breakfast

Chocolate Avocado Almond Cake

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Chocolate avocado almond cakeHi everybody! I know, it has been a very long time since my last post. And what is better to post than a recipe from my favorite form of cooking, baking!!! I have a greater affinity to baking and this must be the umpteenth time that I had mentioned here in my site. Baking generally involves sugar, that too lots of sugar. With that being said, wouldn’t it be awesome to bake something that is sweet but does not have processed sugar and healthy as well? I recently found one such recipe and that too of a cake! It is called the Chocolate Avocado Almond cake. Chocolate avocado almond cake
I came across the Chocolate Avocado Almond cake one afternoon when me and my HB were craving for something sweet but that doesn’t make us feel guilty after eating it 🙂 (thats one tough cookie!). Voila, I found this savior and was thoroughly satisfied afterwards. Chocolate Avocado Almond cake, as the name suggests, is made of avocado, coconut oil, coconut cream, almond flour, honey, chocolate chips and cocoa powder. It is very easy to make and is not time consuming at all.
Chocolate avocado almond cakeChocolate Avocado Almond cake is one of those rare, too good to be true, kind of recipe. It is healthy, has no added sugar (honey and chocolate chips take care of the sweetness) and is an excellent breakfast item. It can also be had as a snack (which we did when baked the first time :). For those of you wondering about the lengthy name, I came up with it, just put together the ingredients and here is your tasty, yummy Chocolate Avocado Almond cake. Try it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Chocolate avocado almond cake

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Chocolate Avocado Almond Cake
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • Almond flour – 2 cups
  • Raw cocoa powder – ¼ cup
  • Baking soda – 1 tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Cashew nuts, roughly chopped - ½ cup (or any nuts of your choice)
  • Avocado, medium – 1½ Cups
  • Melted coconut oil – 3 tbsp
  • Coconut cream, room temperature – 2 ½ tbsp
  • Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
  • Eggs, room temperature - 2
  • Raw honey – 3 tbsp
  • Chocolate chips – ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp
  • Sugar – 1 tbsp (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line the bottom and sides of the 8 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
  2. Sieve the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Add the nuts to the dry ingredients and mix well without any lumps.
  3. Remove the pit and pulse avocadoes in a blender. Add coconut oil, coconut cream, vanilla extract, eggs, and honey and blend together to a smooth paste.
  4. Add the ground paste to the dry ingredients and gently mix using rubber spatula. Do not over mix.
  5. Add the chocolate chips and fold the mixture.
  6. Spoon batter into the loaf pan and spread it evenly using rubber spatula. (The batter will be really thick)
  7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the tooth pick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  8. Cool the bread over a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Mango Bread

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Eggless Mango bread Today, I was in the mood for something sweet, something that describes the summer season and something healthy. Yep, it has got something to do with Mango. It is the Mango bread! The recipe for Mango bread that I have given below is truly healthy and is a light fare. It has no eggs, is made of wheat flour and has very little added sugar!
Eggless Mango bread I came across this Mango bread recipe online recently and it immediately picked my curiosity. I have heard about banana bread, zucchini bread, raisin bread etc but Mango bread? It was the first time I have heard about it. But trust me, the bread tastes awesome. Mango bread can be had for breakfast or served as a snack. If you are left with more mangoes than you could possibly eat, I would say Mango bread is the way to go.
Eggless Mango bread
Mango bread is very easy to make and as said earlier, is healthy as well. Kids would love it. Try baking this unique bread variety in your kitchen and let me know how well you liked it  🙂

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Mango Bread
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 (9 x 5 x 3 inches) loaf
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 8 tbsp unsalted butter (1/2 cup or 1 stick), room temperature
  • ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 large mangoes or 1 cup mango puree
  • 3 to 4 tsp sugar or add as required
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Grease a loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inches) with butter or oil on the bottom and on all four sides and set aside.
  2. Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a medium bowl.
  4. Peel and cut the mangoes (measuring 1 cup tightly packed) and add it to the blender. Add sugar according to your taste and depending on mangoes' sweetness. Blend together in to a puree.
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit or 180 degree Celsius.
  6. In a large oven safe mixing bowl, heat and melt the butter for 35 seconds. Allow it to cool.
  8. Add in condensed milk to the butter and whisk together in to a smooth mixture.
  10. Add in the mango puree and vanilla or mango essence and whisk together until well combined. – I would highly recommend using mango essence to get the complete flavor in the bread.
  12. Add in the flour and gently fold them together using a spatula. – The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it to be smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread. The batter might look thinner if you are using store bought mango puree.
  14. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Shake the pan and even the batter on top using spatula.
  16. Bake in oven (preferably in the middle rack) for 55 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean – I covered the pan with aluminum foil after 35 minutes when it started to turn brown on top.
  18. Turn out the bread onto a wire rack and allow it to cool. Serve the yummy mango bread as hot or cold for a breakfast or brunch or as an evening snack. Enjoy! 
Notes
1.Recipe also suggests to use cardamom powder or cinnamon powder or mango essence in place of vanilla extract.
2.Use a fiber less mangoes.
3.Wheat flour could also be substituted with all purpose flour.

Eggless Mango bread

Banana bread

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Banana BreadHi guys, Today I finally decided to make something with the ripe bananas that has been on the counter for the past two days. So zeroed in on Banana bread, a favorite of us. Banana Bread is a type of bread that is often served as an after meal snack. According to Wikipedia, Banana bread became popular in US in the 1930s after the advent of baking soda 🙂 and February 23rd is National Banana Bread Day. Generally, I am a fan of banana and like food items that has banana as one of the ingredients.
Banana breadBanana breadBanana bread is very easy to make and is very flavorful. In fact while I am writing this, Banana bread is getting baked in the oven and I could smell the divine smell of bananas and butter mixed together. Can’t wait to have a bite! If you have the ingredients sorted out, then baking the bread takes no time at all. There are different varieties to banana bread as well, like, chocolate chip banana bread, banana nut bread, banana raisin bread etc. Here I have given you the recipe for plain banana bread with cashews.
Banana breadHere comes the beep from the oven! Alright, enough of the stories. I guess its nom nom time and I am off to the kitchen. Hope you are too, to start making this wonderful, simple and flavorful dish, i.e. the Banana Bread 🙂

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Banana bread
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 9x5x3 inch loaf
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 3 overripe large bananas, mashed
  • ⅓ cup any nuts, chopped, divided (I used cashews)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
  2. Lightly grease a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan with butter on the sides and line the bottom with parchment sheet. Set aside.
  4. Mash the bananas, chop the nuts and beat the eggs.
  5. In a large bowl, sieve flour, baking soda and salt together.
  7. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
  9. First add the sugar mixture into the flour mixture and mix well without any lumps. Then add in eggs and bananas and mix them with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the batter is thick and chunky (The important thing is not to over mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery bread).
  10. Mix half of the chopped nuts to the batter. Lightly fold the batter. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top it off with the remaining nuts.
  12. Bake in oven (preferably in the middle rack) for 60 to 65 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick when inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow them to cool.
  13. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen.

Banana bread

CARROT CHUTNEY

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carrot chutneyCarrot chutney is a side dish made entirely from carrots. I did not know you can make chutney from carrots until recently. It is a healthy alternative to other side dishes that you have for dosa and idli, like, coconut chutney, kadalai paruppu chutney etc.
carrot chutneyCarrot, as you know, is a very good source of Vitamin A. So what better way to have it other than as chutney for breakfast and start your day on a healthy note :). Carrot chutney is one of my HB’s favorite side dish for dosa and idli especially because it being a healthier option.
carrot chutney
Carrot chutney is very good for kids who normally sulk over eating vegetables since having it with idli or dosas is easier than having them eat it raw. One other interesting thing to notice is that how well carrot tastes along with ginger, a root known for its medicinal values (home remedy for indigestion, nausea etc).
carrot chutney
Do try this recipe in your home and let me know your experiences.

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Recipe type: Breakfast/Dinner
Cuisine: Indian
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • Oil – 2 tablespoons
  • Bengal gram dal – 1 tablespoon
  • Urad dal – 1 tablespoon
  • Red chillies – 4 nos
  • Tomato, roughly chopped – 1 no
  • Fresh ginger, chopped – a small piece (1”)
  • Carrot , peeled, chopped– 1 no
  • Grated coconut – 1 tbsp
  • Salt as required
For the seasoning:
  • Mustard seeds – 1 /2 tsp
  • Urad dal – ½ tsp
  • Curry leaves – 6 nos
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a pan and add bengal gram and urad dals and fry till it turns light brown.
  2. Add in red chillies and fry.
  3. Then add ginger along with tomato. Sauté for few seconds.
  4. Finally add carrot pieces and sauté for two to three seconds. Switch off the flame and allow it to cool. Then add fresh coconut and salt to it. Grind all together to a fine paste.
  5. Season it with mustard, urad dal and curry leaves.
  6. Enjoy it with hot idli or dosa!

carrot chutney