Smashed avocado oatcakes with orange, onion and cumin

Late last Thursday morning I had kind of missed breakfast but it wasn't yet lunchtime. Upon opening the fridge I was greeted with a bowlful of oranges, a salad tray of red onions and a forlorn looking avocado in need of using up...

I'm not typically a huge fan of avocado on its own as the primary ingredient in my meal but there's always room to change and after seeing a number of delicious looking 'smashed avocado' recipes around the blogosphere and most recently here on Kathy's blog with it's bright colours, temptation struck and I decided to give it a go myself!

This wasn't going to be a long prep or cook time as 10 minutes was all I had... and I was hungry! So I literally sliced up and onion pretty thinly dusted it in cumin and panfried it for five minutes whilst prepping the remainder… The result?  One super simple and super tasty breakfast. I may well be an avocado convert!! P.s I admit my oat cakes were not homemade... I like these Nairns ones for a quick cracker fix.  You could use other crackers or toast for the base if you preferred.

The cumin paired so well with both the flavours of the onion and the refreshing zing of the orange slices, I'd encourage you to use it but of course feel free to swap in any spices if you prefer or you donlt have cumin to hand. I use both ground cumin and cumin seeds so they could be toasted off with the onion. 

I ate an oatcake followed by orange wedge, followed by oat cake.... the orange was amazingly refreshing and also great palate cleanser between mouthfuls of avocado.

Recipe: Smashed avocado oatcakes with orange, onion and cumin

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 avocado
1 small red onion
A splash of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 orange- peeled and segmented
Salt and pepper to taste
Oat cakes (or other 'base') to serve
Method:

Slice the onion very finely and lightly pan fry with a little oilve oil and the cumin until soft, approx. five minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the avocado and orange by lightly mashing the avocado so that it is still quite chunky and use one  of the orange segments squeezed over it. And a little salt and pepper to taste.

Using oat crackers (or rice crackers or toast if you prefer) spoon dollops of the avocado mix onto the crackers and top with the panfried onion slices. Decorate the plate with the orange wedges.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Apple and blueberry 'birthday' baked oatmeal (or Mother's Day breakfast!)

I hadn't been planning to post today... My big birthday was going to be a nice chilled out morning followed by a trip out this afternoon. Relaxing...what's that!?!

It ended up being a brief trip to the gym, followed by this amazing breakfast (a last minute idea), a few presents to open, a this blog post write up.... and then my trip out, all because I couldn't contain the excitement of this breakfast and quite a few of you on Facebook saw the picture, got curious and wanted the recipe (I don't blame you!!)  This would make the most amazing Mother' Day brunch for those of you in parts of the world that have Mother's Day this weekend- hence why I wanted to post it for you!!

Saying that I did have an hour or so spent 'pottering' about the house, and my pottering took the form of looking through old photo albums and smiling over childhood photos.  Gosh has 30 years reqally gone by...!

This one in particular tickles me.... already behind the camera!  I also seem to have spent a of of time in my underwear?!  I made a little montage for you. I think actually come across as a lovely 'quiet and calm' child....ha ha that's not quite the story my mum would tell you :-)

The recipe is right below. I'm not going to go on and on describing how to make it, how to tastes, ways to vary it etc etc. Quite simple because it tastes amazing (think breakfast brunch or dessert!), it's ridiculously simple and also because....I wanna go out!  Byeeeeeee

P.s I will have more birthday related foodie things to come...just ran out of time this week with my business launch!!

Recipe: Apple and blueberry 'birthday' baked oatmeal

Serves 2 (or 3)

Ingredients

2/3 cup oats

tiny pinch salt

1 1/4 cup apple juice

1 apple- grated

1 tbs chia/flax seed

1/2 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon

large handful frozen blueberries (I haven't tried with fresh so I am not sure of cooking times)

small handful of pumpkin seeds (or other seeds/nuts as preferred)

Method

Mix everything together reserving most of the blueberries and pumpkin seeds to add on the top last. Spoon into a medium oven dish and add the blueberries pumkin seeds. Sprinkle with exra sugar if you like, but this was seriously sweet enough for me (I would even serve it as desert) just from the fruit and fruit juice.

Bake at 180C for approx. 25 mins until the topping is golden. Serve immediately.  

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Buckwheat blini breakfast kebabs

I had originally planned this post for yesterday...but I figured since many of you will be celebrating Thanksgiving, will anyone actually be reading blogs....really? Other than maybe people like me who don't celebrate Thanksgiving in their country. So I decided that I'd postpone it a day... I didn't want anyone missing out! This would make a fab lazy day post Thanksgiving brunch.

This idea came to me at 2am last Saturday morning....just when I should be sleeping NOT thinking about breakfast!

I've got into a bad habit of sitting in bed on my laptop before going to sleep and getting so engrossed in things that I don’t realise the time has crept across to the early hours… and then I can’t switch off when I do lay down to sleep.

However I didn't really mind this particular moment of creativity, and I simply tucked the idea away in my mind until morning.

Welcome to the most amazing brunch ever!

Simple, healthy, versatile, gluten free….the list goes on!

Ok, I’ll cut to the chase. These mini buckwheat blinis were inspired by this post in which the concept of the oat blinis worked really well, however not wanting to simply replicate with buckwheat I made miniature versions using a melon baller as a batter scoop (this worked perfectly- I really recommend this for getting evenly sized blinis) and then threading them onto skewers between chunks of fruit.

You could use any fruit you wish as long as it can be threaded onto skewers. It would be fabulous with banana and strawberries but alas it is not the season for strawberries. I was a little lacking on the fruit front and so used banana and some tinned apricots….had I planned ahead I would have used grapes, chopped mango along with banana…but I  was too impatient to try out my idea before I could get to the shops to replenish my frit supplies!

The blinis are only slightly sweet in themselves so I drizzled them with a (generous) helping of maple syrup and a dollop of vegan yoghurt. You could increase the sweetness of the batter itself if you desired, although I always prefer pancakes to be plain and then sweeten with toppings.

Go on…have a little fun today and play with your food!

Recipe: Buckwheat blini breakfast kebabs

Approx. 8 kebabs (serves 2-4)

100g buckwheat flour

Scant ½ tsp bicarbonate soda

150ml soy milk (or other dairy free milk)

1tsp ground chia or flax

3 tbs agave syrup

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

extra water to thin batter as needed

Approx. 2 cups fruit chunks of choice.

Maple syrup to serve

Method

Blend together all ingredients (other than water) until very smooth. Add as much water as necessary to create a thick but easily pourable batter.

Prepare fruit for kebabs- you can use any fruit that can be skewered. I used banana and apricot halves. Set aside.

Using a melon baller (most practical method) spoon small dollops of the pancake mixture onto a hot lightly oiled frying pan and fry for approx. 30 seconds or so on each side until golden.

When all the blinis are cooked thread them onto skewers alternating with chunks of fruit. Drizzle with maple syrup to serve.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Hash Browns

When you think of hash browns you think of a full English breakfast (well I do!)  However neither of those things is typically healthy.

I now have to admit to a little guilty moment…. A few weeks ago on a lazy (ish) Sunday morning spent with a friend I fancied a proper cooked breakfast….not oats, not pancakes, but something more full on.  Time and experimentation did not factor into the equation on this particular occasion and I opted for potato waffles (they are vegan), anyone remember this picture on my Instagram at the time? (Note: this was my friends plate- I did not have that many sausages myself!!)

Ever since that day I told myself no more waffles…. I needed to make my own healthy equivalent. Oven baked hash browns were the obvious answer and they are a million time more satisfying than the waffles.  These little beauties are even baked not fried but still maintain a lovely crispness. The chia gel does all the work of an egg in terms of binding the potato mixture together and so they don’t fall apart too easily either.

I teamed mine with a single Linda McCartney sausage (I haven’t got round to making that part yet myself) and lots of tomatoes, mushrooms and beans.  All in all for a healthy ‘Full English’ (which filled me up till dinner) I think that is pretty good going!

Recipe: Hash Browns

akes approx. 8 hash browns

Ingredients

1 white onion very thinly sliced

2 large white potatoes grated

1 parsnip grated

3 tbs gram flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tbs olive oil

2 tbs flax or chia seed

1 tsp mixed seasoning of choice

Method

Grate the potatoes and squeeze out as much water as possible. Mix together with remaining ingredients until fully coated.

Form handful sized mounds and flatten onto a greased/lined baking sheet.

Bake at 180C for approx. 45 minutes until golden and crisp to the outside, flip a couple of times during baking. To increase the crispness lightly brush with a little olive when you flip the patties.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.
For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

DAY THIRTY: Banana bread 'secret ingredient' baked oatmeal

We're now coming up to the end of Vegan Mofo...its gone so fast! Scarily fast how fast a month flies by.

I've really enjoyed a whole month of oaty indulgence!

Last weekend I figured a few more breakfast experiments were in order... a late weekend brekky is the perfect time for a little experimentation.  I really enjoyed my recent carrot cake baked oatmeal so thought I would create a banana bread variation.

Banana bread baked oatmeal is a pretty simple idea....it's been done hundreds of times before.  Oh, but not this way it hasn't!  I'd be surprised if anyone has put this spin on things (feel free to prove me wrong!)

Banana and cauliflower...yep you heard me.  No, no, no, don't look away i'm serious...this actually works.  Grated cauli mixed through with the oats give the perfect texture once baked, just be careful to get the balance right so that the taste of cauliflower doesn't come through and you are on to a winner! I would suggest that real cauliflower 'haters' may pick up a slight earthy taste, but for me, when mixed with a ripe banana and a generous dose of cinnamon I would't know it was there.  I admit it doesn't taste quite as bananary as regular banana bread (that's to be expected) but if i didn't know better I would never have guessed cauliflower was the reason.

The recipe above was my first trial, I then had another go with double the amount of cauliflower (to see how much I could push it!) and also a small carrot grated too...I still really enjoyed it but I do admit the banana taste was more masked using these veggie proportions and it did have more of a 'healthy' taste.

choc chip topping (these mini chips are so cute!)

banana raisin nut topping...check out that amazing texture!

Recipe: Banana bread baked oatmeal

Serves 1-2 (1 smallish oven dish)

Ingredients

1 large ripe banana (divided into ¾ and 1/4)

1 tbs ground chia/flax

1 cup soy milk (or other)

½ heaped tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg (or to taste)

¼ cup cauliflower grated

½ cup oats

2 tbs chopped walnuts

2 tbs raisins (optional)

1 tbs coconut sugar/rapadura

Topping: 1 tbs choc chunks or nuts, remaining banana slices, sprinkle of sugar)

Method

Divide the banana and mash the largest portion in a  medium bowl along with all other wet ingredients. Add remaining ingredients (other than topping) and mix through well.

Spoon into a greased oven dish min. 20x10cm.

Slice the last part of the banana and lay on the top of the mix along with choc chunks and nuts (if using) and a little extra unrefined sugar.

Bake at 180C for approx. 20 mins until the topping is golden. Serve immediately.  This also tastes good cold the next day!

I love the glazed sugar-cinnamon finish to the banana with the soft creamy oatmeal mix below!

These last two pictures are of the 'double cauliflower and carrot' version- still looked and tasted good with that much veg, but maybe not for those who want a full on indulgent tasting breakfast!

What Vegan MOFO means to me.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

DAY TWENTY FIVE: Oat bake with tomato and caramelised onions

On a whim I made this little oat bake for my lunch last weekend in the midst of going crazy with 'sweet treat' experiments. I craved something savoury and this is what happened...

For something so experimental I hadn't expected this to be quite so good! I'm not sure what made it quite so yummy, maybe the oat bake, maybe the topping, maybe both...combined with a savoury craving that this really needed satisfying. This sure did the job.

The oat bake was lovely light and moist, that in itself surprised me since I was expecting it to be more of a dense flat bake. Considering it has very little fat and hardly any flour, I was surprised at the delicacy. It also rose nicely with a rustic crust.  I baked it in a small cake ring as a circular guide so for the measurements below I got one serving approx. 2cm deep and 12cm wide. You could always use metal egg poaching rings or even small pie trays?

(picture of the plain oat bake taken with my phone)

For the topping, I wanted to go 'bruschetta' style as this never fails to please, so here we have caramelised onions, vine tomatoes a few shredded basil leaves..... and some beetroot chutney that happened to be sitting in the cupboard (a gift to my dad but he doesn't like beetroot) I thought it could make a great combo. You could use any chutney here to give a flavoursome kick, or leave it out altogether.  The flavours in the oat bake itself could also be adapted to your own taste, I kept it fairly low key as I knew the topping would be the star in the flavour stakes, and the oat bake was to become the texture king. 

I will definitely be making this again...next time I will quadruple the recipe and get my whole family in on the act!

Makes 1 oat bake (approx. 12cm diameter 1 inch thick)

Recipe: Oat bake with tomato and caramelised onions

Ingredients- oat bake

½ cup oats

¼ cup buckwheat flower

½ tsp heaped baking powder

1 tbs ground flax/chia

1 tbs nutritional yeast (optional)

½ tsp stock paste or stock cube to taste

¼ tsp salt (or to taste)

1 tsp soy sauce/liquid aminos

1 tsp olive oil

¼ cup soy yoghurt

Approx. 3 tbs soy milk as needed

Ingredients- topping

1 small red onion- sliced

Handful baby vine tomatoes- halved

Few leaves fresh basil- shredded

2 tbs chutney of choice

Method

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients and mix well well to form a thick but easily spoonable batter.

Spoon/pour into a baking rind/mini pie tin/muffin tins. Smooth the top and bake at 180C for approx. 10 mins until risen and just turning golden on top.

Whilst the oat bake is cooking, prepare the onion and fry  for approx. 5 mins until soft and golden, adding the tomato after a couple of minutes. Just before removing from the heat add the chutney  to heat through.

Serve the topping mix over the oat bake and top with shredded basil leaves.

What Vegan MOFO means to me.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Quinoa flake breakfast bake

I have never really baked with quinoa flakes before, mainly because I struggle to get hold of them around here. But a few a weeks ago when I visited Wholefoods on Kensington High Street in London for the very first time (much, much excitement) I picked up a bag.

So on Sunday morning when I was debating breakfast, I figured a little experimentation with my new purchase was in order! As it turned out, this little experiment became a rather yummy breakfast experience. This single serve breakfast bake will see you right through to lunch…and it’s so pretty too, the perfect start to your day. This could easily be served as dessert as well, maybe add a little more sweetness if serving as dessert as I was going for more of a ‘breakfast level’ sweetness with this bake and let the banana provide all the sweetness, other than a light drizzle of brown rice syrup on the top. You can use any summer berries you wish, I happened to have a few stranwberries to hand at the time. You could mix berries through the batter, but I would be careful not to make the batter too wet.

I mixed in a few oats with my quinoa flakes, but feel free to use all quinoa if you like (it may work with all oats as well but I haven’t tested this yet). The quinoa provides a lovely light texture in an otherwise moist and dense and bananary bread. Be sure to use a dish that allows the batter to be no more than 15mm thick as you may find it does not cook all the way through if much thicker.

I used a mini fluted ceramic pie dish (a recent new purchase that I was desperate to use for something!) and the bake was quite difficult to remove neatly. You can either it eat straight from the dish or make sure you use a greased/lined tin with a removable base which should make things much easier.

 

Recipe: Quinoa flake breakfast bake

serves 1

Ingredients

1 large ripe banana- very well mashed

Agave to taste if necessary (I didn’t use any extra)

½ cup quinoa flakes

¼ cup oats (or more quinoa flakes)

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp cinnamon (optional)

¼ cup chopped nuts of choice

Soy yoghurt to mix (I used approx. 3 tbs)

Handful of berries to decorate

Brown rice syrup/agave/maple syrup to drizzle

Method

Mix all ingredients (other than berries and drizzle) together in a small bowl adding the soy yoghurt last to achieve a thick smooth consistency. Spoon the mixture into a greased/lined mini pie dish  and decorate the top with the berries. Make sure the mixture is no more than roughly 1.5cm thick as it may not cook through properly.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 for approx. 15 minutes until the top is lightly golden.

Whilst still warm drizzle with a little syrup and serve immediately.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Carrot cake pancakes

So, on Saturday pancakes got to me again….!  I hadn’t planned for this little distraction at all since I had a nice bowl of oats lined up in my head (hmm, that sounds odd?)

But then Facebook happened and somebody had posted about pancakes- how much they really wanted some….so then I really wanted some too! So I figured I really ought to do something about that.

Meet the newest addition to the pancake family. Carrot cake pancakes!

It’s still only a relatively small pancake family but there are plenty more flavour combos bubbling away in my mind awaiting a future weekend brunch trials. Check these ones out too:

Spiced apple pie

Blueberry and banana

Sweet chestnut and cranberry

What’s your favourite flavour?

You will see the note below about carrot content. I made these originally with quite a large carrot, and therefore the ratio of ‘wet ingredient to dry’ was fairly large as carrot releases more moisture whilst cooking. You will see from the photos that the pancakes were more dense and moist than fluffy, I liked it this way as a nice change but my mum (who I’d shared them with) preferred a slightly fluffier version. Therefore I have slightly reduced the amount of carrot in the recipe below. Also note that the carrot should be finely grated so that it cooks through quickly.

P.S wish me luck for tonight, as I have my first new Pole Fitness class to teach…I’m a big ball of nerves and excitement!

P.P.S do you notice how there are 4 pancakes in these photos yet the recipe makes 6- well guess who ate four pancakes and who ate two! (yes I was hungry!)

Recipe: Carrot cake pancakes

Makes approx. 6 smallish pancakes 

Ingredients

½ cup white spelt flour

4 tbs oats

1 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice

¾ tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 smallish carrot finely grated (or larger carrot for a less fluffy pancake)

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs maple syrup

1/3 – 1/2 cup orange juice

1tbs melted coconut butter

Method

Mix coconut butter, orange juice and vanilla in a bowl and heat in microwave to melt the coconut butter into the mixture. Combine dry ingredients in a separate small bowl then add the wet and mix. Add finely grated carrot last and lightly mix through. Spoon dollops on a lightly oiled hot frying pan and fry till golden for a few minutes each side.

Serve with soy yoghurt and walnuts with a dusting of extra cinnamon as desired.

Note: when I first made these I added a medium- large carrot to the mixture which made for a wetter pancake due to the moisture in the carrot as it cooks. I enjoyed this texture, but if you prefer a more traditionally fluffy pancake then you may wish to reduce the carrot as noted.

For or tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Spiced apple pancakes with date and walnut

Sometimes (usually at weekends) I wake up in pancake mode!

Today was one of those days.

My typical weekday breakfast oats consist of a grated apple mixed into milky oats with raisins, cinnamon and seeds or nuts sprinkled over a dollop of soy yoghurt on the top.

Well, this is simply my breakfast in pancake form with dates instead of raisins and walnuts as the perfect compliment. On their own I am not a huge walnut fan…but teamed with dates or maple syrup then I’m sold. You could use either date syrup or maple syrup in this recipe, I used maple syrup and then added the chopped dates to the batter.

These are thick moist pancakes and make for a pretty filing brunch. Believe me you really won’t need to be snacking again before lunch…particularly if like me these form part of a lazy morning, with brunch (as opposed to breakfast) being the keyword!

Saturday tends to be my chill-out catch up day, anything goes and I have no particular timetable or commitments. However, that said I do like to have felt that I ‘fitted a lot in’ to my day. I’ve said before that I’m not really very good at lazy days however hard I try! But the concept of lazy day pancakes sets me in the weekend mood, they take the healthy vibe and tweak it into a little indulgence. Perfect!

If you are a fan of pancake brunch (or indeed pancake dessert!) have a peek at my blueberry banana or my winter cranberry chestnut combos.

Recipe: Spiced apple pancakes with date and walnut

Ingedients

½ cup mix of wholemeal and white spelt flour

4 tbs rolled oats

1 grated apple

3 finely chopped dates (optional or you can add more if omitting the maple syrup)

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tbs maple syrup or 2 tbs date syrup) (omit if want a more savoury pancake)

1/3-1/2 cup soy milk (or nay milk alternative)

1 tbs melted coconut butter/oil (or omit for fat free)

Topping- soy yoghurt, a sprinkling of chopped walnuts and a drizzle of maple or date syrup.

Makes approx. 6 medium thick pancakes. (serves two for brunch or desert)

Method

Mix coconut butter/oil, syrup of choice and soy milk in a bowl and heat in microwave to melt the butter into the mixture. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add the wet and mix. Add chopped apple/dates last and lightly mix through. Spoon dollops on a lightly oiled hot frying pan and fry till golden for a minute or so each side. Serve with soy yoghurt and walnuts as desired.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Blueberry banana pancakes

Sunday morning brunch…. quite possibly one of my favourite meals.  This is the time of the week where I feel that anything goes, time to be a little bit crazy and go for whatever it is you really fancy!

And today I really fancied…..pancakes!!

This notion had originally been inspired a few weeks back by this recipe, such a simple concept and I figured that it wasn’t actually so far removed from my usual oats combo! A few tweaks and one hot frying pan later, one plate of pancakes were all mine!

Recipe: Blueberry banana pancakes

Makes approx. 6 medium sized pancakes. (serves two for brunch or desert)

Ingredients

½ cup mix of wholemeal and white spelt flour

3 tbs rolled oats

¾ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

½  tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tsp agave (if needed)

1 mashed ripe banana

1/3-1/2 cup soy milk

Handful of blueberries (fresh or frozen defrosted)

Topping- soy yoghurt layered through the stack topped with a few more blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup if desired.

Method

Mix the banana, soy milk, agave and vanilla in a bowl. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add the wet and mix. Add blueberries last and lightly mix through. Spoon dollops on a lightly oiled hot frying pan and fry until golden for a minute or so each side. Serve in a stack with soy yoghurt and blueberry topping as desired.

Mmmm, lovely warm and ooooozy, they were dripping everywhere as I rushed to take a few photos!

Plantain banana cake

Following my experiments at the weekend I had one more ripe plantain sitting in the cupboard just waiting to be used. It looked lonely and forlorn all on its own trying disguise itself to fit in with the bananas but not quite managing to pull it off!

I had planned to make a banana cake for some time and so I thought it could be an ideal way to use up my last plantain. This was going to be a little experimental since plantain is not quite the same as a banana but I felt confident enough that it would still do the trick. I was right…..

Recipe: Plantain banana cake

(fills one 20cm loaf tin )

Ingredients

60g rapadura (or agave syrup) and a pinch of stevia

1tsp flax and 1tbs hot water

200ml soy yoghurt

2tbs coconut butter/oil (any oil would work)

1 ripe plantain and 1 ripe banana well mashed (or 3-4 ripe bananas)

40g chopped dates

200g wholemeal and white spelt flour mix (or one or the other)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2-3 tbs poppy seeds or nuts

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg                                 

50g dark chocolate chunks (optional but more decadent!)

Method

Mix melted coconut butter with yoghurt, flax, sugars and stevia in a large bowl for a couple of minutes. Add the mashed banana/plantain and mix until well combined. Mix remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl then add to the wet ingredients. Once well combined, pour mixture into a greased and lined loaf tin and bake at 180C for approx. 50-60 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see when cooked and keep an eye out for top browning (if it looks as though it’s getting too brown loosely lay tin foil over the tin).

The plantain worked a treat! It’s difficult to know exactly how it would have turned out had I just used bananas but I have a feeling that the plantain gave the loaf a more starchy bready texture which worked really well to give a firmer structure to the loaf as a substantial ‘mid-morning snack’ which really helped to fend off the munchies until lunch! This was lovely swerved warm (to melt the choc chunks) with a little vegan butter or cream frosting…………….. Mmmmmmm.