Easy Healthy Wholewheat Ragi Banana Bread | Eggless, Vegan Banana Bread
Who doesn’t love a good wholewheat ragi banana bread! Moist, cake-like bread loaf that’s easy to bake and super healthy too. Pairs beautifully with your evening cuppa and makes for a guilt-free dessert snack!
If you know me or have been a reader here for a while, you must be aware of my enthusiasm for using wholesome flours, especially when it comes to baking. I believe that eliminating refined flours and other processed ingredients , especially in home cooking is the easiest way to celebrate nutrition and ensure balanced eating.
I enjoy testing out new wholesome flour recipes while baking – this way I know exactly what went into the cake. Furthermore, the satisfaction of developing my own healthy recipes is just otherworldly!
Ragi aka finger millet – a wonder grain?
A versatile grain that has been the chief source of nutrition for millions of individuals across the world, ragi or finger millet is a wonder grain in its own right. Ragi is ideal for those suffering from diabetes, because its high fiber content, minerals and amino acids helps in managing insulin levels in the body.
Ragi boasts of higher calcium content than most other millets and cereals, making it a superior choice for fighting diseases related to calcium deficiency, like osteoporosis. Also, the amino acid profile has been noted to improve dramatically upon fermenting ragi for a duration of 16-24 hours – this also serves to improve the protein yield and reduce the starch content, aside from reducing the anti-nutrient content like phytates.
The benefits of a ragi-rich diet don’t stop here – this nutrient-dense crop is also drought-resistant and has a longer shelf life, making it an ideal candidate for fighting food insecurity and climate change.
Banana Bread – The Story Behind
As a matter of fact, this wholewheat ragi banana bread recipe was founded on a whim as usual, for incorporating wholesome, nutritious ingredients in a delicious bake. However, it turned out so delightful each time I made it, that banana bread rose to one of my favorite bakes. There are no surprises, really – the ingredients are fewer and easily available – not to mention – super healthy too.
This bread can be refrigerated for 1-2 days, and is best devoured within that duration. It can be packed in your child’s lunch box as a pleasant sweet surprise. Also, you can pack it in your lunch and enjoy the guilt-free dessert option.
Further, this makes use of those bananas that have been ignored tad bit too long, and we all know that overripe bananas aren’t all that fun to eat now, are they! Above all, the procedure is super easy, and your banana bread is ready within an hour, just in time to be paired with your evening cuppa.
If you’re looking to try other healthy bakes, do try my
Oats Red Rice Cranberry Cookies,
Pumpkin Spice Barnyard Millet Cake
Wholewheat Chocolate Ganache Cake!
RECIPE: Wholewheat Ragi Banana Bread
Serves 8
Preparation Time: 10 minutes, Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup wholewheat flour
1/2 cup ragi flour
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp baking powder
8-10 walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup powdered jaggery
1 tsp cinnamon powder
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ tsp salt
METHOD
Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. Grease a bread tin with little oil and then dust some flour evenly on it.
Next, blend the overripe into a smooth purée using a blender or food processor.
Sieve all the dry ingredients together, i.e. wheat atta and ragi flours, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add chopped walnuts and mix well with a spatula.
In another bowl, whisk together jaggery powder or sugar and oil until fluffy. Add banana purée, vanilla essence and cinnamon powder. Whisk everything together to form a uniform and fluffy liquid mixture.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the bowl with wet ingredients in two stages, as you whisk them together . Take care to not over-mix.
Finally, pour the batter into the greased and flour-dusted bread tin. Tap on a surface a few times to release any trapped air.
Bake at 185°C for about 45-50 minutes, until it has risen firmly. Check if the bread is baked by inserting toothpick in the center and a corner – it should come out clean.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow to completely cool down. Run a flour-dusted knife along the edges of the bread tin.
Finally, remove the tin to reveal beautiful banana bread.
Devour!
NOTES
- If you wish – and purely for aesthetic reasons – you can reserve a thin lengthwise slice of banana as a topping for the batter later on. Once you’ve poured the batter in the tin, place the banana slice over the surface and place in the oven to be baked.
- I’ve used jaggery powder to enrich the taste profile as well as the micronutrient profile. You could easily substitute the same with cane sugar/ brown sugar/ molasses/ coconut sugar/ palm sugar. In contrast, if using the simple powdered white sugar, you can reduce the quantity by half a cup for the measurements given here, as it has more sweetness.
Wholewheat Atta Ragi Banana Bread | Eggless, Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 cup ragi flour
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 8-10 walnuts roughly chopped
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 1.5 cup jaggery powdered
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. Grease a bread tin with little oil and then dust some flour evenly on it.
- Next, blend the overripe into a smooth purée using a blender or food processor.
- Sieve all the dry ingredients together, i.e. wheat atta and ragi flours, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add chopped walnuts and mix well with a spatula.
- In another bowl, whisk together jaggery powder or sugar and oil until fluffy. Add banana purée, vanilla essence and cinnamon powder. Whisk everything together to form a uniform and fluffy liquid mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with wet ingredients in two stages, as you whisk them together with the other hand. You should mix only well enough to make a smooth batter; do not over-mix.
- Pour the batter into the greased and flour-dusted bread tin. Tap on a surface a few times to release any trapped air.
- Bake at 185°C for about 45-50 minutes, until it has risen firmly. Check if the bread is baked by inserting toothpick in the center and a corner – it should come out clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow to completely cool down. Run a flour-dusted knife along the edges of the bread tin.
- Turn the tin around on a plate and tap on the tin. Remove the tin to reveal beautiful banana bread.
- Devour!
