Excerpts of my old post (when I first published this post in 2014)
Now that lil baby Zee is almost 15 months old her appetite is ever increasing making it absolutely necessary for me to innovate on a daily basis as I have to feed her interesting things almost every 2-3 hours. I rummaged the internet for some interesting ideas to create a healthy meal plan for my baby. Honestly I am not excited by the prospect of waking up every morning and drawing a blank when it comes to give her something nutritious and fun. Thankfully I came across this very nice article on babycentre.in which had a meal plan chalked out for Indian babies aged 1 and above. I immediately took a printout and pinned it up on my pin board in the kitchen.
I don’t follow the meal menu to the T but it saves me the heartburn when I am running out of ideas sometimes especially on the first two days of the week when I am still in the weekend hangover mood and I can’t think of any fresh ideas. That’s when I glance through it to give her something I can put together in a few minutes. One such recommendation was to give the baby a banana muffin. Now who doesn’t like muffins? And who doesn’t like bananas in cakes? Instead of muffins I decided to make a banana loaf which I could cut into slices and store easily, freeze if need be. I totally love banana bread and I keep hunting for new recipes although I have already posted a couple of baked goodies with bananas in them. The Banana Choco Chip Muffins are an all time hit with my family and a lot of readers have tried it too. The Banana Bread with choco chips is another favourite too. And who can resist the Chocolate Banana Cake with all that gorgeous chocolate ganache?
I found this recipe in the Friday magazine and since all their recipes have worked for me I tried this one too and boy was I amazed with the results! This cake with the addition of dates was amazing. Simply stunning! It was such a hit when I made it the first time that I decided to make it again but with a healthy twist. Since Roshan and I are watching our diet and always try to eat desserts that make us feel less guilty I experimented by replacing part of the all purpose flour (maida) with whole wheat flour (atta) and threw in some oats. The result was even better and I am so glad I have this new recipe to hang on to. My daughter freaked out on this cake for the next two days – yeah, I am guilty of feeding her cake for her evening snack on two days, but not so guilty because it is healthier than store bought cakes and she gets to eat sweets very very rarely.
By the way, I know that most of those who observe the holy season of Lent may have given up sweets and hence baking too. But I urge you to make this as soon as you are able to. This bread is a wholesome food (for the soul) I would say, not too sweet and with a nice dose of dates that are extremely good for health. So I am dedicating this post to two people. My dearest grand-uncle Fr. Francis Rodrigues, who lives in Nairobi and had requested me a while ago for a banana bread recipe and my new and lovely reader turned friend Susanna Farias Mendonza whom I promised I would post this recipe soon.
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This was how the cake looked when I made it the first time on March 30, 2014!
Banana Date Bread with Whole Wheat & Oats
Ingredients
- 125 grams all purpose flour/maida * see notes
- 75 grams whole wheat flour
- 25 grams quick cooking oats * see notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 125 grams seedless dates, chopped * notes
- 2 tablespoons hot milk
- 1 teaspoon soda bi carb/baking soda
- 2 big slightly overripe bananas * see notes
- 125 grams butter
- 175 grams caster sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment. Sift the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour and oats with the baking powder and keep aside.
- Take aside a little flour and roll the chopped dates in it so that they don't sink to the bottom of the cake.
- In a mixing bowl mash the bananas to a smooth consistency. Keep aside.
- Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk and when it turns slightly foamy pour into the mashed banana mixture.
- Add the butter, caster sugar, eggs and mix well. Add the flour (in parts) and mix well. Stir in the dates and mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45-55 minutes. My loaf was done in exactly 55 minutes. To check doneness of the cake, insert a skewer or knife into the cake and if it comes clean the cake is done.
- Remove the tin and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Invert the loaf onto the wire rack and let it cool completely before serving. If you cut it before it cools there is a chance that the cake will crumble. Garnish with chopped banana slices if desired.
Notes
- I used two big bananas – golden bananas or cavendish variety. You may use 4 small bananas (Elaichi/Kadholi variety)
- I used regular, quick cooking Quaker oats (easily available in all stores) and not instant oats (which needs to be added to boiling water in a mug)
- The original recipe called for 225 grams of all purpose flour/maida. I replaced part of with oats & whole wheat flour. You may make it healthier by adding any other healthy flour of your choice or just make it out of all purpose flour.
- I used about 21 medium-big sized dates. You can use any variety. The weight is without the seeds.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
that definitely does look really healthy and delicious… perfect for breakfast!
Such a healthy cake…a must try…if possible pls do share recipes of some eggless cakes too 🙂
Tried out this cake and it turned out great:) my little one loved it !!
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@ Rafeeda: Thank you dearie 🙂
@ Preeti: Thanks so much. I will try and post some eggless cake recipes soon although we prefer cakes with eggs at home (my son wont eat eggs otherwise so cakes are the only way to get him to eat some)
@ Audrey: So happy to hear that! Thanks for the feedback!
@ Ricky: I believe this is sorted now 🙂
Tried this recipie and it turned out really good..the cake was over in 10 min…thanks a lot
@ Beatle: Thanks a ton! Glad you liked this cake 🙂
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe. It was my first attempt of baking a loaf. It turned out to be a huge hit in my family, everyone loved it. The loaf was moist, flavorful, and above all its an healthier option. Thank you 🙂
@ Sammy: Thanks so much for the great feedback! Happy to hear that everyone liked it 🙂
I can’t wait to try this out. what kind of oats though? instant or rolled?
I used Quaker quick cooking (not instant) porridge oats
Hi do we need to grind the oats or use them as they are?
I used quick cooking Quaker oats, the breakfast porridge variety – there is no need to grind them if you are using them. If you are using whole grain or steel cut oats you can pulse them in the grinder till you get a coarse powder and then use them.
Hi Shireen, can I substitute caster sugar with brown sugar? If yes is it the same quantity as caster sugar? TIA
Hi Preethi,
Yes, you can substitute caster sugar with brown sugar. However, there are different varieties of brown sugar like demerara, soft brown sugar, light muscovado, dark muscovado with various levels of sweetness. You may need to add slightly more quantity of dark muscovado sugar for example as it is not as sweet as regular white sugar..so please make that adjustment
Hi Shireen, have you missed out the step to add the mashed bananas?
Hi Zee,
No, I haven’t missed out. Please check step#4. The baking soda & milk mixture needs to be added to the mashed bananas and then the flour needs to be added to it