Chocolate & Banana Loaf with Flax Seed

We discovered flax seeds not long ago and I must say they have a distinctive taste which I loved. Flax seeds are meant to be very healthy and are classified as a power food. Flax seeds are nothing but Golden Linseed which if bought from health stores as such will cost much cheaper than buying the milled flax seeds. Just freshly grind your own when you need them, they can be used in baking, savoury and sweet dishes, and also to sprinkle on salads. They add quite a crunchy texture, do make sure that you grind them though as all the nutritious stuff is in the seed itself and your body will not absorb the nutrients through the seed. This delicious chocolate banana loaf can be served with a warm cup of tea with or without some cream or even ice-cream!! Give it a go, the unique taste of linseed will give this loaf a delicious flavour. You will need...

• 80ml (1/3 cup) milk
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 225g (1 ¾ cups) strong wholemeal flour
• 65g (½ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• Pinch ground cloves
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 150g (¾ cup) caster sugar
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp flax seeds (linseed), ground
• 1 tbsp porridge oats

1. Start by mixing the milk and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside so it curdles (about 30 minutes)
2. Preheat the oven to 190 deg C. Grease a 9x5 in loaf pan and set aside.
3. In a bowl mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt and set aside.
4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until creamy and smooth, I used an electric mixer. Mix the mashed bananas, milk/vinegar mixture, olive oil and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Now mix the contents of the two bowls, add the liquid mix to the dry one and stir until you incorporate all the ingredients into a moist batter. Pour the batter into the loaf tin.
6. Bash the flax seeds into a mortar & pestle or spice grinder and grind coarsely. Spoon the ground seeds on top of the batter and using a clean teaspoon, stir into the batter with a slow movement so as the seeds are in the batter.
7. Sprinkle with the porridge oats and bake in the preheated oven for an hour. Leave to set for 10 minutes, carefully remove the loaf from the tin and then serve warm or let cool completely.
   

Enjoy!!

R&A