Banana Health benefits and Exciting Recipes

Banana Health benefits and Exciting Recipes

Banana Health benefits and Exciting Recipes

Bananas often get a bad reputation for increasing body fats and messing with your figure. But, in reality, a banana is not that fattening as it is generally made out to be. In fact, it is quite a low-fat diet which makes for a healthy snack and does not ruin your calorie budget. Moreover, they are packed with fibre and resistant starch, which would lead more towards the weight loss rather than the gain. That’s just the beginning of a plethora of banana benefits. In this article we’ll walk you through health advantages of this wonder fruit and on the way, we will discuss how you can include it in your diet in ways much more interesting than its typical raw form.

Talking about its benefits, we can mark the whole spectrum from losing weight to getting a lovely complexion. Here they are…

1.Good for Your Bones
A typical under-ripe banana can provide 4.7 grams of Resistant Starch, which helps in better absorption of calcium and magnesium in the body- thus giving you stronger, healthier bones.
2. It Has High Iron Content
Wishing for rosy cheeks? Then the high iron content banana can help you with that as Iron stimulates the formation of haemoglobin in the bloodstream.
3. It’s an Energy Food
Banana is rich in potassium which delivers sugars that then quickly get released into the bloodstream, providing you instant energy. An exuberant feeling often lingers after a go at a banana.
4. It’s Good for Your Heart
Sinc banana contains lots of fibre, it is naturally good for your heart. It is a great addition to your diet to cut the risk of both coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
5.And Most ImportantlyIt Keeps You Happy!
Feeling low? Then try a banana, you’re sure to feel happier and more positive. It is an effective mood booster and perhaps the least expensive one too. Talking science, it contains a huge amount of tyrosine and tryptophan which further form serotonin and dopamine- the “happy” neurotransmitters.

Since banana is so important to consider in our diets, why not make it a tad more exciting from eating it is just plain raw form. We bring to you 4 cool recipes of dishes that as much you’ll love eating them, you would equally enjoy preparing them. Here comes the first dish…

1.Banana Bread Pancakes:

These fluffy pancakes taste deliciously creamy. Thanks to the additions like oats, the goodness of the banana just multiplies.

Banana Bread Pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups buttermilk pancake mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ cup old-fashioned oats
2 large eggs
½ cup chopped pecans
2 cups buttermilk
3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
Maple syrup

Instructions

  • Whisk the pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and pancake mix in a medium bowl. Pour in the oats.
  • Whisk the eggs in another bowl and then stir in the vanilla, mashed bananas and buttermilk. Mix well. If the batter turns out to be a bit thick, add more buttermilk. Let the mix sit for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the frying pan or the griddle.
  • Spray the griddle or fry pan with cooking spray and heat over medium flame. When it is hot, pour the pancake mix onto it, about quarter a cup per pancake would do. Cook until the bottom develops a light brown colour.
  • Flip and repeat it with the other side.

Serve hot with blueberries, maple syrup or sliced bananas.

2.Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:

This healthy snack tastes like banana bread. Plus, the chocolate chips on the top is simply perfection.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup ripe mashed bananas
About 12 teaspoons small semi-sweet chocolate chips ( around 1 teaspoon for each muffin)
A pinch of salt, to taste

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to a temperature of 400F. Take a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan and spray it well with cooking spray and then flour it before setting aside.
  • Whisk together the first 6 ingredients (up till cinnamon) in a large bowl.
  • Now add the bananas and beat the mixture well.
  • Add baking powder, salt, flour and stir until it is well-mixed.
  • Now fill the cavities of the Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan to about 3/4. Do not exceed the amount.
    Sprinkle each of the muffin tops generously with small chocolate chips- 1 teaspoon for each.
  • Bake them for 10 minutes at 400F and then reduce the temperature to 350 F to bake for another 8 minutes. In the end, muffins should have acquired a dome shape and should appear golden. There should not be a raw batter in the sight.
  • They are ready to serve.

3.Caramelized Banana Upside-Down Cake:

The moist and the springy cake with caramel’s alluring flavour makes for an irresistible gorging on. Brown sugar, butter create the tastiest bananas ever.

Caramelized Banana Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
About 4 small/medium ripe bananas or 3 extra-large ones (sliced in half vertically and then sliced in horizontally)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
Pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
Salted caramel sauce for drizzling
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup sour cream
Salted caramel sauce for drizzling

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to the temperature of 350F. Take a 9-inch springform cake pan and spray it with cooking spray. Then set it aside.
  • Take a microwave-safe bowl and melt the butter taking 1 minute at high power.
    Now pour the melted butter in the cake pan. Make sure the pan’s sides too are well greased. Use your finger around to move the butter there as well.
  • Now sprinkle the brown sugar uniformly over the butter.
  • Take the cut side down of sliced bananas and fan them around the pan’s centre like that of a wheel’s spokes. The less the gap between the slices, the better it would be. Short banana pieces can be used to fill in the spaces.
  • Take a large bowl and whisk the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Set the mixture aside.
    Take a small bowl and mix well together with spatula egg, buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla extract and vegetable oil. Small lumps will be there, so don’t try to overmix or stir them smooth.
  • Turn the batter into the pan, being careful that it does not disturb the slices of banana lying at the pan bottom. Fill the pan to about three quarters.
  • Bake the pan contents for 38-40 minutes. The cake finally should be springy to touch, lightly golden brown in appearance and not jiggly. You can also do the toothpick test. An inserted one should come out clean without any batter. However, only go about an inch deep, not the way down to the bottom where there are caramelized gooey bananas.

Now let the cake cool for about an hour. Then invert it. It is ready to serve. It can survive for 5 days at the room temperature.

4. Banana Pudding Cheesecake:

Not only does this sumptuous cake has bananas in it, it has banana pudding as well. This is so banana-y and delirious you won’t be able to get enough of it!

Banana Pudding Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Crust
5 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/4 cup vanilla wafer crumbs
5 tbsp sugar

Cheesecake filling
1 cup sugar
24 ounces packages of cream cheese (softened)
3.4 oz package dry banana cream pudding mix
3 tbsp flour
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

Topping (optional)

Vanilla wafers
Additional 1-2 bananas, sliced
Whipped cream

Instructions:

Crust

  • Heat the oven to the temperature of 325 degrees.
  • Take all the crust ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
  • Pour it into a 9-inch springform pan and bake for 10 minutes and then remove.
  • Cover the pan outsides with aluminium foil so that water can’t get inside from the water bath. Set it aside for a few minutes.

Cheesecake filling

  • Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
  • Take a large bowl and whisk together the cream cheese, flour, pudding mix and sugar with an electric mixer. Blend at low speed; this will allow less air to get into the batter. A sticky mixture will be produced.
  • Pour it out in a bowl. Now add one egg at a time. Don’t forget to scrape bowl’s sides after each addition.
  • Add the vanilla extract and mashed banana. Whisk until well combined.
  • Now pour the mixture into the pan with crust.
  • Put the aluminium foil covered springform pan into another wider pan. Fill the outer pan with warm water up till it goes halfway up the springform pan’s sides.
  • Bake for 1.5 hours. Turn the heat off and leave it in the oven for 20 minutes with oven’s door closed.
  • Remove from the oven and set aside for it to get cool.

After that, it can be topped with chopped vanilla wafers, whipped cream, and sliced bananas.

Bananas are so nutritious that their presence in our diet is imperative. And when the taste meets the nutrition, getting healthier is another level easier. Hope these above recipes will ease your health goals.

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