some time back, my brother did one of those random quizzes on facebook. one of the questions was something like: “what do you have in common in with your sibling?” and he answered something to the tune of: “errr, we both like food.” that is oh-so-true. my brother and i love food – it’s a family thing, i guess. 🙂 anyways, about a week back, my brother called me – i asked him what he was up to and he said, “i’m baking some banana bread, and i’m waiting for it to get done.” that got us talking and we ended talking about food for the next hour. now, i was tempted to make banana bread too. i asked him to send me the recipe and he emailed me this recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf from Canadian Living Magazine.
i have made banana and chocolate-chunk muffins before, but i wanted to try out this loaf recipe. the original version calls for eggs, which i substituted with ground flaxseed. this is the first time i have used flaxseeds as an egg replacer, and i’m happy to say it worked wonderfully well! 🙂 so i got down to measuring, mixing and baking (i added in some walnuts to the recipe and vanila essence as well) and before long, my kitchen was filled with the aroma of banana bread. once it was done, i waited for it to cool, cut it into thick slices and bit into it – yummy! 🙂
Ingredients:
2 cups All-purpose/plain flour
1/2 cup Butter, softened
2 cups Mashed ripe bananas (about four big bananas)
1/4 cup Caster sugar
1 cup Chocolate chips (reduce by half if you don’t like it too chocolate-y)
1 cup Walnuts, chopped
1 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp Vanilla essence (optional)
2 tbsp Flaxseed
6 tbsp Water
A generous pinch of Salt (omit if using salted butter)
Making the Banana Loaf:
Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda and set aside. Add in the salt (if using) and 
mix in. Toss the chocolate chips with a little bit of plain flour in a separate bowl (this will prevent it from sinking to the bottom), add the chopped walnuts to it and toss both together and keep aside. Grind the flaxseed well to a powder (you can use a regular mixie or coffee grinder for this) and whisk well with the water – you should end up with a thick, viscous paste. In a different bowl, blend the butter, sugar, vanilla essence (if using) and milk. Add the flaxseed mixture and mix well into the mixture. Fold in the flour mixture and blend until it is mixed with no lumps. Add in the chocolate chips and walnuts and blend them in. If the dough looks too thick, add in two or three extra tablespoons of milk and mix. Pour into the tin and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Tap the pan on the counter, then slip into the oven and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, until a tootpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes and then turn over onto a wire rack and cool completely. Wrap and store at room temperature for 2 days or wrap with heavy-duty foil and freeze for upto 2 weeks – if it can last that long! 🙂
for the love of food 