With such adorable mini-loaf pans, is it any surprise that I wanted to make banana bread very very extremely much? They were a gift from my brother-in-law's girlfriend and I fell in love with the little things right away. There was also a recipe for bana-carrot cake from Cooking Light that I badly wanted to try. What else could I do but bring the two together and make banana-carrot mini loaves. Or rather, 6 mini loaves and one square cake that I cut into bars. Voila! - banana-carrot cake bars!
I will confess right away, I didn't expect this cake to turn out so heavy... but considering it uses no eggs and only 1/2 cup oil for the batter, I guess I should not have been quite so surprised. However, I was more than pleased with the flavour, and I loved the texture, dense and chewy, made even more so by the chopped nuts I used. The loaves were more like flapjacks, really. Yum-MEE! We just couldnt stop eating them, believe me.
I guess this would have been a really low-calorie recipe but for the nuts... but I wouldnt have left them out for the world. Sorry, Cooking Light magazine!
Recipe for: Banana-carrot cake bars (adapted from Cooking Light magazine)
Ingredients:
Three large bananas, mashed smooth
2 generous cups grated carrot
2-1/4 cups flour (I used 1 cup white, 1-1/4 cup wholewheat)
1/2 cup oil
up to 1 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup Splenda and 1/4 cup brown sugar)
1/2 tsp crushed/powdered cardamom seeds
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 cup mixed chopped nuts (I used pecans, pistachios and almonds)
1/2 cup golden sultanas
1/4 tsp salt
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), and grease an 8" square cake pan (or about a dozen mini pans, if you have them).
2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the flour and cut in lightly, the mix until the batter is moistened. Add a few tbsp milk if the batter is very thick.
3. Pour the batter in the greased pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake tests done.
4. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack. Cut into bars when cool. Store in an airtight tin.
Those are lovely. The loaves look quite big actually.
ReplyDeleteI can't but agree with you ,they look so good :) really yummmmmmy!! guess, even walnuts would go great with anything baked with banana --It gives that crunchy edge !
ReplyDeleteIf given a choice with nuts, I would just load it with walnuts!!!!!!!
i love banana in anything. this must be good!
ReplyDeleteMika - they're small, allright :) It's the camera that makes them look bigger than they are.
ReplyDeleteLera - Y'know, I find walnuts somewhat bitter... I hardly use them. I like pecans more - similar taste without being bitter! :)
Rokh - it IS good! My stepdaughter loves it, so it's gotta be.
Shammi, these look great. I love banana nut bread. Must try your recipe sometime.
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