipes.com)

IMG_0519 Ingredients

  • 3 TBS ground flax
  • 1/2 cup water

(Mix together until thick and set aside)

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or preferred combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, etc)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup oil (I ran out of canola so used 1/2 cup olive oil and it still came out great)
  • 2/3 cup almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 can pumpkin puree
  • 2/3 cup flaked coconut (plus a little extra if you’re like me and love coconut)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare (grease and flour) two 8×4 inch loaf pans.
  2. Combine the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices). Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, oil, almond milk, vanilla, and pumpkin until well combined. Then stir in the flax + water mixture.
  4. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet, stirring just until combined. Finally, add in the coconut. Batter will be thick. (At the last minute, I decided to add a glug of maple syrup to the batter, just to give it a little extra sweetness).
  5. Pour evenly into the two pans and bake for 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cooking times can vary depending on your oven.
  6. Allow to cool, slice, and enjoy!

Oh, and I also might have taken the other half of the batter and made it into chocolate pumpkin bread by adding 1/2 cup extra dark cocoa + 1 tbs oil + 4 tbs milk + maple syrup.

IMG_0520 Apparently we only have one bread pan in the apartment – so I improvised

As much as I love all things chocolate, I have to admit that I thought the regular pumpkin bread was better. I put a lot of cocoa in this bread, which hid the pumpkin flavor too much. However, this was absolutely delicious all crumbled up and mixed with Greek yogurt (+ cereal + PB)

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—

The second recipe is for one of my all time favorite types of bread – banana. It’s so simple to make, and delicious as a mid-day snack, or even as part of breakfast. I made this for my family the other day and it was gone in less than 24 hours.

The recipe comes from Elise at Simply Recipes. I loved how simple (yet delicious) it looked. I made a few changes, so to see the original recipe, click here.

Coconut Banana Bread

(Are you noticing a theme here? I may or may not add coconut to just about everything bake. I’m convinced it’s the magic ingredient that makes every dessert taste amazing.)

DSCN0265 Ingredients

  • 3 extremely ripe on-the-verge-of-going-bad bananas
  • 1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose four
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 rounded tbs ground flax seed
  • Pinch of salt
  • Generous sprinkle (more like a pour!) of cinnamon
  • As much flaked coconut as your heart desires

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare (grease and flour) one 8×4 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a large bowl, mash bananas and then mix in the butter until well combined.
  3. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla. Mix until combined, but batter will be lumpy
  4. Next add the baking soda, a pinch of salt, a generous layer of cinnamon and the ground flax. Mix together.
  5. Lastly, add both types of flour to the bowl and mix until combined.
  6. Back for 50 – 60 minutes, or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Mine was done closer to 50 minutes.
  7. Allow to cool, slice and enjoy!

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Do you like quick bread? What’s your favorite kind? Another summertime favorite of mine is zucchini.  So so delicious!

Banana Oatbran Pancakes (‘Banoatcakes’)

April 24, 2010 Posted by Lauren under Breakfast, HOTR Eats
12 Comments

What do you get when you combine banana oats and banana pancakes?

Banoatcakes, of course!

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I woke up this morning craving banana pancakes, and so created this “hearty” recipe that combines two of my favorite breakfasts.  The result, filling pancakes that have a lot of “chew.”  This mixture was not super sweet, allowing it to pair perfectly with the berry topping I made.

The recipe made 4 pancakes but could easily feed 2 people.  As much as I wanted to eat more, I could only get through 2 of these babies.

In the mix:
  • 1/2 cup oatbran
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 TBS ground flaxseed (I used Bob’s Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal)
  • 1  1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon (okay, so in reality I just sprinkled cinnamon on the batter until it looked like a “good amount”. But I’m guessing it was around 1 tsp)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp canola oil
  • 1 packet of stevia (I used PureVia brand)
  • Milk (I used plain soy)
  • 1 banana (preferably with a bite taken out of it)

IMG_0416 When I make pancakes, I usually go by the tried and true method taught to me by my Dad.  That is – whisk together the dry ingredients, then add the egg, oil and just a little milk.  Mix and slowly add more milk until you get to the desired consistency.  You could add more or less depending on how thick you want your pancakes.  I usually just dump and stir until I get a batter that’s still slightly thick, but easy to pour (very precise cooking, I know).

IMG_0418 Let batter rest for a few minutes, then re-stir and pour onto greased griddle that has been preheated to 350 degrees (or over stove on medium-high heat) and then place banana slices on top of each pancake. Cook a few minutes until bottom is golden brown; flip and repeat!

IMG_0420 For the topping, I used: frozen mixed berries (that had been defrosted in the microwave), a heaping spoonful of Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt, and a little dollop of maple syrup; all mixed up and heated in the microwave for ~30 seconds.

IMG_0423 Plus this little guy on the side with a spread of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter for a little variety (although I soon realized it tasted even better with BOTH toppings!).

IMG_0424 Finally, no breakfast would be complete with some iced coffee + cinnamon in my favorite oversized mug (thanks Brett!!).

IMG_0428 I make my iced coffee at home in a French Press (the best way to make coffee!!).  I just use 1/2 as much water with the same amount of grounds, so that it won’t taste watered down when I add the ice.

And now it’s time to wake up the lazy nugget and go for a walk on this beautiful day.  Happy Saturday!

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