Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Cinnamon Yogurt Spread

Here is my first loaf of homemade and oven fresh banana bread.... !!!!!!

Baking is always fun and learning exercise for me. I have been baking cakes for a while. But the thought of baking my own bread came to my mind when I ate a very nice home baked bread at the International Multi Cultural Feast over at my son's school, hence was tempted to bake my own loaf. I found out that more than a dozen wonderful recipes were floating around the web. I literally got confused about which recipe to pick, as every recipe was a virtual delight on the net. Ultimately I chose this recipe by Breadtopia and later on added couple of more ingredients like oats, protinex and honey to make it more healthy for my little one. There are number of options to top up the banana bread - walnuts, almonds, oats, sesame seeds or brown and white chocolate chips. My son always asks for chocolate chips, so I added a handful on top of the loaf, to get subtle crunchy effect.

I love baking with fruits and veggies, as it lends organic flavor and color to the dish, sans food colors and essence. Banana is perhaps, the most common fruit in the whole world. I simply adore this naturally sweet fruit with yellow jacket. I always knew that bananas are good for health and kids, but this research revealed me more amazing findings. Bananas are considered very good for heart, kidneys, nerves and bones. It is loaded with potassium, vitamin B6, A and C. Its a wonderful source of boosting energy in the kids and at top of it makes hemoglobin in the body. The goodness can be savored in forms of smoothies, ice creams, chips, fritters, curry or in baked dishes. The rich green banana leaf is traditionally used in Southern India to serve the dishes, especially dosas or crepes. So its good to go Bananas...!

This weekend when I got the bunch of ripe bananas from the grocery store, I was determined to bake it following week. The bananas were lucky and destined to be baked early as my lot got crushed in the trolley, while coming back from the grocery store. Got my baking gloves on and to bake my first loaf of Banana Bread.

Ingredients :

• Ripe Bananas : 2
• Whole Wheat Flour: 1 cup
• Oats : 1/2 cup
• Pediasure: 2 tsp (or add coccoa powder) - Optional
• Honey: 1/4 cup (or 1/2 cup brown sugar)
• Salt: a pinch
• Cinnamon: 1/4 tsp
• Milk: 1/4 cup (add more if required)
• Yogurt: 2 tsp
• Eggs: 2
• Butter: 1/4 cup
• Bicarbonate of soda: 1 tsp
• Baking Powder : 1 tsp
• Vanilla extract: 1/2 tsp
• Nuts/Chocolate chips: for sprinkling, Optional

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C.

Keep the loaf pan or muffin moulds ready, what ever you like.

Line the bottom of pan with parchment paper or lightly oil and dust with flour.

Follow the simple rules of baking.

First mix dry ingredients, then liquid ingredients and fold in the dry mix.

If blending the ingredients by spatula, do it in one direction, to allow ample air circulation.

This ensures that the cake/bread is soft and spongy.

I prefer to sift the flour twice/ thrice, then add oats, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda/baking powder and chopped nuts.

Peel and puree the bananas by hand blender or in a mixer.

Gradually add milk, yogurt, butter and honey.

Gently fold the dry mix in the wet ingredients until just combined.

If the mix is too dry, add some warm milk to get thick yet flowing consistency of the batter.

Now Pour the mix in the greased loaf pan, up to three fourth level.

Sprinkle some choco chips or any nuts you like.

Bake it for 40-50 minutes, until the skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

If the bread isn't done, put it back in the oven and check it every five minutes, until done.

Here it is, my loaf comes out of the oven.

First shots of this baby !!!Couldn't resist clicking a few more...Oh my Gosh...I'm so excited, my bread is done !

Since this was my first attempt, I was tempted to give it a warm welcome on my dinning table by tying a ribbon around it...

It's got lovely golden crust and my kitchen is filled up with the fresh aromatic flavors.

Enjoy the home made oven fresh bread with the rich cinnamon yogurt spread over butter or cheese spread.....!!!!!!!

For Cinnamon Yogurt Spread:

Yogurt: 1/2 cup

Cinnamon: 1/4 tsp

Almonds: 7-8, thinly sliced

Honey: 1 tsp (or add sugar to taste)

Whip the yogurt well to get creamy consistency.

Add honey and cinnamon to taste and garnish with thinly sliced almonds.

A rich and healthy yogurt spread is ready in just few minutes to be enjoyed with warm bread !

On a separate note, my official url from this week would be http://www.mycreativeflavors.com.

Incase you use Blogger url to access my site, you'd still be redirected to the new domain without any problem. Let me know if you have any hassle navigating etc...

Hope you enjoyed the post, let me now how you like it !!!

Sharing this post with the hub for The Hearth and Soul Hop; Lets break Bread Together