Hi, friends!
Are you all ready for the upcoming Christmas?
…And by that I mean… (because I know that you already have your Christmas Dinner and Desserts planned and set up, right?) Are you ready to ENJOY yourself?
Are you feeling all that Merriness, and Hope, and Laughter that seems to be spread in the air these days? Because above all the other healthy things that you can do for yourself… FEELING the JOY, being HAPPY is probably the most important thing that you can do for your health!
OK. Now that I’m done with the spiritual part let’s move on to the edible treats part, shall we? 🙂 So… another Christmas Staple today! The gingerbread! But (as you can see) it’s not the cookies 🙂 It is…
The Healthy Banana Gingerbread Breakfast Cake!
Because…
- There’re A LOT of gingerbread cookies recipes out there! And until I come up with my own yummy “twist” for that kind of a cookie I don’t think that it’d be interesting for you to see yet another gingerbread cookie recipe here! 🙂
- I’m dealing with the Overripe Banana Overload in my kitchen 🙂
- What about the Christmas Day’s Breakfast? Am I forgetting something?! I mean, the Marshmallows and the Cake Balls, and the White Chocolate Cranberry Thumbprints are great for Santa and for us – as a treat, all throughout the Christmas Eve. But like I wrote in my Marshmallows post… they’re healthy, but still… They are the TREATS. So… no, I don’t think that you should be eating them for breakfast. 🙂 (Unless of course it’s the only way how you can truly ENJOY your Christmas Day. Happiness above all, remember?)
So, The Banana Gingerbread Cake. Or, if you like, you can also call it (them)Bars. The Healthy Gingerbread Cake/Bars!
And yes, I wanted to be completely honest with you and so I mentioned the true reasons behind me choosing to make it a BANANA Gingerbread… (The Terrible-Horrible Banana Overload in my kitchen:)… This wasn’t the ONLY reason why I’m so excited to share this recipe with you!
The other reasons are:
- Both the banana and the gingerbread breads/cookies are great. But sometimes (if you bake a lot like me!) you can get a little bit weary of them… But matched together… Eureka! They compliment each other perfectly!
- The bananas make my Cake/Bars healthier and lower in calories!
- They also make my Cake/Bars moist and soft… So luscious!
- Finally this moist Cake/Bars is so super-simple to make! (And get a much-deserved break from all that cookie-rolling, shaping, cutting and decorating, huh?) 🙂 …All you need is… a blender! 🙂
I frosted my Healthy Banana Gingerbread Cake/Bars with some sugar icing. I didn’t use a lot of icing because… well… there is NO way to make an icing without the sugar… naturally.
But it does make my Cake (I think that it’s rather a cake, because it’s comes out thick, moist and very tender, don’t you think? Unless you want to call it Bars… I’ll leave it up to you!:) ) look Very Christmassy (i.e. Very Festive and Indulgent)!
But if your mind is set up for a completely “clean” breakfast (i.e. refined sugar-free and low-calorie) (all Yeahs for you!!), you can certainly omit making that icing altogether! Because what you’ll have left then will be this Healthy, Soft, Low Calorie and Refined Sugar Free, Flavorful, Tender and Moist Banana Gingerbread Cake!
Merry upcoming Christmas, my Friends! Stay Joyful and Smile for me! Promise? 🙂
So… what’s your favorite Christmas Day’s breakfast?
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 cups overripe bananas 3 large or 4 small bananas
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/3 cup butter or oil*
- 3 egg whites
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tbsp meringue powder optional, to give your icing a little protein "boost"
- 1/2-1 tsp water or almond milk depending on the desired thickness of your frosting
- Mash the bananas and put them in a saucepan. Bring them to boil, stirring once in a while and let them boil for a few minutes. This step is optional, but boiling the bananas down intensifies their flavor and reduces the moisture. Add the sticky molasses and the butter to the bananas while they're still hot.
- While the banana mixture is cooling down preheat your oven to 350F and line a brownie pan (or a quick bread pan if you like) with some parchment paper.
- Put the egg whites, maple syrup and vanilla extract in the blender. Add the banana, molasses and butter mixture and blend until incorporated. Add the spices and the flour. Blend some more until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the mixture in the pan and bake for about 40 minutes (depending on your oven) until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Enjoy!
Please, comment!