Bake #2
Banana Bread, Of Course!
This bake was totally unplanned.
But two things made it happen.
One, the bananas that were about to go bad. Two, training from our middle-class household and my own ever work-in-progress sustainability practice to use leftovers creatively and respect resources. Thank you both!
I also wasn’t planning on writing here on Sub-stack all that regularly. But again, two things nudged me into making this happen. One, my wonderful accountability partner on this baking journey - Neha, who is also a blogger here, gently encouraged me to give it a go. Two, I wanted to write consistently to model the practice for the coachees in my writing programme for survivors of human trafficking.
So, here I am baking the ever famous banana bread that you can’t miss in any baker’s cake list. As in the earlier Sponge Cake recipe, I am experimenting with some of the ingredients.
I use oat flour. It is a way healthier alternative to flour which is highly processed. It also makes for a gluten-free alternative.
I switched to dates this time as a natural sweetener over any form of processed sugar. My preference for dates as a cleaner alternative also comes from my work in human rights. I will talk more about that in my future posts, so stay tuned!
The banana bread turned out really good. The level of sweetness was just right. Roshini, my domestic help and taster, also approved of it.
Recipe: Purva’s Banana Bread
Ingredients
2 overripe bananas
2 eggs
140 grams ground oats. I used easily available Quaker’s rolled oats and ground them to fine powder in a mixer.
200 ml hot milk
30 deseeded dates
45 grams chopped or broken walnut pieces
2 tsp wheat flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
0.5 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
Method: Step-by-step instructions
Make sure all your ingredients (other than milk) are at room temperature and they are measured.
Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.
Soak the deseeded dates in hot milk and set aside. After 20 minutes, make a purée out of it using a mixer or hand blender. I used a hand blender.
In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe banana to the point you have no lumps.
Add the puréed dates and mix.
Add eggs one by one and mix.
Now, add the dry ingredients to the batter. If you'd like to keep this a gluten-free bake, you can skip the wheat flour. I chose to include it because oats, while nutritious, don’t contain gluten, which can result in a dense or sometimes gummy texture—especially since oats absorb a lot of moisture. Wheat flour, on the other hand, adds elasticity and helps the cake rise, giving it a lighter, more balanced crumb.
Grease your loaf tin and pour the batter in it. I used olive oil for greasing.
Scatter the chopped walnuts on top of the batter—don’t worry about being too precise, just let them fall where they may!
Put the tin in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Let it cool and serve.
Serving suggestions
This cake pairs perfectly well with your evening chai or hot cup of coffee as it's not overly sweet.
You can also add a scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream on the side. Maybe not for tea-time, but definitely a treat for dessert!