Dates Cake (Eggless & Butterless)

Hi!!
Here is a kind of healthy baking.. The fancy words "eggless" & "butterless" doesn't mean so much to me...However I would prefer to use less fat as much as I can. We may have read in many health articles that "Butter" has high calories from its saturated fat and also has high cholesterol which is bad for heart.. So nowadays I am using Olive oil instead of butter. And "eggless" was unintentional. I didn't have egg in my fridge so I didn't use it. But the cake turned out just fine and super moist. Unbelievable!! Therefore I have to admit that we can also go healthy in baking without losing the divine taste of real baking.For me healthy baking is all about no butter, no white sugar and no white flour..Rest all fine..
Since I cook eggs daily in various form, a piece of advice for you guys out there..Do not ignore the eggs if you ain't vegan or allergic. Egg is a good source of protein. In fact many agree that it helps to reduce weight ;) Good news isn't it?? Why wait?? Try it out !!

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Crostini

It's been a while I made this luscious appetizer. This is one appetizer never be left lonely on the plate at the end of a meal. Creamy & nutty red pepper pesto is divine, comfort & lip smacking sauce I ever made. Goes well with pasta, as a dipping sauce and in crostini. The roasted red pepper adds more flavor to the pesto. Never be lazy to roast the pepper.

Whenever I see the vibrant red peppers I just dream of the pesto I used to make long back when we were in North China. You find ample quantity of red pepper there. I used to make in large quantity and freeze them for later use. Here in Guangzhou I see them on & off. So I bought them last week when I found them in farmers market.

Here we go with nice & crisp crostini with red pepper pesto. I am bit unhappy that I totally lost the original recipe owner as I have been making this pesto since long time & never had any record of the original recipe. Anyway I am very much grateful to the person who shared this awesome recipe in web. :)

Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is my childhood favourite. I used to get this during X'mas from a dear friend of mine from school. He used to make it by himself and that too an amazingly perfect pudding. After schooling neither of us had time for it. I'd wrote him couple of months ago and asked for the recipe. I got the reply with his recipe card yay!! :) Tnx dude!

So now not wasting a single day I started making my bread pudding. Instead of steaming the pudding I have baked it.  It turned out very well.. As good as original recipe..
Every spoon full is a bliss & satisfying memory. This scrumptious dessert is all what we need at the end of a busy day. Stretch, relax & start diggin in the pudding.

Banana Oat Muffin

I am very proud to bake this yummy muffin for my sweet hubby. Its been our mid day snack ever since i tried out the recipe. He loves the muffin and taking that as an advantage I add few extra ingredients which he dislikes to see on table. And i have been success on that part as he never guessed about it. Banana oat muffin is just not a muffin with all those basic baking ingredients and banana. But I used to put all the good things while baking to overpower the badness in baking. I can't name this recipe as Banana Oat Muffin since i have thrown dates, chiaseeds, flaxseed and raisins into this. Also butter free. So can name it as "Health freak Muffin" ;)...

Servings: 16 nos
Baking time: 20-25 mins
Preparation time : 15 mins
Level: Easy

Ingredients: 

1	Wheat Flour	2 cups
2	Oats	1 cup
3	Banana	3 medium size
4	Dates	50 gm
5	Milk	3/4 cup
6	Egg	1
7	Brown sugar	1/2 cup
8	Canola/ OliveOil	60 ml
9	Baking powder	2 Tsp
10	Baking soda	1 Tsp
11	Salt	1/2 tsp
12	Flaxseed powder	2 Tbsp
13	Chiaseed	3 Tbsp
14	Cinnamon powder	1 Tsp
15	Nutmeg	1/2 tsp
16	Raisins	25 gm

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 205 degrees C.

2. Combine all dry ingredients flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, dates, raisins, chia seed, flaxseed powder and spices cinnamon powder and nutmeg

3. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients egg, milk and oil and beat

4. Add mashed banana to the egg mixture and combine well

5. Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture and mix until just combines. Don't over do.

6. Line the muffin cups and spoon the batter to each cup till half.

7. Bake them at 205 degree C for 20-25 mins or until the toothpick when inserted comes out clean.

Note:
1. Vary the recipe by adding your own choices of nuts and dry fruits.
2. The baking time depends on the oven you use. So make it 15 mins in oven and check with toothpick for further baking.