Easy Banana Bread Recipe with Chocolate Chips & Flax Seeds (2024)

FAQs

What does flaxseed meal do in bread? ›

For most baked products, moderate to high inclusion levels of ground flaxseed allow for the reduction or removal of shortening or other added oils. Shorter mixing times are required for certain products. In bread products, flaxseed addition can increase fermentation and proof times.

However, if you've already started whipping up a batch of your favorite whole wheat banana bread and suddenly realize you're out of all purpose flour, using bread flour in its place will work as a suitable replacement!

Check your oven to make sure it really is showing the correct temperature that you set it for and another thing is to make sure you only add in the amount of mashed up bananas that the recipe calls for. Sounds like you are not measuring properly to many bananas will make it gummy.

Using too much banana could make your bread heavy and damp in the center, causing it to appear undercooked and unappealing. If you have bananas leftover, you can always freeze them for later use.

Flaxseed Can Replace Fat in Baking:

Flaxseed can replace all of the fat called for in a recipe because of its high oil content. If a recipe calls for 1/3 cup (75 mL) of oil or butter or other fat then use 1 cup (250 mL) of ground flaxseed to replace it. Generally, use a 3:1 substitution ratio.

It Could Support Weight Loss

“Taking between 2 to 4 tablespoons of flaxseed a day is recommended to help with weight management.” A review of 45 studies found that flaxseed could significantly reduce body weight and belly fat, especially when used for at least 12 weeks in doses above 30 grams.

You can use bread flour if you have no choice and there's some sort of banana cake emergency at hand, but I wouldn't recommend it as a good choice of flour in this instance. Bread flour has a higher gluten content which can give you the larger holes (alveoli) you see in good breads.

If you use too much flour, you'll end up with really dry banana bread, and If you don't use enough flour, your banana bread will be way too wet. The secret lies in how you measure the flour. The scoop out of the bag method could be packing way too much flour.

Substitute each teaspoon (5 grams) of baking powder in the recipe with 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) vinegar. Summary: Each teaspoon (5 grams) of baking powder can be replaced with a 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda and a 1/2 teaspoon vinegar.

Banana bread recipes typically ask you to use overripe bananas so that they're easier to mush. This means it's tempting to toss all your bananas into the mix when you're ready to bake, to avoid food waste. But if you add too much of the fruit into your batter, your bread could turn out mushy, heavy, and wet.

How do you keep banana bread moist? ›

Place a paper towel at the bottom of an airtight container or in a zip-top bag. Place the cooled banana bread on top of it, then cover the loaf with another paper towel. Seal the container tightly and refrigerate for up to one week.

Too much baking soda in banana bread will inevitably lead to too much browning. Baking soda will increase the pH of your banana bread batter, making it more basic or alkaline. At higher pH, Maillard browning reactions occur, leading to a darker colour much faster.

The usual remedy for something both burned and undercooked is lower heat, longer cooking time - it lets the temperature equalize a bit more, so it cooks more evenly. You might try 300F for your usual 1:20 cooking time, and see if it doesn't burn and/or needs more time.

In the oven, the outside begins to cook much faster than the inside; the crack is from the inner batter rising and releasing steam through the semi-cooked outer batter.

Grind flaxseeds in a spice grinder or use pre-ground flaxseed meal to substitute breadcrumbs in recipes. The nutty flavour and binding properties of ground flaxseeds make them a great option for meatloaf, meatballs, or as a coating for tofu.

Flaxseed meal can be used two ways in gluten-free baking: as a whole grain addition to gluten-free flour blends (about ⅕ of the total flour used) or a high-fiber 1:1 alternative to xanthan gum (a gluten-free way to give dough stickiness and structure).

While ground flaxseed cannot completely replace the flour in a recipe, it can easily replace about 1/4 of the flour called for. The rest of the all purpose or whole wheat flour should be substituted for gluten free flour.

Ground chia seeds are an excellent flax meal substitute as a thickening agent, a vegan egg replacement, and added to baked goods. Whole chia seeds work well in smoothies, puddings, oatmeal, and baked goods.