This Lovely Banana and Strawberry Loaf of Bread can be prepared using overripe fruit. It's low GI, full of protein, VERY low in fat, metabolism boosting, nutritious, easy and quick to make and bake and easy to store and pack as a boosting snack! It has quite a chewy Soreen type texture with a lovely crust but soft and sticky inside. I find that if I have this as a mid afternoon snack or about 2 hours after lunch, it keeps me satisfied until about 1900 - meaning I can have a late dinner, fit in a good gym session and not run out of energy. The key features of this healthy snack being it's low GI so releases energy slowly and steadily, contains significant protein which helps keep you fuller for longer, and the slice itself can be eaten slowly and in a satisfying filling way! Use Muscovado sugar instead of caster sugar because its healthier and helps give the bread it's lovely rich brown colour and slightly treacle/mollases taste. It's also lower in terms of its GI and contains less calories/g than refined sugar. Bananas are renowned for their low GI, rich in potassium (great as a post workout snack) and are best used in this recipe when black - a great way to stop food wastage!
Makes 14 slices.
Ingredients:
2 Egg Whites
140g Dark Brown Muscovado Sugar
300g Ripe Bananas
200g Fresh Strawberries
40ml Semi-skimmed Milk
200g Self Raising Flour
2 Teaspoons (or more if you like!) Ground Cinnamon Powder
Some Freshly Grated Nutmeg
2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder.
50 - 100 ml Cold Water
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Prepare a loaf tin ... Preferably choose non stick but even so, line with greaseproof paper with the tiniest bit of butter, just to make it stick! This will be negligible in terms of fat/calories.
In a bowl mash up the bananas, strawberries, milk and vanilla extract until lovely and frothy. Add the water to the mix (You can add more later if the consistency seems too thick). Next, add in the muscovado sugar and mix thoroughly with the banana/strawberry mixture to help it separate and dissolve. In another bowl, whisk the egg white to try and make them a little thicker, whiter and frothy, this will help the cake rise a bit better. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg to taste, these have great thermogenic and health benefits, but they can be overpowering, I recommend 1-4 teaspoons, I use about 2 and a half. Sift in the flour and baking powder and try your best to fold it in to the mixture but you can whisk it all up again just to get some air in otherwise.
Pour the mixture in to the prepared loaf tin using a soft spatula to get the last bits out of the bowl and then bake in the oven for about 50 mins to an hour. It should split on top a little when it rises as it bakes. To test if its cooked, place a skewer in. The outside should seem a little "tough" and there should be quite a bit of resistance pulling the skewer out, with some very thick mixture on it. This is normal, just make sure that it's not really liquidy, it should be quite hard to wipe the mixture of the skewer if cooked.
Take the loaf out of the oven when cooked and take it out of the tin ASAP and leave to cool on a wire rack. When cool, cut in to 14 individual pieces, they should weigh about 45g each. If you choose to, wrap each piece up individually and keep in the freezer or fridge 'til needed. It should keep well in the fridge for about 10 days and for many months in the freezer.
Nutritional info per slice:
Energy: 114kCal
Carbohydrates: 26g
Fat: 0g (negligible)
Protein: 2g
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