RECIPE: QUICK N’ EASY CHIA, BLUEBERRY & BANANA BREAD

I have no idea where the original recipes came from (an old magazine snippet, I think) but over the last 10 years of baking this, I’ve reduced the egg amount, swapped out the ridiculous amount of sugar for Xylitol recently and added in some blueberries & chia seeds and baked the bread for slightly shorter thanks to my new oven.

Side note: Gustav and I watched a documentary on Netflix recently (do yourself a favour and WATCH the trailer!)  about the crazy amount of sugar we consume in our daily lives without knowing and we were shocked! We are actively trying to reduce our unnecessary sugar intake – hence the swap from brown sugar in this recipe to Xylitol. Also, because of the Fructose in the fruit used (You’re going to be terrified – there’s around 30g of sugar in the bananas used, and 18g of sugar in the blueberries! That’s about 12 teaspoons of NATURAL sugars in this loaf!) this recipe cannot be called sugar free – but it’s a good way to consume sugars if you are looking for the sweet snack to hit the spot when the cravings kick in.

CHIA, BLUEBERRY & BANANA BREAD

CHECK LIST

150g Softened Butter (Can be changed to a vegan option if you have one, but would suggest keeping this standard, good old full-fat butter – it gives the bread a good taste)

1 Cup Xylitol (or brown sugar for the budget option)

2 Small Free-range Eggs (this can be changed to Flax Seed Powder Replacement if you’re looking for a more vegetarian option)

1 Cup Mashed Banana (3 – 4 over ripe bananas)

1 Cup Blueberries (Preferred: Code 94 OZBlu Blueberries from Woolworths or branded OZblu Blueberries from Checkers)

4 Tablesppons of Chia Seeds

2 Cups Rice Flour (or Almond flour for a healthier choice, or even regular Cake Flour for the budget option)

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Bi-Carb

1 Heaped teaspoons of Cinnamon

2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Essence or 1 scrapped Vanilla Pod

Zest of half a Lemon or 2 teaspoons of Lemon Juice

THE BREAD

Mash your bananas with 2 tablespoons of the chai seeds, cinnamon and vanilla and set aside for 10 – 15 minutes. Setting aside the banana mix and chia seeds will allow the chia seed to activate and adds lots of good things to this baked treat.

Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, bananas and half the blueberries at a low speed until the mixture is smooth.

Sift the flour, bi-carb, baking power and a pinch of salt into the mixture and mix for 2 minutes until all ingredients are evenly distributed through the mixture

Heat the last half of the blueberries in the microwave for 30 seconds – 1 minute until softened. Stir to break the berries up a bit and then stir into the mixture.

Line a 18cm square baking tin or a regular loaf tin with wax wrap and pour the mixture evenly into the dish. Top with the last teaspoon of chia seeds and set in the over on a baking tray. Make sure your tin is level in the oven.

Bake at 180′ for between 45 – 60 minutes (over depending, mind cooked for 45 minutes on the dot and was perfect this time), until springing bake lightly when the top is pushed, and you dip a knife in and it comes out clean.

Let cool for 10 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack to harden up.

TO SERVE

Remove the wax wrap when cool and slice into equal 1cm thick pieces of bread.

Serving with butter, cream cheese or a nut butter of your choice.

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Stay Golden x

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