Eggless Baking : What's for Breakfast ? Milk & Cookies....

Note to myself : I should write a blog post today.

With kids at home b'coz of snow day here in north east, I didn't expected myself to write this post. But after a relaxing day of not cooking much & simply watching kids play in the snow, now when kids are tucked into their beds I'm here. First thing first "Happy 2014 to everyone out there".

As a first post of new year I'm gonna share something sweet today. It's not any traditional Indian sweet but I'm talking about cookies. To be exact healthy cookies. YES, they are so healthy that I don't mind calling them Breakfast cookies, you see all that stuff peeking from the cookies that's good for u stuff. They have all the goodness of oats, almonds, flaxseeds, whole wheat and as most of my baking in this blog these are eggless too. Before we move to the recipe, please read the Notes.

Notes :
1) To reduce the quantity of butter I'm using homemade applesauce, one can use equal quantity of mashed banana also or if U like simply use butter only instead of fruit sauce.

2) If you are grinding your own flaxseeds, go slow I prefer pulse mode. Over grinding can get all the oils out from flaxseeds, to avoid that u can also add 1 tsp. of sugar(from the recipe) to the seeds while grinding them.

3) If U decide to use plain white sugar instead of Agave, which is liquid sugar in that case reduce the amount of flour by 1 Tbsp.

4) These are drop cookies but they won't spread like regular oatmeal & choc. chip cookies. So, for that reason after dropping the dough onto the cookie sheet I use my fingers or back of fork to gently press them down a little bit. It'll be sticky but make sure u keep cleaning the back of fork.

5) Following recipe gave me around 30-32 cookies of 2" diameter. Which I think is perfect size when u have my kind of habbit.....to test every single batch/tray coming out of the oven. which means by the time I'm done baking cookies I have already eaten 3-4 cookies not to mention what happen while they are cooling :)

6) This one is more of a tip. You can reuse the parchment sheets.

What I used :

1. 1/2 cup Quick cooking Oats
2. 1/4 cup White Whole Wheat flour(atta can be used here)
3. 1/4 cup Almond meal/powder
4. 1/4 cup Flaxmeal/ Powdered flax seeds *(see notes)
5. 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Unbleached all purpose flour
6. 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
7. 1/4 tsp. Salt
8. 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
9. 4 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
10. 2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Apple Sauce (can use butter instead)
11. 6 Tbsp. Dark Brown Sugar
12. 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar (can be replaced by regular white sugar u might have to reduce flour by 1Tbsp. in that case)
13. 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
14. 1 Tbsp. Flax meal + 3 Tbsp. Warm Water mixed together (acts as egg substitute for 1 egg, also called flaxegg).
15. 1/2 cup Mini Choco. chips

What I did :

1)Turn the oven to 350 degree. Mix all the dry ingredients from no. 1 to 8. Mix them nicely using a whisk, keep it aside.
 

2) Beat : Butter + Applesauce + Dark Brown Sugar + Agave Nectar using a handheld or stand mixer for 3-4 minutes on med. speed, till it start looking smooth & fluffy.
 

3) Add flaxegg (flax meal mixed with water) and vanilla to the butter mix. Mix evenly.
 

4) Turn the mixer to slow, and slowly add dry mix to the wet mixture till all the flour is mixed evenly. DO NOT OVER MIX.
 

5) Gently fold the Choc. Chips into the batter. Reserve couple of Tbsp. of Choco. chips if U like to have them on top of your cookies(clearly visible).

 

6) Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a spoon drop around walnut size dough balls on

to the parchment lined cookies sheet keeping them around 2" apart.

7) Using a fork press these dough balls(*see Notes) to give them little flat look(see the above picture) & top them with 3-4 chocolate chips.

8) Bake them for around 13-15 minutes. I'll suggest checking them at 12 min. and after that keep an eye. Mine took little extra time they were done in 16 minutes.

 

9) Let them sit on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes & then transfer to cooling rack.

10) Once completely cool, store them in airtight container.

Now, these are the cookies you don't mind giving to your kids when they ask for more. My Lil'one enjoyed these so much that first day she didn't let anyone else eat these...she kept saying "they are all mine, if anyone eats them they will be finished". These cookies also got approval of one good friend & her family too. She could not believe me when I told her about how less butter I have used.

Now pour yourself some milk & enjoy milk & cookies as morning breakfast or late night snack.

Update on Jan/29/2014 : These cookies can be stored at room temp. in airtight container for upto 3 weeks, though I doubt they'll have any chance of staying that long, given that u know where to reach to grab one. Also, would like to add that these got approval from India also. I send some to my parents & in-laws & they loved it. So, I guess I can add that...these cookies are travel safe too :) .

Heart Healthy, Valentine's Day Pancake : with Whole Grains, Almond & Eggless too

You read it right Valentine's Day Pancake. Valentine's Day is all about your loved ones. And on a food blog what can be better than heart healthy food to show your loved ones that U not only love them but care for their heart too. Back in DEC. 2009 I posted egg less pancake in this blog & that is fourth most popular post on this blog. That time I use to use store bought Pancake Mix & fortify it with some healthy stuff  from my kitchen, but that was the last box of store bought pancake mix I bought. No, my kids didn't stopped eating pancakes it's just that I started making my own mix. I started with all purpose flour based & now from almost last one year we are having totally whole grain pancakes with few other good stuff thrown in and these are egg less too. And no more non-stick pans too.

What I used :
For Pancakes :

• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour(I use regular atta, staple in Indian kitchen)
• 1/3 cup oatmeal/oat flour (grind regular oats using coffee grinder)
• 1/3 cup almond meal/flour (use coffee/spice grinder to turn almonds into flour)
• pinch of cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup / 6 oz. buttermilk *(see notes)
• 1/4 cup / 2 oz. water

optional *(see notes):

• 1 TBSP. ground flax seeds
• 1 TBSP. wheat germ

Toppings & Syrup :

• 7-8 strawberries
• 1/2 TBSP. of regular sugar
• 1 TBSP. of slivered almonds
• maple syrup or honey

Notes :

1. I do not always use buttermilk, most of the time I use home made curd/dahi/yogurt as that is always available in my fridge. I thin it out with some water to get the consistency of buttermilk.
2. If using flax meal & wheat germ, I always add them to the ready batter at the last moment only as I notice if I add them before the batter resting period, it makes the batter little starchy/gooey. I tried to use it as egg substitute here in this recipe but outcome wasn't welcomed by my kids.
3. To make these pancakes egg less I use combination of buttermilk & baking soda. Though I'm using flax meal also which is a good egg substitute but I'm not using it as egg replacer instead just to add some more nutrients.

what I did :

1. Wash, hull, dry & slice the strawberries. Put them in a bowl & sprinkle 1/2 tbsp. of sugar on them,U can use more if berries are more on tart side or if U like more sweet. Gently toss them. Keep aside. This simple step of macerating strawberries really bring out the flavours and add a special touch to otherwise routine breakfast of pancakes. U can also use other flavours like orange juice or balsamic vinegar to macerate the strawberries.
2. In a big bowl, mix cinnamon powder & all the three flours we r using for pancake. I like to use whisk here. Add liquids(buttermilk & water) to the flour mixture & whisk them together. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
3. When ready to cook heat a cast iron skillet on no more then medium heat.
4. Add baking soda & if using optional items( wheat germ & flax meal) add them. Gently mix adjust the consistency of the batter. In case if u r using flax meal & wheat germ chances are U will need little extra liquid.
5. Put few drops of oil on the skillet & pour a ladle full of batter, using the backside of ladle gently swirl it around in round shape.
6. Cook on med. heat. When turns little brown on the bottom side flip the side & let it cook on the other side around 40-50 sec. on each side. Do not press on the pancake with spatula while they r cooking on the other side.
7. To serve put some strawberries with their juice on top of the pancake, top it with maple syrup or honey and finally sprinkle some slivered almonds.

Please, do not spoil all your efforts for making it so healthy by using store bought pancake syrups, they are full of high fructose corn syrup. If U like the syrup make your own. Mix together 1 part honey with 2 part water & boil it, turn the heat to slow & let it reduce little bit. Serve it when it's cool. If planning to serve with Syrup make sure U make it before hand so that when U are ready to dig into your warm pancakes, syrup is also ready for U.

Note : these are not very fluffy kind but still very good and melt in the mouth kind pancakes and no need to mention totally Heart Healthy. As per my experience if I'm planning to make regular fluffy kind pancakes I usually replace half of whole wheat flour & oat meal with all purpose flour & also add a tiny pinch of baking soda in addition to the regular amount I'm using.

These pancakes are not only perfect for breakfast but occassionaly my kids love to have them for dinner too, with a cup of warm milk. To surprise your kids this valentine's day U  can also pack them for lunch, just use medium size heart shape cookie cutter to cut a big pancake into bite size hearts. Pack some honey in a small container & some macerated strawberries in another. Don't forget to pack a fork to eat them with.

And a special note to tell them how much U love them, not only today but always & O'course don't forget to mention the magic words for the day "Happy Valentine's Day".Hope U all have nice one.

Eggless Baking : Oatmeal Sandwich Bread.....Mini Loaves & Buns

Though the official name for this bread is Oatmeal Sandwich bread, it doesn't contain Oatmeal but plain rolled Oats. I adapted this recipe from King Arthur's Bread Flour bag with minor changes only so I didn't felt like changing it's name. But telling you the truth, at home it was called bread just plain bread because sometime it's better to not mention everything to 9 yr. olds. I made it yesterday for dinner & I'm posting about it today, so that means it was not only good but really good def. a keeper recipe specially if U are new to bread making, as this is one easy recipe and I wanted to save this recipe before I loose it with all the minor changes I made.  As I'm already trying hard to figure out one green spaghetti recipe my daughter asked me yesterday to make again, because it doesn't happen everyday that your kid ask U "can U make that green spaghetti again which was not very green, didn't look good kinda but I loved it".

Now, to prove my point about it's taste....so here's this thing, I made it left them on the counter top for resting, came back home after an hour or so....first thing I hear is "tumhare bread khatam ho gayi"(your bread is finished). He ate at least one third of the bread, with butter O'course, occasionally dipping it in the soup. DD sat for dinner, first bite & she goes I will take one of this tomorrow for my lunch with jelly & give me something along with it. And little one who is not very fond of crust on the bread as it is sometime hard for her baby teeth's(chewing on hard candy is all together different thing) voluntarily picked one bun & ate at least 75% of it and returned the rest of it to me which was actually the centre of bread, she ate crust from all sides. Yes crust was not to crusty only little chewy as it's suppose to be. Crust has always been one of my major concern because most of the time my breads have hard crust, though I love that but kids don't, so this one was perfect. I'm not sure if it was because of additions of Oats or just because bread flour is used or b'coz I used buttermilk instead of regular milk. Now to the recipe.....

What I used :

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 cup quick-1 minute Quaker Oats(recipe called for old fashioned)
• 3 tablespoons EVOO(recipe called for 2 TBLSP. butter)
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tablespoons honey (can use brown sugar also)
• 2 tsp. Rapid Rise Yeast( recipe called for 2 tsp. instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast)
• 1 & 1/4 cups lukewarm buttermilk (recipe called for milk)

Note : Actual recipe also have an optional ingredient 3/4 cup of raisins/currants.

What I did :

I simply followed the recipe and as per that Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl to form a shaggy dough(means it's still not smooth ). Knead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) until it's smooth. I used stand mixer here.

Once the dough is done I normally take the dough out of the mixing bowl & grease that same bowl & leave the dough covered in that same bowl for resting. Recipe ask for 1 hr. till it become quite puffy though it may not double in bulk. Mine was resting for 1 & 1/2 hr. & was almost doubled.

To Shape : Lightly grease the loaf pan/pans U are planning to use. Transfer the dough to lightly floured surface, slightly punch & shape it into desired size. This recipe is for one 9x5 size loaf so if U want to do that after U shape the log place it into 9x5 inch loaf pan. But I planned to do it differently.

I cut the dough into five equal parts 2 of them were rolled into small loaves, I used ceramic mini loaf pans, size from top of these pans is 5x3 & height is 2 inches.

Rest of the 3 parts were again divided into 2 each so 6 in total. These went into large size muffin tray(muffin capacity in these one is almost double the regular size muffins) . 3 shaped like small log 3 just rolled into ball.

Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes (I spent only 60 minutes here).

Bake the bread in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 35-40 minutes for regular 9x5 inch loaf. But in my case I baked 25-30 minutes, 25 minutes for muffin tray/buns & 30 minutes for mini loaves. Towards the last minute of baking I brushed them with the melted butter & baked for another minute or so.

Notes : As I'm always little unsure impatient when I'm baking bread so I did took out one bun out of the tray & without waiting I opened it up from the centre & it felt good. Mission accomplished.

Healthy Banana Bread loaded with all the good stuff....not only Whole Wheat but Eggless too

It's been little busy over here, summer vacation is over. Trying to set some routine after 2 & 1/2 months of  break. Mind is working hard again to find interesting options for school lunch & after school snack, on top of that this year in 3rd grade they have to take snack too. So here's this simple recipe which I feel is a very good option for any time of the day snack, we have been eating this as morning breakfast with a glass of milk or coffee. It's quite filling & healthy too. It's Banana Bread but not regular kind, I'm using not only whole wheat flour but oats also in this. I had no plans of making this bread but thanks to my little one she has found one new hobby, whenever she can grab a banana she likes to peel it, until now she usually would eat it too, but now-a-days she only peels them & she's done. Now what do I do with 3 peeled bananas in a day. So I twisted my regular banana bread recipe added few more things to it and here goes the recipe(please do check the variations at the end of the recipe, got whole wheat version too) :

What U need :
dry ingredients :

• 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour (I used maida)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour(I used atta-flour used for making Indian style flat bread)
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 /1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. dry ginger powder(optional)

wet ingredients :

• 3 med. size ripe bananas
• 3 Tbsp. veg. oil
• juice of 1 orange
• 4 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

good stuff :

• 2 Tbsp. dry roasted flax seeds
• 1/2 cup roasted, chopped almonds
• 10 dates chopped

What U do :

1. Take all the good stuff(nuts & dry fruit etc.) & sprinkle 1 Tbsp. of flour on them & mix them with the hand so they get good coating of flour. It  helps preventing them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients using a fork making sure no lumps are formed.
3. In a big bowl mash bananas using the back side of fork & add rest of the wet ingredients from the list.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ones. Gently mix them.
5. Add mixture of good stuff to the batter, fold it in.
6. Bake it in the greased loaf pan for 35-40 min.(till the tooth pick comes clean) at 350 degree F.

Note :

This bread was little crumbly but very flavorful, it reminded me of fruit cake & was quite soft even for next couple of days. I did made this for 3-4 times in this month but every time with little variations. Actually this recipe is very forgiving one can easily adjust the ingredients according to the availability or taste. All the variations had almost same amount of oats.

Variations :
First was with half all purpose flour & half whole wheat flour.

 Second was with totally whole wheat flour, came out really good without any compromise on taste.

Third was again totally whole wheat flour but I added 2 Tbsp. of Ragi(finger millet) flour & 1 Tbsp. of flax seed(alsi) meal(powder) also. Instead of almond & dates I only used around 1/2 cup of black raisins & I didn't had any oranges so I added 1-8 0z. carton of apple juice, reduced oil to 2 Tbsp. only(works fine) also reduced the sugar a little bit. Bananas used were also one & a half only. I baked them in mini bundt pan so baking time was reduced to 16 min. only at 350 degree F(recipe yielded 12 mini bundt cakes-I had filled each cavity to 3/4 level). I highly recommend this recipe if you are trying to bake with whole wheat flour as it was light & not at all heavy texture. And these were not at all crumbly. Here's the click...

And this wonderful healthy bread/mini bundt cakes  goes to Champa for her weekly bake-off.

Savory Semolina Muffins and No Bake Date & Nut Fudge

Today's post is all about trying recipes from the fellow bloggers. Almost a decade back when I started to have adventures in my kitchen, Bawarchi.com was the main or I should say only place where I would go searching for the Indian recipes. But many a times even I liked the recipes but because of lack of photos I never tried those. I always love reading cookbooks also with food photos. Fast forward o 2009, I discovered food blogs while looking for some recipes and instantly loved that how everything is given with photos. Result is my list of bookmark recipes, sometime I feel, to find a bookmarked recipe I need some sort of search program....I can't help bookmarking, because the details and pictures in the recipe make me go "try this one...try this one". So, to solve that problem I try to make the recipe same day I discover it(provided I have everything on hand plus time to make it). My first trial was Ragi Roti and in the past couple of weeks I tried 2 more recipes : No Sugar Nuts Fudge from Creative Saga and Savory Semolina Cake from Red Chillies, they have also adapted these recipes from other food blogs.

Now for the recipes I mainly followed the actual recipes but with some changes according to my taste & availability of ingredients.So for actual recipes please check the respective blogs as I'm going to mention only the changes I made.

1) No Bake Date & Nut Fudge actual recipe NoSugar Nuts Fudge(Creative Saga) :

Actual recipe doesn't ask to soak the dates but I did soaked them in 2 Tblsp. of warm milk as that made it easy to puree them. But that also add little extra moisture, so for that add either more oats or nuts. But I added sesame seeds & wheat germ which balanced it. Also, I kept only few pieces outside & rest in the fridge as I've used milk in it.

I made two versions, first version was for kids so I used almond meal instead of coarsely grind almonds & I didn't used any walnuts in this. Added 2 Tblsp. of Wheat germ + 1 Tblsp. of instant oats.

Second version : Coarsely grind almond & walnuts. I also added around 1 Tblsp. each brown & black toasted sesame seeds and 1 Tblsp. of wheat germ.

NOTE : a) If you are new to black sesame seeds, it's better to use them in combination with regular sesame seeds you use, as the flavor is really strong, but they have more calcium, for more details check here.

b) Wheat germ is a concentrated source of several essential nutrients & essential fatty acids. Which is naturally found in whole wheat flour. I use it in my baking & cooking whenever I'm using any other flour than whole wheat flour. I don't remember the actual source from where I read it but it said it should be used sparingly as it is concentrated form of nutrients and it also need to be stored in fridge as it can easily become rancid if not stored properly.

2) Savory Semolina Muffins actual recipe Savory Semolina Cake(Red Chillies)

Changes I made in this recipe were :

• chopped broccoli florets instead of peas
• no sugar I used only salt
• 2 Tblsp. of wheat germ
• baked them as muffin in regular muffin tin for 22 minutes at 375 degree F.

Loved the taste of Upma & the ease of baking it in the evening & having it for weekday breakfast next morning.

Thanks to Sowmya & Supriya for sharing these recipes. I feel this is the best way to celebrate my 50th post in this blog world by saying thanks to my blogger friends & enjoying some of their recipes.

Eggless Carrot Cupcake

My last post was applesauce which in my house means that next thing is going to be cupcakes or muffin......so this time it was eggless carrot cupcake or can we call those muffin ??? well what's in a name....a cupcake by any name will still be a cupcake......just a little frosting and kids are happy.

These were really moist & soft cupcakes because of two reasons: first the carrots of course & second buttermilk.....I've noticed when I substitute buttermilk for eggs, cakes are really moist, soft & light(not very dense).As I wrote in my previous post i eat my cupcakes when they are still hot right out of the oven.....this time I finished half of them(to be exact 6) in less then 1 day. And after that I decided now onwards, I will make half of them with whole wheat & half regular.....my DD eats the whole wheat ones, but not every time, may be every other time.....but wait a sec....I did used handful of oats & almonds plus they are carrot cupcakes, so do you think these count as healthy bites......

Ingredients :

• all purpose flour(maida) 1 cup + 2 tblsp.
• almond meal 2 tblsp.(grind almonds using coffee grinder,can do coarsely or fine as per your taste)
• handful of instant cooking oats
• pinch of salt
• baking soda 1 tsp.
• cinnamon 1/2 tsp.
• buttermilk 1/2 cup
• vegetable oil 2 tblsp.
• light brown sugar 6 tblsp.(carrots & applesauce will also provide some sweetness)
• unsweetened applesauce 1/2 cup
• vanilla 1/2 tsp.
• grated carrots 1&1/2 cup(with their juice)
• a handful of chopped nuts or chocolate chips(optional)

Method :

1) Sift the dry ingredients then mix almond meal, oats & sugar to it.

2) In another bowl mix buttermilk,veg. oil, applesauce, vanilla & carrots, that's all the wet ingredients.

3) Now mix dry mix to wet mix. Mix everything together gently(no need to mix it for longtime).

4) If using nuts/chocolate chips fold them into the batter.

5)Bake them in the greased or lined muffin pan for around 20-23 minutes in 350 degree F oven.This recipe should yield around 12 cupcakes.

I usually make muffins/cupcakes once a week, so most of the time i kind of eyeball many ingredients & I do substitute one for the other, depending on what I have on hand.....like if I don't have buttermilk I might use apple juice or carrot juice.But one good thing(there are many other too) about blogging is, that I've started to measure the ingredients for these kind of recipes and also now my recipes have one place, where whenever I want I can find them....hopefully no longer they will be hiding from me somewhere on the piece of paper in some cupboard or on the last page of my personnel notebook & now my phonebook will finally have only phone nos. in it & not "flax seed instead of egg in cupcakes" kind of notes written on it.

And now, here are my first Awards passed to me by SE of Denufood, thanks a lot dear. I feel like a little school girl again...Happy.....And I'm passing these awards to some of my favourite blogs....few blogs I'm reading from last few months then there are few to which I'm new but really like them....

To Soma of ecurry, Supriya of Redchillies, Yasmeen of HelathNut, Shilpa of Aayi's Recipes and also back to SE of Denufood.

Fruity Granola

I'm Glad I finally made this.I don't now why, but for some reasons I never made granola till yesterday.Though I always keep roasted almond/walnuts and dry fruits on the breakfast table but not everything combined as one thing, called granola. Yesterday, while baking pasta for the dinner I thought why not make granola also, oven is on, so why not use it for something extra at the same time.But I didn't had dried berries(we are not big fan of dried berries....fresh are always welcome) a common feature in granola, so instead, I decided to use all the dry fruits(love them) I had in my cooler box(yes...i mean fridge).Granola is a very versatile recipe you can easily accommodate any kind of nuts & dry fruits according to your taste.

Ingredients :

• 1/2 cup chopped nuts(almond/walnut/pecan)
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats(I had instant kind so I used those)
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup chopped dry fruits of your choice(I used dates, prunes, apricots, raisins,candid pineapple)
• 1/2 cup cereal of your choice (I used cheerios)

For Sugar syrup :

• 1 & 1/2 tblsp. of light brown sugar
• 2 tblsp. of honey
• 2 tblsp. of water
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Method :

1) Preheat the oven to 325 degree F. Either grease the baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.

2)In a large bowl mix together rolled oats, salt & cinnamon.

3)In another bowl mix the ingredients for sugar syrup.Microwave it for 10-12 seconds, it helps in mixing sugar & honey, stir it with fork or whisk.

4)Now pour the sugar syrup over the oat mix & gently mix everything using your hands(make sure syrup is not hot), so that oats get coating of the syrup.Spread it on the baking sheet.

5)Bake it for around 10 minutes then take it out, add chopped nuts and cheerios(if using) to it and mix them using spoon/fork(it'll be hot now).

6)Bake for another 15 minutes, take it out, add chopped dry fruits, mix everything together & let it cool.

7)Once it's cool you can store it in air tight container.Or may be just start eating it, like I did.

Everybody knows granola comes under the healthy food category,to make it more healthy you can also add wheat germ to it once it's baked. And I guess by now you must have figured out why I call it Fruity Granola and not simply Granola,I used more nuts & dry fruit then Oats, and to explain the benefits of all these dry fruits I believe I have to write another post soon.

Banana Oat and Wheat Muffins

As I mainly do egg less baking and to replace eggs I use different fruit sauces. But banana is one thing I use only for banana bread & not for muffins or cupcakes because the smell of it overpowers all the other flavours and then I have to admit it to my DD that it's not real cupcake(Secret : many times I bake apple bread batter in muffin tins dress it with whip cream top it with sprinkles and yeahhh.....cupcake is ready & DD is happy). This time I had two over ripe bananas and I decided that no matter what I've to bake banana muffins and back of mind I knew that I might be ending up eating these so I thought, why not make it little bit more healthy and I changed my basic recipe for muffins to adjust these changes.

Ingredients :

1. 2 ripe bananas
2. 3/4 cup whole wheat flour(I used regular chapatti flour)
3. 3/4 cup all purpose flour(Maida)
4. 1 cup instant cooking oats
5. 6 tablespoons of brown sugar(little less then 1/2 cup)
6. 2 tsp baking powder
7. 1 tsp baking soda
8. pinch of salt
9. 1 cup reduced fat/fat free milk(I used 1%)
10. 1/2 tsp vanilla
11. 1/4 C frozen blueberries mixed with 1 Tbsp flour(Optional)
12. Handful of semi sweet choc. chips(Optional)

Method :

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2) In a bowl, combine all the dry stuff : flours, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, soda & salt.Mix it with the fork.

3) In another large bowl, mash both the bananas using the back side of the fork then add milk and vanilla combine thoroughly.(Use whisk to bring everything together).

4) Add dry mixture into wet mixture until just combined. then add choc. chips to it & fold them into the mixture.If using blueberries, at this point fold them also into the mixture.

5)Place in muffin tins (greased or lined with paper cups). Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 mins. or until lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.

In the picture few muffins show some x'tra chocolate on the top that was to impress my DD. I topped few of them with some choc. shavings. As I said in the beg. smell of banana....when muffins were almost towards the end of baking she came running what's that smell...it's so good.....so both of us ate one each, right away, the moment it came out of the oven.I loved it, gonna make it more often. She didn't liked the blueberries in it but otherwise she enjoyed it.

Note : As I was using non-stick muffin pan, so I didn't lined them, neither did I grease them & muffins came out fine.
Vegan version : Simply use Soy milk instead of regular milk.
I'm sending these delicious Oat & Wheat Muffins to :
1) CFK-Wheat guest hosted by Sireesha of Kidz Delight, event authored by Sharmi .
2)Srilekha's EFM-Oat Series.
3)Madhuram's Wholegrain Eggless Baking Event - Oats .

Irish Soda Bread

"I'm always watching my weight. I don't eat sweets like cookies or chocolate. But bread is different. I can't even have one piece, because when I start, I don't stop." by : Daniela Pestova

Photography by "R" with her original idea

I choose Irish Soda Bread as my first bread to bake by myself for one particular reason : it's very easy to follow instant recipe with few ingredients(i had everything in my kitchen) & i feel it's kind of foolproof recipe for a first time bread baker(maker).Now, what exactly is Irish Soda Bread ?

It's a type of quick bread in which bread soda (otherwise known as sodium bicarbonate or baking soda) is used for leavening rather than the more common yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, bread soda, salt, and buttermilk. Other ingredients can be added such as raisins, egg or various forms of nuts. Soda bread dates back to approximately 1840, when bicarbonate of soda was introduced to Ireland. Soda bread eventually became a staple of the Irish diet.

Actual recipe is from Parents.com it says Irish Brown Bread over there, but i guess it's same as Irish Soda Bread because it uses Soda & buttermilk which are the key ingredient for this bread.Though i did made few changes after doing my web search and result was pretty good.

Ingredient :

1. 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour(Maida)
2. 1-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour(I used regular chappati flour)
3. 1/2 cup quick oats
4. 1/2 cup wheat germ
5. 1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder(not in actual recipe but i added it)
7. 3/4 teaspoon salt
8. 1-3/4 cups buttermilk
9. 2 tablespoons honey

Directions :

1. Heat oven to 400°F. In bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, quick oats, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

2. In small bowl, using fork or a whisk mix buttermilk with honey(Spray your measuring spoon with Non-stick spray, so that honey doesn't stick with the spoon). Add liquid ingredients to flour mixture; stir to combine.

3. Turn dough out onto floured surface & gently bring it together(no need to knead the dough) and shape into a circle( I greased my hands using 3-4 drops of Olive Oil while forming it into circle). With a sharp knife cut a X mark on top of the loaf around 1&1/2 inch deep.

4.Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes( You can use a Pizza stone if you have one, I used greased Cast Iron Skillet).

5. Reduce temperature to 375°F and bake 15 minutes more or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it. Let cool 20 minutes.

Ready to go in the Oven

And It's Ready.

Note : Mine was baked in exactly 30 minutes but timings may vary from oven to oven.

Review by my family : Here in this section I'm planning to keep a note regarding the review of my experiment under the following categories, which i feel will be helpful to anyone who wants to try this recipe & also, if after long time I myself want to repeat the recipe.

Look : We all loved it how it look. My daughter said it's pretty but doesn't look like bread b'coz she never saw a round bread before.Now time to cut it .

Crust & Inside : Had a great hardy crust(for DD it was too hard....did I told you guys that she takes crust of her sandwich bread too)but she liked the inside of it.Inside was kind of textured (crumbly but not falling apart)It's not airy like french baguette but it's hardy.Like to mention here that this bread was quite filling one, i guess b'coz of the whole wheat flour & oats I used in the recipe.

Serving Suggestions : DD eat it with her favorite strawberry jam.Adults liked it eating it plain or toasted slice with butter.I even ate it with lentil soup in the lunch, tasted delicious.

Storing : Kept two slices on the shelf for first two days. Second night moved it to fridge.Because of the milk used in the recipe I was not sure about storing it outside for longtime.

Rating : I had never tasted Irish Soda Bread before, so really can't compare. But i would say overall it tasted really good(everybody in the family liked it).Good choice for bread making beginners like me.Pretty Easy to make.

Don't forget to checkout my next experiment with Bread making/baking. And "Diwali Mubarak" to all of You.

I'm sending this delicious Irish Soda Bread to CFK-Wheat guest hosted by Sireesha of Kidz Delight, event authored by Sharmi .