Thursday is taking forever to get over and with weekend taking ages to come, we decided to celebrate where we are at the moment by painting our mid-week blues in rosy hues with a loaf of strawberry and chocolate banana bread. You see, we don’t need flowers every day to pep us up instead, just allow us to dig into some strawberry and chocolate banana bread and we’ll get rolling with its goodness of dairy-free and vegan-friendly taste.
Vegan dishes come packed with the health benefits of plant-based diet which includes lowering risks of sudden death, cardiovascular infection and dementia-related demise as compared with those who eat fewer plant proteins. According to a study published in the ‘Journal of the American College of Nutrition’, it was found that a low-fat vegan diet has better outcomes for weight, body composition, insulin sensitivity and cholesterol levels as compared to a Mediterranean diet.
Check out the super easy recipe of vegan strawberry and chocolate banana bread here:
Wet ingredients:
225g (2 medium) bananas, mashed
110g (1/2 cup) vegan butter, melted, room temperature *
100g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
60 ml (1/4 cup) almond milk
1 tsp vinegar (can be replaced with 80g coconut oil)
Dry ingredients:
250g (2 cups) cake or all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
Add-ins:
1/2 cup (150g) strawberries, chopped,
30g (2 tbsp) mini chocolate chips
2 tsp corn starch
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a loaf pan (I use a 25cm pan) with parchment paper and set aside. Place bananas, sugar, vanilla, vinegar, almond milk and melted butter to a food processor and blend until smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Sift dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
Add corn starch, strawberries and chocolate chips to a small bowl and toss to coat. Fold in the chocolate chips and strawberries to the batter using a rubber spatula.
Transfer the batter to the lined pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Once a skewer comes out clean, remove from the oven. Allow the banana bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
(Recipe: Yukiko Tanzi, Instagram/foodie.yuki)
Benefits:
Strawberries are sodium-free, fat-free, cholesterol-free, low-calorie food and are packed with fibres and vitamins. They protect the heart by increasing HDL which is good cholesterol, guard against cancer and lower the blood pressure.
Their strong astringent, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidants properties not only protect skin from harmful UV rays but also treat burns and delay ageing. Strawberries prevent hair loss and the vitamin C in them encourages iron absorption and encourages better hair growth.
If there is a match made in heaven that everyone believes in universally, it has to be the combo of chocolate with strawberries. Apart from lifting up your mood in a jiffy, chocolates’ reputation is rising for having antioxidant effects and reducing risk factors for heart disease courtesy its cocoa content.
On the other hand, bananas, whether mashed or otherwise, help lower the level of stress as they are rich in potassium which is an essential mineral needed to regulate water balance, acidity level and blood pressure.
So, wrap up work on a jovial note this evening and whip up some strawberry and chocolate banana bread for yourself and loved ones.
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