How I celebrate chia seeds finally being available at the supermarket – Apple Banana Bread

Hey there!

I guess you all have heard of the famous chia seeds. Well you’ll definitely have now as I have obviously just told you about them. Most of you actually might even already know everything about the infamous seed and those of you are probably thinking to themselves: Why on earth is she talking about chia seeds, they’ve been around for ages. Yes, surely they have, I am quite aware of that. I have been using chia seeds ever since I started experimenting with my own recipes, which would have been approximately 2 years ago.

So for whom who are new to chia seeds I would like to introduce you to the great South American Seed.

May I introduce Chia Seeds , My readership. My readership, Chia Seeds.

Anyways no that that is done I’d like to tell you a bit more about today’s star of the show. Yet if you are expecting to read a list of sigentific facts I have got to disappoint you. It is not my job to lecture you about why or when or for what reason you can or should eat a certain food. I like actually talking about the preparation and about how one can enjoy ingredients prepared in it the best way possible. Yes sure chia seeds are high in omega three fatty acids and yes they have got the great quality of making your stomach feel full for much longer as they extend when in connection with liquids and as we all know there are definitely liquids in our stomach but let’s not go into detail about that.

Anyways if you want to know a bit more about the actual health benefits of chia seeds I recommend you to read a different article, I’m sure there are plenty around.

Something you will however not find in those sigentific articles and which is inparticularly interesting for my fellow Swiss readers is that you can now finally get those super seeds at the ordinary supermarket aka Migros. I was actually so pleased when I heard that Migros would finally add chia seeds to their range as I love using them in vegan baking as an egg replacement. And as you might have noticed if you have looked through my former cake recipes I have actually been using flaxseed in most recent recipes for the sole reason of wanting to make them creatable for even those who haven’t got any organic food shops in their area or are just not willing to spend the extra Franc at a specialized seller.

So anyways from now on I will probably go back to using chia seeds more often as they are now so easily accessible and since they are sold in 200g packages also reasonable priced. They’re sold at Migros for 5.20 a package and trust me a little goes a long way. You won’t need more than a tablespoon or so most times unless you are baking a wedding cake for 100 people.

So to celebrate Migros finally carrying chia seeds I decided to share how I like to work with them as they actually kind of seem like a mystery when one first gets to know them. I was rather overwhelmed when I bought my first tub of chia seeds ages ago and didn’t quite know what tasks to assign them to.

As I said I personally love using them in vegan baking as sort of an egg replacer since they are a great binding ingredient. I also love making quick overnight chia puddings to have for breakfast or I’ll throw some in a Bircher müesli (recipe) to get a really thick and creamy version of it. Chia seeds are also a lifesaver whenever I crave jam on bread and I haven’t got any jam on hand. This has happened to me quite a few times and whenever it does happen I just chuck some fruit in a food processor, cook it down and add my chia seeds which makes it gelify without adding any sugar at all. So chia seeds come in handy whenever you need a quick and healthy jam fix. I am not saying though that store bought jam is unhealthy yet sometimes they are a tad to sugary in my opinion.

As I mainly use chia seeds in baking I decided to share this quick and easy apple banana bread with you to celebrate Migros’ new addition to their product range.

Quick chia banana bread:

• 3 bananas
• 1 tbs chia seeds
• 50ml water
• 40g maple syrup
• zest of half a lemon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 apple
• 20g millet flakes
• 40g ground hazelnut

Glaze:

• 50g icing sugar
• 3 tbs maple syrup

Optional toppings:

• Migros amaranth with chia and apple granola, which is super delicious and which the lovely Micros people kindly sent me to try out with the chia seeds
• bee pollen
• flowers
• chia seeds

1. Preheat your oven to 185°C.
2. Mix your chia seeds with the water and put aside for later.
3. Puree your bananas until smooth and peel and chop up your apple into small little cubes.
4. Pour your banana puree into a mixing bowl and add the maple syrup, baking powder, the zest of half a lemon, the apple chunks, millet flakes, the chia gel and the ground hazelnuts and mix until well combined.
5. Pour your batter into a loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick stuck into the middle comes out clean.
6. Let your cake cool down and then remove it from the tin.
7. If your serving this cake/banana bread as a dessert I recommend also making a glaze as it just makes it look nicer and taste even better. Mix the powdered sugar with the maple syrup and pour on top of your cake. Add whatever kind of toppings you like

Deutsche Übersetzung:

Bananen Brot/Kuchen

• 3 Bananen
• 1 El Chia Samen
• 50 ml Wasser
• 40 g Ahornsirup
• 2 Tl Backpulver
• 1 Apfel
• 20g Hirseflocken
• 40g gemahlene Haselnüsse

Glasur:

• 50g Puderzucker
• 3 El Ahronsirup

1. Heize den Ofen auf 185°C vor.
2. Vermische die Chia Samen mit dem Wasser. Lass die Mischung quellen.
3. Püriere die Bananen bis du eine geschmeidige Bananen Masse hast. Schäle den Apfel und schneide ihn dann in kleine Würfel.
4. Gib das Bananen Püree in eine Schüssel und füge Ahornsirup, Backpulver, Zitronenschale, die Apfelwürfelchen, das Chia Gelee, Hirseflocken und die gemahlenen Haselnüsse hinzu. Vermische das ganze zu einem Teig.
5. Gib den Teig in eine Cakeform und backe den Kuchen für 30 Minuten.
6. Wenn der Kuchen fertig gebacken ist lass ihn auskühlen und nehme in dann aus der Cakeform.
7. Falls du vorhast den Kuchen als Dessert zu servieren, empfehle ich den Kuchen mit einer Glasur zu vollenden. Für die Glasur vermische den Ahornsirup mit dem Puderzucker bis es eine geschmeidige Glasur ergibt. Glasiere den Kuchen und verziere ihn nach belieben mit den von dir bevorzugten Toppings (zb. Müesli, Blumen, Nüsse…)

That’s it guys. You just created the most amazing gluten free, refined sugar free and vegan banana bread. I made this delightfulness to bring to a barbecue and it was gone within minutes. Everybody loved it. I guess its incredible moist texture, the sweetnens and the slight crunch from the toppings just hit the spot.

Enjoy your week

Bisous