Coconut Banana Chia Pudding

Posted on by Amanda Leave a comment

Everyone’s a little lazy in the morning right? It can be a lot of work to get a whole meal going early in the morning before the day starts. Everyone raves about some overnight oats, but I just can’t do it. I’ve tried to like them, but I can’t. I’ve even heard them being referred to as “prison food”. Like overnight oats, this is a super low effort breakfast, snack, or dessert, but somehow more palatable. Coconut banana chia pudding is lightly coconut-y and banana-y and naturally sweet from the blended in bananas.

You can even pair this coconut banana chia pudding with some overnight oats (if you actually like that stuff) or use it on a topping for an acai bowl! I like having this chia pudding layered with some fresh fruit or fruit preserves and/or topped with some granola and hemp seeds.

Ingredients

Coconut cream – You’ll want to use one of the high fat coconut creams. This definitely gives more flavor (fat = flavor!). Don’t use coconut water.

Bananas – Use a banana to a stage of ripeness to your preference. The banana is really where our sweetness is coming from, so I wouldn’t recommend using green bananas. If you like a sweeter chia pudding, use a banana that’s starting to spot, but I wouldn’t recommend a completely black/overripened banana, as that may cause your chia pudding to ferment.

blend up your banana + coconut cream
mix in the chia
thickened overnight!

Coconut Banana Chia Pudding

Print Recipe
Overnight chia pudding that's great for breakfast or a fiber-full dessert
Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Keyword banana, chia, coconut, pudding

Equipment

  • blender or immersion blender

Ingredients

  • 1 can coconut cream around 16 ounces
  • 2 bananas ripe or extra ripe
  • 1/2 cup chia seeds
  • salt

Instructions

  • Blend together coconut cream, bananas, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
  • Add chia seeds to the coconut banana mixture and stir well, ensuring that there are no clumps of chia seeds. Clumps will prevent chia seeds from absorbing the liquid and plumping up.
  • Leave in the refrigerator overnight.
  • Enjoy the next morning on top of some yogurt, in some overnight oats, with some granola, top it with fruit, or have it on its own!

Have it for breakfast alongside some Mushroom, Spinach, & Cheddar Frittata or if you want more banana, try Banana Bread.

Dirty Chai Banana Cake

Posted on by Amanda Leave a comment

I’ve learned that I love a cooked banana, but a fresh banana…. mehh… I love a fried banana, banana bread, bananas foster, banana ice cream, and I realized… no one really makes banana cakes. I guess you could count a banana bread as a cake but it’s been marketed to be “healthy” and good for breakfast. For those that aren’t true cooked banana lovers, they won’t even tell that it’s banana. The chai mix gives the cake more of a spice cake flavor and the bitter notes from the coffee topping helps balance the sweet banana. It has those warm fall spices, reminiscent of a hot dirty chai.

Ingredients

Bananas – The browner the better! If you have bananas that are ready, but you aren’t ready, you can freeze your bananas. I do recommend peeling them before storing. If you’re starting from frozen, I do recommend that you fully thaw and drain your bananas before you start.

Chai powder – I use the one from Blue Lotus, but you can use whichever chai mix you like. This one does have powdered, instant tea in it, along with the chai spices.

Espresso – I use Vietnamese instant coffee as I find it more robust and flavorful, but it could be substituted with instant espresso too.

mixed batter
in the baking dish
make the topping

Dirty Chai Banana Cake

Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword banana, cake, chai, coffee, dessert, espresso
Cook Time 35 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 10" cake pan

Ingredients

Cake

  • 3 bananas
  • 3/4 cup neutral oil
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp chai spice mix
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Topping

  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp instant espresso
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  • Mash your bananas.
  • Mix with eggs, sugars, salt, chai spice mix, and oil.
  • Add flour and baking soda.
  • Pour into a 10" cake pan and bake at 350F for 45 minutes, tenting with foil if the top starts getting very brown.
  • Check cake with the toothpick. Allow to cool completely.
  • Mix cream cheese, heavy cream, espresso, sugar, and salt together.
  • When cake is completely cooled, add on top! Cut and serve.

Want regular Banana Bread? Could also try Zucchini Bread.

Banana Bread

Posted on by Amanda 1 Comment

Ripe bananas are easy to come by recently. I usually have some left in the bunch that I wasn’t able to eat fast enough, there’s some leftover that were brought into the office for everyone to eat, or they’re in the “sale” area of the grocery store. Sometimes I even let my bananas go overripe on purpose so I can make some banana bread. This banana bread is just sweet enough and has a crispy exterior. Want it sweeter or more texture? Go wild with those mix-ins! You can really make it your own with chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruits.

Ingredients

Bananas – The darker your banana, the sweeter this bread will turn out. I like to make this bread when my bananas are getting a little spotted. They’re a little too sweet to my liking to eat alone, but perfect for some banana bread!

Walnuts – Sometimes I put the walnuts inside instead of just on top. Do whatever makes you happy!! Inside, on top, not at all – all good options.

Salt – There is salt inside the bread to help enhance the banana flavor and I like to sprinkle extra salt on top mid-cook. Omit the salt on top if you’d like. When the bread is ready to eat, I love getting a bite of the crispy, salty top and then getting to dive into the sweet fluffy center of a slice.

mush the bananas
add all the wet ingredients
mix
pour batter into a pan
ta da!

Banana Bread

Print Recipe
Easy banana bread that's unbelievably moist and a perfect base for any mix ins.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword banana, bread
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  • 1.75 cups flour all purpose
  • 1.5 tsp baking soda
  • 0.75 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 0.5 cups brown sugar
  • 0.75 cups neutral oil
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 ripe bananas ~1 cup
  • 1 cup mix-ins like nuts, chocolate, fruit optional

Instructions

  • Peel and mash your bananas.
  • Mix eggs, sugars, salt, cinnamon, and oil with the banana mixture to create the "wet" mix.
  • Combine "wet" mix with flour and baking soda. At this time, you can also add any mix-ins (nuts, chocolate, fruit).
  • Mix until just combined. Do not overmix!
  • Pour into a greased loaf pan and sprinkle any toppings.
  • Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 mins, tent with foil to prevent top from browning too much and prevent any toppings from burning.
  • Bake at 350F with tent for additional 30-45 minutes.
  • Check bread with toothpick. If nothing sticks to the end, the bread is done!

Try my other desserts like Crispy Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies or Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread.