Hey there!
It’s lock down mode all over Dubai and with the entire family at home, I’ve been on my toes trying to keep up with the kids appetite. And it’s not just the kids, it looks like we adults too keep heading to the kitchen in search of something snacky. I find kids automatically look for something sweet and this got me thinking! I decided to bake banana bread, something I love to bake when I see over ripe banana's at home. Plus it’s a popular fruit with kids and comes loaded with health benefits like antioxidants, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C and is also a good dietary source of potassium and magnesium - two nutrients that are essential for heart health.
The average banana has around 105 calories and consists mostly of water and carbs. Bananas hold very little protein and almost no fat. Being fairly rich in fiber and resistant starch, banana feeds your friendly gut bacteria and safeguards against colon cancer. My recipe uses store bought glutenfree flour, but you can substitute with wholemeal flour or even regular flour if you aren’t allergic to gluten. This works are a great breakfast idea or a kids school snack idea too. Do give my recipe a try and don’t forget to tag me in social media with #saffronbowl
Ingredients
2 large over-ripe bananas (these are usually extra sweet)
1 regular ripe banana
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp GF baking soda
½ tsp GF baking powder
1 pinch Himalayan salt
3/4 cup raw brown sugar ( or 1/2 cup regular sugar)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ to ¼ cup milk (optional, only if you’re using GF flour)
Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter a 4x9 inch loaf pan, I used a silicon loaf pan for easy removal of the final product.
Melt the butter and place in a large mixing bowl, now add the sugar to this and mix well. Mash up the 2 ripe bananas into this bowl, add the vanilla essence and mix it up till smooth.
In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients- gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda and Himalayan salt. Now add the egg and the milk to the wet mix, the milk is to ensure a moist loaf, so you can use either ¼ cup, ½ cup or more if needed. Now bit by bit, add the dry mix to the wet mix until you get a dense thick batter, the consistency will be thicker than a regular cake batter. Pour the batter into the loaf pan, slit the 3rd banana lengthwise and place this on top of the ready batter. Bake this for 40/50 minutes at 180°C or until a tester inserted comes out clean and dry.
Remove from oven and let cool on the counter for a few minutes. Then slide out the banana bread from the loaf pan, slice and serve warm.
Tip- You can add chopped walnuts or semi-sweet chocolate chips to this recipe for a lovely contrast of texture. This is recipe is naturally sweetened with the banana, so this is not going to be as sweet as cake, but if you wish, you can add some honey or agave for extra sweetness. If you don't have a loaf pan, you can even make this in muffin liners, just reduce the baking time to 20 mins.