Vegan banana bread

Vegan baking is something I discovered only after I started this blog. I knew what being vegan was all about and I knew that with Indian food, especially South Indian cooking, its easy to be vegan - we really don't use so much dairy in everyday cooking, but I really felt that people who turned vegan missed out a whole lot on baked goodies. Can't believe how wrong I was ! Vaishali's Holy cow has a whole lot for those of you interested in vegan baking.
I am not vegan and this bread happens to be vegan only because I ran out of butter.



In India, where you don't really get egg replacers or the various other options for dairy replacements, I really didn't imagine baking without it. Its just that if we open our minds a bit, and make a few conscious decisions, we can actually allow change. Not that I see myself turning vegan, but I am happy that I actually have baked cakes, brownies and cookies without eggs, which again is something I had never imagined. This happened after I moved here and found that most people I know do not eat eggs because of their religious beliefs and that opened out a whole new world of egg free baking, using various substitutes
This is also my first time using flax seeds as an egg substitute

The bread was a bit dense with the wheat and oatmeal, but it felt so healthy and made for a great breakfast. I didn't want it too sweet either, I like the natural sweetness from the bananas. My son enjoyed it with milk after his swimming classes.

What you need -

1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered oats
1 cup APF / maida
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon flax seed powder + 3 tablespoons water
3 ripe / over ripe bananas
1/2 cup raisins
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

What you do with it -

Mix the wheat flour, powdered oats, maida, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add the baking soda and baking powder and stir well
Grind the bananas and sugar to form a banana puree
Blend the flaxseed powder along with water till it feels creamy. Add the mashed bananas and oil to this
Add the flour to this, stirring to incorporate all the flour. The batter will be thick, but if it is too dry, add 2-3 tbsp of warm water
Add the raisins and flax seeds
Pre-heat an oven to 170 C
Grease a loaf pan and pour in the batter. Sprinkle sunflower seeds over the batter
Bake for about 50 mins and check by inserting a toothpick in the centre of the loaf. If it comes out clean, your loaf is done
Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes and then unmould carefully from the loaf pan. Cut into thick slices. Tastes wonderful when its warm