Eggless, butter- less Oatmeal-Flaxmeal Banana-Raisin Bread

While I have made some eggless cakes, they have been made using tried and tested recipes from my other blogger friends. But I can never confidently tell someone what is the perfect, fool-proof substitute for egg. I have read up tons of stuff regarding what could be substituted for eggs. Reading and doing is two different things! I had overripe bananas lying around. I had also recently got a bag of Flaxmeal which I use with my oatmeal. I decided to try substituting Flaxmeal for eggs. Banana bread would be a safe bet as there would be little that could go wrong. So I set about experimenting, switching oatmeal for flour and Flaxmeal for eggs and butter. I didn't want to take too big a chance, so I added 1/4 cup olive oil. The result was a resounding success! The bread was moist and delicious! The only difference when compared to the regular banana bread is that the loaf is not as big. It is 3/4 it's size.You can find my original banana bread recipe here.

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

Oat flour: 2 cups
Flaxmeal: 3 tbsp+ 3/4 cup
Water: 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
 Baking soda: 1 tsp
 Salt:1/4 tsp
 Ground cinnamon: � tsp
 Ground nutmeg: � tsp
 Vanilla extract:1 tsp
 Brown sugar:3/4 cup
Olive oil: 1/4 cup
Overripe bananas: 2 cups( 4 bananas),mashed
 Walnuts:� cup,chopped(optional)
Raisins: 1/4 cup ( optional)

Method:

In a mixing bowl mix together 3 tbsp Flaxmeal with 1/2 cup and 1 tbsp water and keep aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and keep aside.

Beat together the flaxmeal+water mixture, oil, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg  in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana,  beating until smooth. Add oat flour and 3/4 cup flaxmeal, raisins and nuts, stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Bake the bread for 45 minutes. Lay a piece of foil gently across the top and bake until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more..

Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

 Slice and serve with a cup of tea or coffee.

Enjoy! I am bringing this to all the wonderful gals at Angie's Fiesta Friday. This week's co-hosts are the very talented and capable Selma @Selma's table and Elaine@Foodbod.

Cooking made easy:

Oat flour can be easily made at home by grinding oatmeal to a fine powder using a regular blender/ mixie.

Flaxmeal can also be made at home by grinding flax seeds in a blender/ mixie.

Tip for healthy living:

Flaxseeds are extremely healthy. They are not only rich in omega-3 fatty acids,but are also great source of dietary fiber. Flaxmeal is a great way of incorporating flax seeds into our daily diet. You could just mix it into your regular shakes/ smithies, oatmeal etc.

References:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/flaxseed/faq-20058354
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-flaxseed
http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/victoria-maizes-md/benefits-flax

Food for thought:

A thing well done is worth doing. Hugh Leonard

My First Eggless Orange Loaf Cake

I have been wanting to make eggless cake for the longest time now.The impetus for this cake came from my Daughter's recent birthday celebration. I wanted to make cake-pops for her birthday. I also wanted to have vegetarian options for my vegetarian friends. I hate it when I go to a party and there is nothing for me to eat! I therefore make sure that I check the food preferences, allergies of all my guests and ensure that each one of my guests has adequate options in food.

Coming back to this cake, I came across this again on CAL, a group I sooo love! The recipe was posted by Kavita Balajee. You can find the original recipe here.The original recipe called for a 9 inch cake pan. I didn't have one. So I decided to try it in my loaf pan.I figured that if it didn't come out moist and tasty, I was going to destroy and use it to make cake pops hence had nothing to worry  about!

I could not have been more wrong! The cake came out so moist, pretty an tasty that I didn't have the heart to destroy it. In fact, a pregnant friend of mine, Rene, was visiting me with her family that weekend and I gave her a piece. She liked it so much that the others ate it and I gave her some to take home. The cake was gone! I had to bake another one for my cake pops! I will soon put up the recipe for cake pops.

The recipe is very easy and does not take much time to make. I would strongly urge you to definitely try it out. If you do, please let me know how it turned out. You can even send me pictures and I will put it up on this blog.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

All purpose flour: 1 cup + 2 tbsp
Corn flour: 3 tbsp
Baking powder: 1/4 tsp
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Brown sugar: 1/2 cup
Oil: 1/3 cup ( any cooking oil, I used olive oil)
Orange juice: 1 cup
Orange zest: from 1 medium orange
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp
Vinegar: 1 tbsp
Salt: a pinch

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

Prepare the loaf pan by greasing it with butter and then sprinkling flour on it. Invert the pan and shake the excess flour off the pan. Keep it aside.

Mix all purpose flour, corn flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar and salt together in a bowl. Mix it well and keep aside.

In another bowl whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Whisk well. Now slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix slowly to produce a smooth batter. Ensure that you do not over mix. This is important as over mixing can result in a flat cake!

Pour the above batter into the prepared loaf pan. Tap the pan gently on the counter to remove air bubbles.Place it on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Check towards the end to see if the cake is done using a toothpick. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. The toothpick should come out clean!

Take it outside the oven and let it cool for 10 mins before removing from the pan. Cut it into slices and serve.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

The kitchen timer is my best friend in the kitchen.I use the timer a lot. This lets me do other things and not forget what's in the oven or on top of the stove.

Tip for healthy living:

A homemade face pack can help rejuvenate the skin of your face.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 tbsp besan( chick-pea flour) , 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp honey and 2 tbsp milk to make a smooth paste. Apply this to your face avoiding the skin around the eyes. Leave it on for 10-15 mins and then rinse your face with cold water. Chick-pea flour helps clean the skin, turmeric is an antiseptic that helps prevent pimples, honey acts as a natural bleach and milk moisturizes the skin.

Food for thought:

If you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all. ( Unknown).