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Caramel Waffle Cookie Banana Bread

ByNicole | On June 08,19 | 1 Comment

Caramel Waffle Cookie Banana Bread

Caramel Waffle Cookie Banana Bread – that really is a mouth full. Caramel waffle cookies or ‘Stroopwafels’, literally translated as syrup waffle, are thin crisp waffle cookies, with a gooey layer of soft caramel in between. These Dutch stroopwafels are quite popular worldwide and have found their way to supermarkets across the globe.

United Airlines

In 2015, United Airlines even started serving original Daelmans stroopwafels on their flights. The stroopwafels were so popular, that when United Airlines stopped serving them last year, passengers kept asking on social media to please have them back in their snack rotation. And United Airlines listened. Since January of this year, the stroopwafels are back. read more

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Banana bread with apple and oats

ByNicole | On September 25,18 | 2 Comments

Banana bread with apple and oats

Autumn seems to keep its schedule this year. As if on cue, right on the 21st of September, the warm weather is gone and it’s rainy and windy outside. Like flipping the switch. And I can’t help it, but I’m immediately in the mood for fall baking. So, I started the season with this delicious banana bread with apple and oats.

Banana

There is so much you can do with banana. I really don’t like eating (over)ripe bananas, but they are a perfect natural sweetener for cake. If any at all, you just need to add a little bit of sugar or other sweetener to your dough and much less fat. From classic banana bread to heavenly chocolate, everything goes. There are already more than 15 recipes using banana on the blog and I’m still bubbling with ideas for more.

Apple and oats

The weather will get better towards the end of the week, but the wind and rain made me long for comfort food. Apple pie is the ultimate comfort food. We still had a full bag of apples in the pantry and I needed to come up with recipes to make use of those. So, I made apple sauce, apple pear sauce and this utterly delicious banana bread with apple and oats. Perfect with a cup of tea and easy as a grab&go breakfast.

Healthy-ish

By using (over)ripe bananas you need much less sugar or other sweeteners. Compared to a regular cake, there is a lot less sugar in this bread. And by using whole wheat instead of white flour and throwing oats into the mix, you’re adding extra fibre. Which is not only healthier, it keeps you full longer. Though I don’t think that food should ever make you feel guilty, if it really does bother you, this banana bread definitely should invoke less guilt ;).

Ingredients

2- 3 sweet-tart apples

1 tbsp light brown sugar

2 bananas (peeled ca. 250 g)

2 eggs (L)

100 ml vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla-extract

50 g light brown sugar

150 g whole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

100 g oats

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C and line a cake tin with parchment paper.

Peel the apples and cut into small cubes.

Add 1 tablespoon sugar to the apples and mix.

Mash the bananas and mix with the eggs, oil and vanilla-extract.

Add sugar and mix well.

Now add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and mix until no lumps remain.

Fold in the apples and oats.

Pour the batter in the prepared cake tin and bake ca. 50-60 minutes in the middle of the oven.

This banana bread / apple cake is delicious in the afternoon with a nice cup of coffee or tea, but it’s also great for breakfast. As is or with good dollop of cookie or peanut butter.

Enjoy!

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Classic Banana Bread

ByNicole | On July 07,18 | 4 Comments

Classic banana bread

Alright, I know it’s been way too hot the past weeks to even think about turning on the oven. But if you don’t mind or it’s not as hot where you live, I got this wonderful recipe for you: classic banana bread.

Cookbook review

Just recently, I reviewed a new cookbook, called ‘Bananenboek’, the banana book. Unfortunately, it’s only on Dutch. As the title already says, it’s a cookbook all about the banana. Banana a s ingredient for sweet AND savory dishes. Quite interesting. So, for the review, I tried several recipes form the book, but I didn’t try any of the baking recipes. Why? I already have about 15 different banana recipes on my blog and there are still more to come. And then I suddenly realised that there is still one important recipe missing: one for good, old fashioned, plain banana bread.

Anything but plain

Although I wouldn’t want to call it plain, really. But next to all those funny combinations and unexpected ingredients, the most delicious recipe was missing. Of a simple, easy, and tasty banana bread. Banana bread as it is supposed to be. And even though the hot temps are not really inviting me to turn on the oven, this definitely is worth the extra sweat. And it might be a welcome distraction from all those recipes for the BBQ, drinks, ice cream and salads ;-).

Ingredients

3 small bananas (peeled about 250g)

2 eggs

200 g crème fraiche or sour cream

75 g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

100 ml vegetable oil

300 g flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a cake tin or line with a baking sheet.

Mash the bananas.

Beat the eggs with the sugar, crème fraiche, oil and vanilla until smooth. You can use a whisk for that.

In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda and baking powder.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and fold the two together. You could use a whisk or electric mixer, but down overmix.

Fold in the mashed banana.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for ca. 60 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Out comes this wonderfully fluffy banana bread. Now you should wait until it’s cooled down, but I have to admit that that is the most difficult part for me. I can’t muster the patience and usually cut off a piece when it’s still warm. It’s so good!

It’s tasty just as is, but I also love to slather it with peanut butter (especially if it’s the salted caramel type).

Enjoy!

Cakes, Bars & more, All Recipes, Bananabread & Co

Triple Chocolate Banana Bread

ByNicole | On March 23,18 | 4 Comments

Triple Chocolate Banana Bread – the ultimate banana bread for a chocoholic. Which means, this is the prefect banana bread for me. When you browse through my recipes, you will see I have a ‘slight’ favor for banana bread. I’ve tried numerous variations. One of my all time favourites has been the Banana Hazelnut Snack Cake, quite amazing taste due to the ground hazelnuts that I used instead of flour. The runner up, following very close, is my Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread. But this Triple Chocolate Banana Bread beats them all.

Triple Chocolate

So, what makes this a Triple Chocolate? Well, there a generous piece of good dark chocolate, cocoa powder for an even deeper chocolate flavour and on top of it all: dark chocolate chips throughout the bread. Addictive, is all I can say. Make this bread at your own risk. If you have some (over)ripe banana’s lying on your kitchen counter and you have no idea what to do with them? Make this utterly delicious and very easy to prepare banana bread.

Ingredients

2 medium (over)ripe bananas (the darker the skin, the sweeter, the better)

2 eggs

250 ml buttermilk (no buttermilk at hand? Add a bit of vinegar to regular milk (ca. 1 tbsp per 500 ml) and let sit for about 10 minutes)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp honey (depending on the ripeness, hence sweetness, of the bananas, you can add more honey if you like)

50 ml vegetable oil

100 g dark chocolate (min 70%)

250 g flour

25 g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

100 g chocolate chips (chopping up a piece of dark chocolate works fine as well)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C hot air) and grease a cake tin or line with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate.

Mash up the banana.

Mix the banana with the milk, eggs, oil, vanilla and honey.

Pour a little bit of the mixture into the melted chocolate and stir.

Add the chocolate to the mixture and mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.

Add the wet mixture and mix with a spatula.

Fold in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the cake tin.

Bake, in the middle of the oven, for ca. 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

The result: a soft and moist banana bread with a deep chocolate flavour and a hint of banana. Delicious.

Enjoy!

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Nut Bread Mini Loaf

ByNicole | On November 30,17 | 2 Comments

This nut bread was actually an experiment that turned out extremely well. As I was sorting through my baking ingredients, I found several open bags of nuts, all just scraps. Didn’t want to throw them out though. I could have just put them in a bowl and snack my way through it, but I figured that I could use them in a recipe.

Lonely ripe banana

There was also this lonely, overripe banana lying in the fridge. Yes, you read that right, in the fridge. I always keep banana’s in the fridge. Although there are tips on how to keep bananas from getting brown and turn from green to overripe overnight, like wrapping cling film around the crown, none ever works very well. It prolongs the suffering maybe for just one day. Keeping them in the fridge does not prevent them from getting brown, but it does slow down the ripening process significantly.

Brown skin, but tasty banana

Even though the banana will turn brown, inside it keeps fresh a lot longer. Obviously it does ripen, but it really takes a lot longer. Check out the pictures below. The skin is all turned brown. Yet upon opening it, you can see it has ripened, but hardly any mushy dark spots.

Perfect little nut bread

So I had all those nuts and an overripe banana. It doesn’t happen a lot, but I didn’t want to make a banana bread. Not the soft and sweet kind anyway. And then this thought hit me: I could try to make a nut bread. But the more bread type of bread. Okay, that does sound strange. But I’m sure you get the picture. I didn’t want a ‘cake’ type of bread. First thing to get on the right track: leaving out eggs. Then I simply started by mashing up the banana and adding stuff that popped in my mind. And there it was: the perfect little nut bread. Even though it’s made with banana, you don’t taste it at all. This will please banana bread haters, even my husband liked this bread.

Ingredients

100 g mixed nuts*

1 ripe banana (medium)

30 g corn flour

20 g oats**

1 tbsp hazelnut oil***

1 tsp (gf) baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

25 g sunflower seeds

1 tbsp chia seeds

Optional: 1 tbsp psyllium husk****

*I used pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds.

**Use certified gluten free if necessary.

***Any other oil works fine as well.

****Psyllium husk is optional, but it does give the bread a more bread like texture and keeps everything together.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 160°C and grease/line a mini loaf pan.

Put the nuts in a blender of food processor and just pulse a couple of times. You could also roughly chop the nuts with a knife.

Mash the banana.

Add all ingredients and knead it into a dough.

Put the dough into the loaf pan and bake ca. 40 minutes.

That’s all there is to it. I absolutely loved it! This nut bread is great with anything. Sweet spreads, jam, peanut butter, cheese, ham, sausage etc.

Enjoy!

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Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

ByNicole | On October 12,17 | 4 Comments

You all know by now that I love to bake with banana’s. So it can’t be a surprise that I have yet another wonderful recipe for you. And since I had posted a picture of my first marbled chocolate banana bread on Instagram a couple of months ago, I kept getting requests for the recipe. Well, finally, it’s here!

After a few extra test drives and some small adjustments, I’m quite satisfied with the end result: a chocolatey banana bread that’s not overly sweet, that’s super moist and extremely tasty. And on the healthy-ish side. Got nothing more to add, except… the recipe.

Ingredients

2 (over)ripe bananas

200 g Greek yogurt

2 eggs (large)

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp maple syrup

125 g whole wheat flour

100 g oat flour (ground oats)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp milk

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 160°C and grease and/or line a cake tin with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas.

Add the yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract and 3 tbsp maple syrup.

Mix well.

Then in a separate bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, oat flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry mixture into the wet and mix until just combined.

Pour about 2/3 of the mixture into the prepared cake tin.

Then add the cocoa powder, milk and 1 tbsp maple syrup to the remaining batter and mix well.

Pour into the cake tin.

Now using a spoon or a knife, swirl through the batter to create a marble pattern.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean (a few crumbs is fine).

Out comes a wonderful loaf of Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread. Doesn’t that look gorgeous?! Now let cool, slice and serve. Or eat straight from the oven, if you can’t wait, like me ;-).

Enjoy!

Also love bananas as much as I do? Why not try these Banana Carrot Spelt Muffins or this Banana Hazelnut Snack Cake?

Cakes, Bars & more, Dairy Free, Gluten-Free, Low Carb, All Recipes, Bananabread & Co

Banana Hazelnut Snack Cake

ByNicole | On September 07,17 | 4 Comments

Banana recipe #… I know, another banana recipe. And guess what, I still have a bunch of recipes I want to share with you. So stay tuned if you like banana bread and similar recipes. This recipe is really different from all the other recipes. Why? Because it’s made with ground hazelnuts.

Gluten & sugar free

As I’ve used ground hazelnuts instead of flour, it’s gluten free and fairly low-carb. Fairly low-carb as it doesn’t have any flour, but probably still too carby for those on a strict low-carb diet, due to the banana. But low-carb or not, this cake is definitely worth a try. It tastes amazing and is super light and fluffy (due to beaten egg whites added to the batter). And, I did not use any added sugar or sweetener. The bananas and the ground hazelnuts are sweet enough together.

Ingredients

2 medium (over)ripe bananas (ca. 180-200g peeled)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
60 ml hazelnut oil
200 g ground hazelnuts
2 tsp baking powder
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
Optional: 50 g dark chocolate chips

You can use other oils for the hazelnut oil. For the egg whites, I use TwoChicks egg whites. It’s so easy to have those at hand at all times and you don’t have to separate eggs and need to find other uses for the egg yolks.

If you can’t find ground hazelnuts at the store, simply make it yourself. Put in a high power blender or food processor and process until it becomes a flour. But be careful not to process too long, as once the oils are set free, it becomes a paste (hazelnut butter). Tasty, but not what you want right now.

Directions

Start by preheating your oven to 160°C and line a rimmed baking sheet or large baking dish with parchment paper.

Mash the bananas and mix them with the eggs, oil and vanilla extract.

Add the ground hazelnuts and baking powder and stir until well combined.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Then carefully fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top, if using. Then bake in the middle of the oven for ca. 30-35 minutes.

Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

It’s light and fluffy and utterly delicious.

Enjoy!

Love banana recipes? Why not try this Chai Spiced Banana Bread? Or these Oatmeal Banana Muesli Bars with Cranberries and Raisins?

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Chai Spiced Banana Bread

ByNicole | On July 13,17 | 6 Comments

Chai Spiced Banana Bread. I know that many will associate chai with hot drinks, like a Chai Latte. Chai. Comforting, warming spices. Not something you might expect in the middle of summer. But believe me, this is good. Those who follow me for a little while now, know that I use a lot of banana’s in baking. It started out as a necessity to use up overripe banana’s, but it has started to become a regular item in my baking and cooking adventures. Bread, cookies, bars, drinks, desserts, even waffles. Banana’s are quite versatile and due to their natural sweetness (the riper, the sweeter), you’ll need less sugar or sweetener in your recipe.

I am on a constant quest to come up with new recipes to use banana’s. And while I was happily sipping on a Chai Latte (yes, even during summer), I was contemplating what else I could use those delicious, fragrant spices for. Not sure where the thought came from, but I thought it might be good in a banana bread. So the next day, I set to work and baked this very tasty bread.

You might notice that I didn’t use any fat. Honestly? I forgot. Oops. But this oops actually turned out quite all right. Sometimes, oopses (that’s not a word, right) are just meant to happen. This banana bread suddenly got skinny. Even more so, as I just added 3 tablespoons of honey. If you do like your banana bread sweeter, you can add of course more honey. Added bonus: it’s super easy to make.

Just mash 2 large or 3 small banana’s in a bowl. The net weight should be around 220-240g. Then add 3 large eggs and 3 tablespoons of honey and mix well.

Then add 175g plain flour (whole wheat or spelt will be fine as well), 1 tablespoon baking powder and the spices:

1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground fennel seed
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp ground aniseed

Mix until just combined.

Line a cake/loaf pan with parchment paper and grease the sides (this will the only added fat).

Then bake at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes.

Such a perfect loaf. And so fragrant! You can eat it plain, with preserves or with just a little bit salted butter. Salted?! Yes, salted. Give it try.

You know what else is great on this banana bread? My Roasted Apricot Puree.

If you like plain banana bread better, you can try this recipe.

Now get baking 🙂

Enjoy!

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Banana Waffles

ByNicole | On April 13,17 | 0 Comment

A new way to use up overripe bananas: BANANA WAFFLES!

Yes, you read that right: banana WAFFLES. I have made a fair share of banana bread, bars and muffins in my life. I’ve used loads of (overripe) bananas in smoothies and ice cream (my freezer is filled to the rim with frozen banana). Or pancakes.

Natural sweetener

Not only do I love the taste, I also love the fact that bananas naturally sweeten your baked goods or other ‘concoctions’, which means no or less sugar has to be added. Always thinking of new ways to use up overripe bananas. But never did it cross my mind to make waffles out of bananas. No idea why not.

Converted

These waffles were a great success. Our oldest son doesn’t really like the taste of bananas. If there is no overpowering banana taste, he does like some breads and muffins. But my husband actually dislikes any kind of banana bread. And you know what? He absolutely loved the waffles. So thrilled to have finally ‘converted’ my husband 😉

These banana waffles are even on the healthier side, which is an added bonus. I have used whole wheat flour (I’m sure spelt would work fine as well) instead of plain all-purpose flour and I have added maple syrup as sweetener. And I’ve mixed in 4 beaten egg whites to make them extra light and fluffy. I love to use the pasteurised egg whites from TwoChicks. They come in a handy bottle and are great to have at hand all the time.

I hope you will like these banana waffles too. Enjoy!

Looking for other ways to use banana’s? You might want to try this healthy bananabread or these apple banana muffins.

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Banana Oatmeal Cookies

ByNicole | On March 21,17 | 0 Comment

Crunchy Banana Oatmeal Cookies!

Love banana oatmeal cookies? I do. I’ve made loads of banana oatmeal cookies, but more of the breakfast cookie type: thick, chewy cookies, that are rather soft. Not crunchy at all. That’s of course perfectly alright. I love those breakfast cookies to grab and run out of the house in the morning, when you don’t have time to sit down for breakfast. Or take them with me as a snack while traveling.

Well, it’s unavoidable to have no crunch if baking cookies with bananas. Right? Needless to say, I do like a challenge. And after a few trial and errors, I think I’ve managed to bake a banana oatmeal cookie that IS pretty crunchy. It’s not the cracker kind of crunchy, obviously. It is still a bit chewy, but also a little bit crunchy. And I am totally happy with the result. You don’t really taste the banana with every bite, it’s more a hint of banana throughout the cookie. Totally optional, but I added mini dark chocolate chips, which makes them taste rather like an oatmeal chocolate cookie. But you can leave them out. Other add-ins will work as well, like chopped nuts or dried fruits (raisins, cranberries…).

The key to make them more crunchy, is to make them flat. The thicker the cookie, the softer the inside will be. If that is what you want, that’s perfectly all right. Customize to your own liking.

I enjoyed my cookies with a dairy-free mocha. How do you enjoy your cookies?

PS: like to bake with banana’s? Try this delicious healthy banana bread!

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Breakfast, Cakes, Bars & more, All Recipes, Bananabread & Co

Apple Banana Muffins & the Crea-Cross Challenge

ByNicole | On March 02,17 | 2 Comments

It’s been a while since I last participated in the Crea-Cross Challenge. Every week, Ilse posts a prompt on her creative blog Kreanimo and everyone is invited to interpret that week’s prompt in their own way. If you want to learn more about the challenge, get awesome creative ideas and meet other creative souls, hop on over to Ilse’s blog! There you can read the rules and find all prompts for the rest of the year.

For a food blogger, this challenge can be quite, well… challenging. It can be really hard to imagine a dish or drink with some prompts, but I’m sure that every theme can be expressed in food, one way or the other. This week’s prompt is ‘The Road’.

‘The Road’ can be interpreted in so many ways. Reflecting on your life, the road you took to reach certain goals, travel stories, the long road ahead of you…

For me, this prompted immediately idea’s for food for ‘on the road’. Food that travels easy. Food that you can grab and go. As usual, I walked around the kitchen and pantry to see what I had available (or what I had to use up). And I found banana’s (of course) and apples. Grab and go? Muffins! Muffins are great for traveling and make a delicious and easy breakfast on the go. Perfect for on ‘the road’!

In this recipe, I used regular all purpose flour, but that can be swapped for whole wheat or spelt flour. You can also easily adapt the recipe by adding oats, nuts and/or dried fruits (raisins, cranberries…).

Enjoy!

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Breakfast, Gluten-Free, Low Carb, All Recipes, Bananabread & Co

Banana Pancakes

ByNicole | On February 25,17 | 5 Comments

Pancakes are always a hit. Whether I make them for breakfast, lunch or dinner (we looove pancakes for dinner, especially if I make a few with bacon as well), they always go down well. A kid’s favorite, but I think grown ups are just as happy as the kids when pancakes are being served. Our all time favorite probably are the buttermilk spelt pancakes. We make these a lot.

But sometimes, you need something different. Or you want to balance a bit by cutting down on carbs. Or you have friends over, who can’t have gluten. Then these banana pancakes come in handy. I had tried banana pancakes before and really liked them. But somehow, I hadn’t made them since that first try. Why not? Just hadn’t thought about them, really. Now lately, the internet is bursting with recipes for banana pancakes. And for me, the internet works very well as a reminder. Now I was being reminded that I had to make these pancakes again. And: this is just another delicious way to use up an (over)ripe banana. These pancakes are super simply, super tasty, grain and gluten free.

I did add a bit of coconut flour for texture. But otherwise, it’s just banana, eggs an a bit of baking powder. And they taste absolutely delicious!

I had one with berries and coconut blossom sugar syrup. And one with (homemade) Nutella. Just top them with anything you like. Pancake heaven

Enjoy!

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Breakfast, Cakes, Bars & more, Dairy Free, All Recipes, Bananabread & Co

Banana Carrot Spelt Muffins

ByNicole | On February 05,17 | 8 Comments

National and World Food Days

Do you keep track of all the national and world food days? I don’t. Well, I didn’t. I have now made a list of all the national and world food holidays and hopefully, I will remember to look at it in time. Most of them are celebrated mainly in the US, but are getting more known all over the world. Foodies are more and more taking these food days to promote their dishes and recipes. So how can I not do this and stay behind?

It is of course utter nonsense, if you ask me, really. I mean, Moldy Cheese Day (October 9th), Jump for Jelly Beans Day (July 31st), Chocolate Covered Insects Day (October 14th)??? Some of them are really weird. Or am I the only one with raised eye brows now? Others, I do understand completely (LOL): National Chocolate Cake Day, World Nutella Day (yeah!!), International No Diet Day (just once a year?), National Wine Day… bring it on!

National Carrot Cake Day

On February 3rd was National Carrot Cake Day. And I missed that. Of course. So just a bit on the late side (who’s counting days?), I decided to honor National Carrot Cake Day. But I also needed to use up a couple of overripe banana’s. Oh, decisions, decisions. Carrots or banana’s? Well, I’ll have to combine them then. And you know what? I’ll have a recipe ready for National Banana Bread Day as well! You might want to mark that day on your calendar, it’s on the 23rd of February ?.

And now…. (drum rolls please)…: Banana Carrot Spelt Muffins!

Using a somewhat more nutritious flour, no butter and an alternative sugar, some may even want to call these healthy. Not me, I just call them yummy ?.

Enjoy!

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Cakes, Bars & more, All Recipes, Bananabread & Co

Oatmeal Banana Muesli Bars with Cranberries and Raisins

These are prefect as an after school snack or breakfast on the go…

bananamueslibars_titleen

Every week, I buy banana’s. Now the only one in our household who actually eats banana’s (the banana and nothing but the banana) is our youngest son. I do like banana’s, but to eat them as is, they should be just ripe enough to eat. They should still be mostly green. If they are all yellow, I don’t like them anymore. And somehow, they seem to magically turn from green to yellow with loads of brown spots overnight. Ugh.

So now I keep my banana’s in the fridge, which seems to slow down the ripening process. The skin will still turn yellow and brown, but the flesh will keep firm and fresh a lot longer.

Yet, I still manage to have overripe banana’s. A lot. Every week. That might have something to do with the fact that our youngest son, who looooves banana’s, has developed the same preferences as me, when it comes to taste and texture of a banana.

I hear you think… why doesn’t she buy less banana’s? If we would actually eat all banana’s each week, I would not have overripe banana’s to bake. Make smoothies. Freeze them for ice cream. Obviously… ;-).

I’m always trying new recipes or variations. I love a good banana bread. Or muffins. Or bars, like my banana bars with white chocolate or these pumpkin banana blondies. I had muesli bars on my mind for days, but I also had those banana’s turning darker each day. Then it occurred to me that I could combine those. And this is the result: Oatmeal Banana Muesli Bars with Cranberries and Raisins. And they turned out absolutely delicious. I even think they may qualify as somewhat healthy snack, as I have used half regular all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. And, I used coconut blossom sugar instead of regular white or brown sugar.

I used a sheet pan for these bars, 20,5 x 38 cm (appr. 8.5 x 14.5″). You can use a different size pan, but you might need to adjust the baking time a little bit.

Start by preheating your oven to 170ºC (350F) and line the pan with parchment paper.

Mash 4 medium (overripe) banana’s together with 175 g (ca. 6 oz or 1 cup) coconut blossom sugar.

bananamueslibars1

Mix in 60 g (ca. 1/4 cup) melted butter and 1 tbsp vanilla extract.

bananamueslibars2

Then add 70 g (ca. 1/2 cup) all purpose flour, 75 g (ca. 1/2 cup) whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 100 g (ca. 3.5 oz) oats, 70 g (ca. 2.5 oz) dried cranberries and 50 g (ca. 1.7 oz) raisins and and mix until just combined.

bananamueslibars3 bananamueslibars4

Spread batter in the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

bananamueslibars5

Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

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Enjoy with a nice cup of coffee, tea or a tall glass of milk. Yummm….

Oatmeal Banana Muesli Bars

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Cakes, Bars & more, Dairy Free, Gluten-Free, All Recipes, Bananabread & Co

Easy Blender Banana Muffins

ByNicole | On April 06,16 | 0 Comment

Soft, tender banana muffins made in the blender. Tasty can’t get any easier!

Banana Bread

I make a lot of banana bread. I bake one almost every week. We don’t like to eat ripe banana’s, and even though I keep my banana’s in the fridge to prevent them getting ripe within two days, I still have loads of banana’s that are too ripe for our taste. So I make banana bread a lot. If I still have banana’s left, I cut them uo and freeze them to use in milk shakes, smoothies and instant ice cream.

I have a couple of go-to recipes for banana bread , like this Best Banana Bread by Chef In Training or my own recipe, the BEST healthy banana bread. Now, I was thinking about muffins. But I was pressured for time and I didn’t feel like using separate bowls and stuff. One bowl? Even better: blender!

Muffin Recipe

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350F and grease a 12-muffin pan or line it with cupcake liners (I love my silicone cupcake liners).

Put 2 ripe banana’s, 2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp milk of choice and 2 tbsp agave syrup into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix 125 g (4.4 oz) buckwheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 2 tbsp sweetener (or up the agave syrup in the first step with 3 tbsp).

Add dry mixture to wet mixture and blend until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tin, distribute evenly.

You can now add some toppings, but that is totally optional: nuts, seeds, dried fruits. I like to use a mix of sun flower seeds and dried apricot or almond slivers and dried cranberries. Anything you fancy.

Bake in the middle of the oven for ca. 20 min or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

These muffins are so soft and tender. Unlike any banana bread I usually make. This has become my new go-to recipe if I want to use up some of those ripe banana’s.

Enjoy!

NOTES:

Buck wheat can give a slightly bitter taste. If you don’t mind the raw eggs, just taste the batter before baking and adjust sweetness by adding sweetener or agave syrup.

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Healthier Banana Bread

ByNicole | On March 01,16 | 0 Comment

This truly is the BEST healthy banana bread out there! Gluten free, no oil/butter, no (refined) sugar!

Gosh, I have tried so many banana bread recipes, I can’t even count them. Some were too dry, most of them were too ‘banana’, too dense/moist/mushy, overly sweet, wouldn’t rise… There is one banana bread though, that is the BEST banana bread, if you don’t mind using sugar, regular flour etc, and it’s this banana bread by Nikki from Chef In Training. This is serious business, if it comes to banana breads. I will gladly make this one again. And again. And again.

But… There is a BUT here. I wanted a healthier version. I’ve tried many of those, too. And believe me, our trash can loved me for it. Sometimes, I even knew when putting the required ingredients together, that it would be a disaster. And then to think that I often start on a recipe after reading many positive comments. Then I wonder… have these people really made the recipe?? Okay, a recipe can be good and still go wrong, due to various reasons (different oven, different brands of ingredients, temperature of your kitchen, temperature of the ingredients, humidity, even altitude). But really… I don’t throw out anything that is at least a little bit edible. These didn’t even fit that lowest category.

So, I sat down, took pen and paper, and started writing down what I thought would be good together and the approximate amounts. I could adjust as I went along. And boy oh boy, this turned out to be the best, no, the VERY best, healthy banana bread, I have ever made. And it is actually quite easy, too.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment paper to avoid sticking (as no butter or oil will be added).

Take 2 medium banana’s (ca. 175 g/6.2 oz peeled) and mash them in a large bowl. Add two eggs, 125 g (4.4 oz) plain Greek yogurt and 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix 150 g (5.3 oz) oat flour (use certified GF if needed), 1 tsp baking soda and 25 g (0.9 oz) sweetener (I use an erythritol-based sweetener that is twice as sweet as sugar). If your banana’s aren’t overly ripe, you might want to add more sweetener.

Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix well.

If you don’t worry too much about raw eggs, you might want to taste the batter at this stage. If it’s not sweet enough, you can now still add any sweetener of your choice. All depends on the sweetness of the banana’s and how sweet you like it.

Beat 4 egg whites with 1/4 tsp salt until stiff peaks are formed. I used egg whites from TwoChicks, always comes in handy to have a bottle in the fridge.

Then gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Now you may add some optional add-ins: raisins, chocolate chips etc.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake ca. 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (a few crumbs is fine).

Let cool in pan for ca. 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack and let coo completely before slicing.

The first one I made was with a small handful of raisins.

I was quite astonished about the outcome. Fluffy, moist, extremely light. I was so chuffed! The minute the last slice was gone, I made a new loaf. Really!

Second time round, I didn’t use any add-ins. Just as good!!

Tastes great just plain, but who can resist a good slather of peanut or cashew butter?!

I can’t 😉

Enjoy!

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Banana Bars with White Chocolate Chunks

ByNicole | On January 20,16 | 0 Comment

This recipe for Banana Bars with White Chocolate Chunks is one of those recipes that exist by chance. Having to use up ingredients and craving something totally different, makes you get creative.

Banana & white chocolate

I needed to use up a few overripe banana’s but I was also craving blondies with white chocolate. It’s known that banana pairs well with chocolate, but did you know it’s also great with white chocolate? Well, it is. These banana bars are super moist and fluffy and are studded with chunks of white chocolate. Delicious!

Ingredients

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed (ca. 260 g)

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

25 g Tagatesse

25 g coconut blossom sugar

120 g buckwheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

60 ml walnut oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

60 g (sugar free) white chocolate chips/chunks

Instructions

Preheat oven to 170°C, line a baking dish and get all your ingredients ready.

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl (except chocolate chips) and set aside.

Then mix all wet ingredients an another bowl.

Add your dry ingredients to the wet and mix until incorporated.

Fold in chocolate chips. I actually used (sugar free) white chocolate and cut it up into larger chunks.

Pour batter into baking dish and bake ca. 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cool before slicing (if you can wait that long) and serve.

We ate these bars plain, but I’m sure they would be fantastic with a cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Banana Blondies

ByNicole | On December 29,15 | 0 Comment

How do you like to eat banana’s? I don’t like to eat ripe banana’s. I don’t like the texture and the sweet taste. They don’t even have to be ‘overripe’, if they start to get yellow, they are already too far gone for me. I like banana’s if they are still a bit greenish, firm and not sweet at all. I actually keep banana’s in the fridge. The skin does get brown spots, but inside they keep fresh for a longer period of time.

Yet, I still manage to have overripe banana’s. Throwing out is not really an option (unless they are really past being edible), I hate to waste food like that. So every other week or so, I use them in a recipe. Making loads of banana breads. And sometimes smoothies and milk shakes. Or instant ice cream, using frozen banana slices.

So now, I once again ‘found’ three overripe banana’s. They were kind of pushed to the back of the fridge. Time for cooking then. But I wanted something else. But what? Saw a chocolate banana bread. Hmmm. Never had chocolate banana bread. But then again, I would be the only one in the house eating it. Ok, start browsing the pantry for inspiration. Closing the pantry. Moving on to the fridge. Browsing the fridge. Nope, no inspiration yet. Browsing the freezer. Oh hey, I still have loads of home made pumpkin puree. Have to do something with that as well. Closing freezer. Back to pantry. No, wait. Pumpkin. Back to freezer. Holding frozen pumpkin puree in my hand. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Light bulb moment! Let’s try something with banana and pumpkin. Blondies? Yes, blondies!

Uhm, ‘frozen’ pumpkin puree. Alright, first thaw that pumpkin puree. Little set back, but nothing I can’t overcome. Once I set my mind to making something, I have to make it. Just teeny tiny bit more patience required. I’m good at that. Not.

Well, at least I have enough time to think about the recipe. I’d also like to try a lower carb version. Normally, I’d use regular flour for banana bread. Low carb versions often use coconut flour. But I’m not a big fan of baking with coconut flour. Results are usually way too eggy for me. So, pantry browsing again.

Well, after giving it some thought, I settle for almond meal/ground almonds and oat flour. Then collecting all other ingredients. Trying to make something up as we go along. I think I got something.

Preheat oven to 170°C. Line a baking dish (I used a glass oven dish, about 9 x 13″) with parchment paper.

First mix all dry ingredients: 100 g ground almonds, 100 g oat flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 25 g coconut blossom sugar. You could use more or less coconut blossom sugar (or any other sweetener) according to taste, but I don’t like them overly sweet. The banana and the pumpkin provide a fair share of sweetness.

Set aside. The mix all wet ingredients: 275 g mashed banana (about three medium banana’s), 225 g pumpkin puree (about 1 CUP), 2 eggs, 60 ml vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract.