Coconut Pineapple Banana Bread | Easy Baking | Banana Breads

I love banana breads. Its so simple to make, all it needs is a single bowl and the outcome is something divine. At times I try different varieties with what I have in hand. And that is how I made this banana bread. The tropical flavors are predominant in this bread with the pineapple and coconut which makes it the more merrier. But if you are not a fan of the flavors then you can skip the pineapple and coconut and add walnuts instead, it still tastes fabulous. The bread keeps good for 2 to 3 days, but beyond that it starts drying up a little due to the whole wheat flour.

~*What U Need*~ Ripe Bananas - 2 or 3 Crushed Pineapple - 1/4 cup, drained Coconut Oil - 1/4 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup All purpose flour - 1 cup White whole wheat flour - 1 cup Baking soda - 1 tsp Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp Ground ginger - a pinch Sweetened shredded coconut - 1/2 cup How I made it: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease and flour your loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas and add the sugar, pineapple, and oil and whisk to incorporate. Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined. Fold in the coconut. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle with nuts or more sugar if you want. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes (regular loaf) or 20 to 25 minutes (mini loaf). The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before transferring out of a pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve warm.

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Rye Bread | Bread Recipes

Rye flour has got its own health benefits. Rye is a good source of fiber, promotes weight loss, lowers diabetic risk, promotes gastrointestinal health and has many more benefits. The taste of rye bread is something you hate totally or love with all your heart. Adding rye flour to your bread dough gives it a a sourdough kinda taste in the end product, a taste which you will fall for or you will run away from. Luckily, the huss and me and even pappu have taken a liking for the bread right from first bite. The first time I made rye bread, I didn't know what went wrong but the bread was dense, and hard, there was no significant oven spring and the bread was a total disaster. I have been experimenting ever since and this recipe from King Arthur bread is a keeper. Perfect crust, fluffy crumb and not an overpowering rye flavor. Since this was a trial, I halved the recipe but feel free to try the original recipe, you can never go wrong.

~*What U Need*~ Warm water - 1/2cup Rye flour - 1/2 cup Sugar - 2 tsp Instant yeast - 1 1/8 tsp Yogurt - 1/4 cup Salt - 3/4 tsp Unbleached all purpose four - 1 cup + 6 tbsp Vital wheat gluten - 1 1/2 tbsp How I Made it: In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the water, sugar, rye flour and yeast, mixing to form a soft batter. Let the mixture rest for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, mix and knead the dough until smooth. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let it rise for 45-60 mins. Gently deflate the dough, knead it briefly, and shape it into an oval loaf. Place them on a lightly greased parchment-lined baking sheet. Let rise until puffy for 45 mins. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Slash with a knife. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven, and transfer them to a rack. While still warm, brush with melted butter, if desired.

Serve with spread of choice!!!

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Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich | Sandwich Recipes

Avocados have never been a favorite with the boys of the house. But I make it a point to include avocados in pappu's diet twice a week given the numerous health benefits of the fruit. Did you know that avocado is a fruit??? Well, I didn't and I had to browse to know that. Silly me. I like to incorporate avocados in our diet atleast occasionally and I usually make guacamole with tortilla chips for our evening snacks. When it comes to guacamole the huss never complains but when it is avocado in any other form, he just walks away. So I had to resort to another recipe. And this egg salad is what I came up with. You sub the mayo of a regular egg salad with avocado and job done... a healthy and filling sandwich.

~*What U Need*~ Hard Boiled Eggs – 2 Avocado – 1 Lemon – 1 tsp Salt, pepper - to season Italian seasoning - 1 tsp Garlic powder - 1/4 tsp Honey mustard - to serve Lettuce leaves - 4 Bread of your choice How I Made it: Chop the eggs and avocado. Add 3. Add lemon juice, italian seasoning, garlic, seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix well but donot mash them. Slice the bread. Place the lettuce, top it with the salad, drizzle the mustard sauce. Close the sandwich.

Serve with juice!!!

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Honey Oat Bread

So I bake our daily bread. So I am addicted to freshly baked bread. So I eat an extra slice of bread when I make them at home. Cos I know what exactly made their way into the bread. While it is mostly whole wheat with add-ins like nuts and dried fruits, I occasionally make the white variety too. That usually happens when I crave for something soft, fluffy and light like this honey oats bread. The mild sweetness from the honey makes this bread perfect for sandwiches with pestos or nutella, pestos being the current favorite.

Prep time: 10+10 mins; Cooking time: 50 mins; Makes 1 9×5-inch loaf Adapted from here ~*What U Need*~ All purpose flour - 3 cups Old fashioned oats - 3/4 cup Instant yeast - 2 1/4 tsp Salt - 1 1/2 tsp Milk - 1 cup Water - 1/4 cup Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp Honey - 1/4 cup Warm Honey and oats for topping How I Made it: In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the flour, oats, yeast, and salt. In a saucepan, warm the milk with the butter to 115F. Once the butter is melted, stir water and honey. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, mixing with a dough hook until it just comes together to form a dough. Knead in the mixer for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. If the dough is still very wet and sticky after 5 minutes of kneading, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is barely tacky. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise until doubled, about 1/2 to 1 hour. Once doubled, place the dough on a clean, dry work surface. With your fingers, flatten the dough into a 9 by 12-inch rectangle. Tightly roll the dough, tucking the ends as needed, into a loaf. Place the shaped dough into a 9×5-inch loaf pan, cover with a clean dry towel, and allow to rise until doubled, about 1/2 to 1 hour.Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Place an empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bring 2 cups of water to a boil. When the loaf is doubled again, brush the top with the warmed honey and sprinkle with the oats. Place the bread in the oven and pour the boiling water into the empty loaf pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.

Serve spread with butter and honey or a generous amount of cookie butter like me!!!

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Eggless Chocolate Bread Rolls | HBC

Atlast I am done with July month's home bakers challenge. This month's challenge was hosted by Gayathri of Gayathri's cookspot, a talented home baker. Gayathri selected bread as the theme and her selection ranged from dinner rolls to pinwheels to soft bread rolls. I first thought of choosing the dinner rolls and pairing it up with homemade pav bhaji for dinner but then I was not feeling well last week and the plans took a backseat.

Finally yesterday I made these chocolate bread rolls for breakfast. These rolls are totally addictive, soft, pillowy and oozing chocolate with every bite. I stuffed some of the rolls with chocolate and the remaining with nutella. We totally loved the ones with the nutella. Even pappu had his share without any complaints. He loved playing 'finding chocolate' with every bite.

~*What U Need*~ For the bread: Bread flour - 120 g/ 1 cup Cake flour - 30 g / 1/4 cup Sugar - 1 tbsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Milk - 5 gms / 1 tsp Warm Water - 80 ml Instant yeast - 3/4 tsp / 2 gms Butter - 1 tbsp Filling: Chocolate chips/ nutella How I Made it: Add all ingredients, except the butter, into a bowl and mix until a dough forms. Add the butter to the bowl and knead the dough with your hands until the dough is not sticky anymore. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let the dough rise in a warm spot for one hour. After the dough has proved, deflate the dough on a floured surface. Cut the dough into equal pieces ( I made four). Roll each into an oval shape, big enough for your chocolate. Place the chocolate almost on the edge of one side, cut the remaining dough in to strips, fold over and tuck underneath. Place on a lined baking tray. Cover your rolls loosely with plastic wrap and let rest in warm spot for the second fermentation round about 45 minutes. Preheat your over to 175 °C or 350 °F. Bake these rolls ± 14 minutes or until golden brown. ** Notes: ** Before eating, heat up 10 seconds in the microwave for runny chocolate and softer bread. ** I read the instructions wrong and baked the rolls for 30 mins covering it with foil from the 20th minute. Thats why my bread is more brown.

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Honey Wheat Oatmeal Bread

I am obsessed, well that happens most of the times~ lets talk about that later. Today its breads. I am totally obsessed with home baked breads. I know that its not a good season for baking but who cares when you get a good loaf of bread after all that sweat. I mostly like to include whole wheat flour in our daily breads but this time there is an additional health factor in the form of oats. The honey, the oats and the whole wheat flour gives a unique taste to this bread which makes it great for sandwiches. BTW, don't fret if you donot have quick cooking oats on hand. Give the rolled oats a quick pulse in the blender and there you have the quick cooking version.

~*What U Need*~ Instant yeast- 1 1/2 tsp Honey - 1/4 cup Olive oil - 2 tbsp Warm water - 1 1/8 cups Salt - 1/2 tbsp Unbleached all purpose flour - 1 cup + 6 tbsp Whole wheat flour - 2 cups Quick cooking oats - 1/2 cup Vital wheat gluten - 2 1/2 tbsp Egg - half of an egg How I Made it: Add the yeast to the warm water and mix. Set aside till frothy for 10 mins. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the olive oil, honey and the yeast water. Add the 2 cups wheat flour, gluten and oats and salt to this mixture and mix well in low speed. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg and one cup of all purpose flour. Blend on low until the egg is incorporated then beat on medium for 2 more minutes. Add flour by 1 tbsp and mix until it's smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover and allow to rise for 1 hour or until double in size. Punch the dough down and turn onto a floured surface. Shape into a loaf. Place in greased 9x5 inch loaf pan covered with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for another hour. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on rack for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Remove bread from pan and brush with melted butter, allow to completely cool on cooling rack.

Serve toasted with butter/jam!!!

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Whole Wheat Bread | 50-50 Wheat Bread

Breads are a staple at any house and ours is no exception. I make bread twice a week and I mostly prefer wholewheat. Occasionally I make the white sandwich bread but that happens only when the huss wants french toast which is once in a blue moon. Since I am a novice when it comes to bread baking I just don't too much risks and by risk I mean subbing the entire amount of all purpose flour in a recipe for whole wheat flour. As of now I have started with half of the amount and it works. It is not so dense, it is fluffy and it holds the shape brilliantly. The recipe that I have given makes one loaf but you could easily double it. The 6 tbsp will become 3/4 cup when you double it.

Prep time: 15 mins; Cook time: 30-40 mins; Makes: one 9x5 loaf ~*What U Need*~ Instant yeast - 3/4 tsp Warm water - 1/2 cup Whole milk - 1/2 cup Honey - 2 tbsp Canola oil - 1 tbsp Unbleached all purpose flour - 1 cup + 6 tbsp Whole wheat flour - 1 cup + 6 tbsp Salt - 1/2 tbsp Vital gluten - 2 tbsp How I Made it: Pour the water into the bowl of a standing mixer and sprinkle the yeast over top. Allow to stand for 10 mins till frothy. Stir in the milk, honey, and oil. Add the flours and stir to combine. Add in the salt and vital wheat gluten and stir to form a dough. Allow this stand for 20 minutes to give the flour time to absorb the liquid. Using the dough hook attachment on a standing mixer, knead the dough for 8-9 minutes. If the dough is sticky add flour by the tablespoon till no longer sticky. Place this in a bowl that has been oiled well and allow to double for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Once doubled, knock down the dough and knead for 15 seconds. Shape into a loaf and place in a 9x5 loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Allow to rise for another 30-45 mins. Heat the oven to 425°F. Reduce temperature to 375F and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool completely before slicing.

Serve with jam or butter!!!

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Easy Chicken Sandwich | Sandwich recipes | Easy Party Ideas

I try new recipes mostly for dinner. Like different soups and salads, loaded focaccia breads, pizzas and many more. Remember the pot pie that I mentioned in my last post, that was made for dinner too. The pot pie was brilliant, the crust perfectly flaky and the gravy rightly seasoned. Then again I was not able to take pics as I have very bad lighting in my place and it was night. Many such good stuff are getting missed here at the blog and thats making me sad, very sad indeed. I am feeling the need to document those recipes somewhere and here on I am going to share a casual shot of the dish and how to cook it in my fb page. Whenever I get to take a decent picture of the dish I will update my blog with step by step pictures. Lets see how this is gonna work out.

Do you still remember the rotisserie chicken that I had bought a week back. This is what happened with the leftovers. A simple and easy chicken sandwich which could be had for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. This makes a perfect kids lunchbox recipe too. I had some light sour cream on hand and so used that for dressing. You could easily replace it with greek yogurt or mayonnaise. I kept the seasonings simple but you could jazz it up too with italian seasoning, paprika, onion powder or anything that your heart wishes at the time.

~*What U Need*~ Cooked chicken - 1 cup Garlic powder - 1/8 tsp Low fat Sour cream - 2 tbsp Salt - a pinch Pepper - to taste Spring mix - 1/2 cup Bread slices - 2 Cheese slices - if needed Cooking spray/butter - to grease pan How I Made it: Mix the chicken, garlic powder, sour cream, salt and pepper. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours. When ready to serve, spread the salad on the bread slices, top with the spring mix and cheese if using and close with the second bread slice. Heat a tawa and when medium hot, grease with butter and cook till crisp on both sides.

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Oats Aloo Tikki | Oats Recipes

Life is never fair and I am not here to complain about it. Life has its own share of reasons on why it is like that. Some recent happenings has changed me, right at the core. My belief on what or who god is has never been the same. And I blame noone but me. At times I think that everything that happens around or to me is influenced by "me" and I won't or can't blame someone who is there just hypothetically. And then there is another part of me which crops up some times and firmly believes that "God exists". That power by which this galaxy was created or which brought about "The Big Bang" is there and that is "God". And when that ME comes out, I am regular to the temple. Fridays and Saturdays whatever be it, I go and get my peace of mind.

As I said, some recent "very bad" happenings has brought about the god-believer me and I made quite a few vows with HIM. And one among that is I will give up eating potatoes through out my existence. And that brings me to stop eating anything from outside. Tell me one good restaurant dish which has no aloo in it. I am still browsing for one. But, again, thanks be to God I have been by my vow till date. I don't eat aloo with my knowledge. And the family is following steps with me. We don't by burgers, shawarmas and we don't even shop potatoes these days.

When I went grocery shopping sometime back, I found few burger buns that were pillowy soft and wholewheat too. I grabbed one immediately with a pretext to make some healthy burgers for amma and appa (okay get it, this is one among the many that I made for appa when I was back in India) and I just couldn't come up with a tikki recipe that has no aloo in it. Finally gave up, made some 2-min noodles for me and made these healthy oats aloo tikkis to slide between their burger buns. You can serve these on burger buns or bread or have it for tea.

Serves - 2 Makes - 6-8 medium sized tikkis Prep time - 20 mins Cooking time - 5 mins ~*What U Need*~ Potato - 1 medium Oats - 1 cup Wheat or white bread slice - 2 Onion - 1, finely chopped Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Carrot - 1, grated Peas - 1/4 cup Green chilli - 1, finely chopped Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Water - to sprinkle Oil, Salt How I Made it: Boil and mash the potato. Dip the bread slice in water and squeeze excess water. Put this in a mixing bowl. Dry roast the oats till you get a nutty aroma. Heat oil in a kadai, add green chilli followed by onion and saute till golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. Add the grated carrot and peas and cook. Add the garam masala and fry. Now add the oats and sprinkle enough water to cook it. It will form a mass. Once cooked and cooled, add this to the potato and bread and mix well. Form tikkis and shallow fry till crisp on both sides.

Serve between burger buns or with bread or as such for tea!!!

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Banana Bread Pudding with Nutella Swirl & Chocolate Sauce

Bread puddings are one dessert which are easy to put together and tastes sensational when served with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream or vanilla mascarpone cream. My first attempt in baking a bread pudding was long back, when I was newly married. Quite a novice Armed with zero baking skills, I tried the pudding just because we had a microwave-convection oven in our in-laws house. I had a 13-inch baking pan and just one cup of pudding batter to fill it. Donot imagine till what level the batter was in the dish. And to those who imagined, it just peeped from the floor of the pan. That was not the only mistake that I did. I baked the pudding for the time the recipe called for and with such a big baking dish and such little batter I should have cut down on the time but I didn't. I didnt check for doneness in the middle, I simply and blindly baked. Thanks to god it didn't burn. And I don't want to talk about how the pudding tasted. It was good in taste but the texture ~ not soft neither hard... it was rubbery. End result ~ I vowed that I would never bake in my life.

But now I am happy that I changed my decision. Baking soothes me and my soul these days. I bake when I am happy, I bake when I am sad and these days, I don't need a reason to bake. I had my own downs when it comes to baking, never an up in my early days. But lessons have been learnt and I am starting to understand the science behind baking.

Now this pudding, its a simple one if you follow the recipe to the 'T'. I would say its a beginner's keeper. Its just making the custard, soaking the bread slices, putting em together and then baking. We had it for our weekend breakfast brunch, a lazy late morning breakfast and it was just perfect ~ not too sweet and not too bland. 'A' skipped the chocolate sauce but I would say donot skip it if you need something chocolate in everything you eat ~ 'like me'

~*What U Need*~ Milk - 1/2 + 1/4 cup Demerera Sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp Cinnamon - 1/8 tsp Egg - 1 Day old bread slices - 2 cups, cubed Ripe banana - 1 / Mashed Banana - 1/2 cup Nutella - 2 tbsp Butter - 1 tbsp For the chocolate sauce Dark chocolate - 50g Fresh cream - 3 tbsp Powdered sugar - 2 tbsp Milk - to bring it to consistency

How I Made it:
Soak the bread slices in 1/2 cup milk. Mash the banana with a fork. Take cinnamon, demerera sugar in a bowl. Add egg and combine well.

Add 1/4 cup milk and banana and whisk well.

In a greased pan, arrange the soaked bread slices. Pour the custard over the bread slices.

Heat the nutella with butter over double boiler. Pour this over the bread and swirl with a knife. Bake @ 175 C for 30-40 mins till the top turns brown.

For the chocolate sauce, microwave all the ingredients for 30 secs. Whisk till smooth and shiny. If its too thick, then whisk in some milk to bring it to pouring consistency. When serving pour the chocolate sauce over the bread pudding and serve.

For best results, serve warm out of oven.

** My Notes:
** Once out of the oven, the pudding looks so puffed up but it falls once it starts to cool. Don't panic or don't get put off ~ that is how it works.
** You could add some dark chocolate chunks too
** Nuts, they give a good crunch too

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