Banana Protein Latte

I cannot possibly recommend this enough. The taste of even the most basic attempt at this is so good and beats a lot of proper flavoured drinks available in coffee shops.. and of course, it is so much better for you than a sugary flavoured syrup in your coffee!

Taking my inspiration, as always, from the Protein Pow blog, I got turned onto the idea of making a Banana Protein Latte. As usual, I don't have all the ingredients that Anna has, so I compromised a bit and still ended up with delicious banana flavoured results :-)

Anna has a recipe for a Banana Cream & Coconut Protein Latte, which sounds delicious with Coconut Milk and other goodness. I will be trying Anna's full recipe at some point, in the meantime this is a simple compromise, which probably needs a little more stirring and effort to get right.

Ingredients

• One cup of freshly brewed black coffee
• One serving (to taste) of Banana Protein Powder

Method

• Make a cup of coffee (I prefer some fresh percolated coffee for this)
• add the protein powder
• stir until mixed in properly

Now, one issue with the way I do this is that I get a little clumping of the powder, which requires a little extra work to blend properly with the coffee. This can be abated by doing a little at a time, or using a fork to stir the powder into the coffee. Whatever happens, the result is gorgeously banana flavoured and full of protein goodness :) - I have used anything from 15g to 35g of Banana flavoured Whey Protein powder per mug of coffee and it has always delicious. Obviously, I'm drinking some now and am about to have a little bit more..

Of course, Whey Protein is made from milk, so is perfect in coffee, IMHO [Wikipedia]

EDIT: I have been recommended to try a coffee frother to help with the clumping issue, so will be investigating that later :-)

Banana Protein Fluff

My favourite food based blog and one which I fully intend to try more recipes from, be they Banana based or not, is the Protein Pow Blog. The reason I started following this blog was entirely accidental, as I had recently bought a lot of Banana Protein Powders, being as how I was on a fitness drive, and was looking for some Banana Smoothie recipes. I found some on Anna's blog and oh so much more :)

The simplest recipe that Anna provided was the Banana Protein Fluff recipe, which also formed the basis for a Banana Ice Cream, too. This depends entirely on whether you can bear to wait for it after putting it into the freezer, or want to eat it straight away. I now have a plentiful supply of frozen banana slices sitting in the freezer for whenever I desire, which means I get a lovely fluff.

more Banana Protein Fluff

Now Anna has a few ingredients that she recommends, though I've not actually managed to get them in the same place at the same time, but that doesn't matter, as the recipe is a guide to an unimaginably easy and lovely treat regardless. Anna uses a frozen Banana, unsweetened Whey Protein powder and some coconut milk. Well, I have a Banana (Frozen is best, but not required), Banana Protein Powder and some skimmed milk.

Ingredients

• one medium frozen banana
• one scoop of banana protein powder (you don't have to, but I do like bananas)
• 30ml of skimmed milk

Method

• Put all the ingredients into a food processor and whisk until it's light and fluffy

yes - it's that easy.. I haven't managed to take the fluff out of the processor and into a bowl yet, I just use a spatula and eat right out of the food processor bowl - absolutely delicious! Thanks Anna!

Next time I make it - I'll add my own pic to this - the pic above is from the Protein Pow Blog! :)

EDIT: In the comments of her blog, Anna linked to the following Youtube video showing how to make the same recipe with Berries - you can use any fruit, really - experimentation is key - good luck! :)

Banana and Walnut Biscuits

One of the first Banana recipes I actually cooked, following my recent Banana / Baking resurgence was a recipe that the Protein Pow blog retweeted. It was an easy re-entry to baking.. the only difficulty I had was in finding some Oatbran, which I eventually found in a Sainsbury's Superstore.. once that final ingredient had been obtained, there was no stopping me. I've done this twice in the last few weeks, subtlety modifying the recipe the second time by adding some peanut butter with the idea of making it a bit sweeter for my housemate (who has a bit of a sweet tooth). That said, he didn't actually eat any, as he's on a bit of a health kick at the moment and couldn't spare the calories - yum! more for me :)

Miss Millie's Banana & Walnut biscuits

Ingredients

• 4 overripe Bananas - I actually keep adding more bananas as they're rarely ripe enough
• 120g Oatbran
• 100g Crushed Walnuts
• 2 tbsp Cinnamon

Method

• Mash the bananas (I did it by hand - lovely)
• Mix all the other ingredients in with the bananas (yes, it is this easy)
• Cover and leave the mixture for 15-20 minutes to allow the Oatbran to absorb the Bananas/Moisture. This allows the mixture time to thicken
• Bake at 180DegC on a lined baking tray for approximately 15 minutes

Here are a couple of pics of my first batch in progress :)

I didn't have any baking paper at the time, so I used foil on my first attempt - not the best idea as the mixture does stick to it.. best to buy some baking paper (as I did on my second attempt) and they just slide off :)

Finished plate

I'd already had a couple by the time I took this photo, they are really nommy. I love the flavour and texture that the Oatbran provides :)

Banana and Date Loaf (Lurpak)

I've still got lots of Bananas left and they're ripening up very nicely, which of course means that they'll give more of that Banana flavour when used in baking.. so, although I like the idea of making healthy food, I did have some butter left over from the weekend's baking antics, so went for this recipe from the Lurpak website.

Banana and Date Loaf

It was such a simple recipe, I just blitzed all the ingredients in the Food processor and poured them into a new Silicone Loaf 'tin' that I got this weekend, chucked the whole thing in the oven and waited. At the right time, and after a 'little' bit of cooling I had to have some - delicious! Probably the best pure Banana Loaf I have made to date.. most of the ones I normally try tend not to have added fat, so are more of a breakfast loaf. This one was pure dessert, *nom*.

Ingredients

• 125g Butter (Lurpak)
• 100g Sugar (Brown is the best) - I used some Demerera that I had in the cupboard
• 2 tbsp honey - I didn't actually add any honey as it was sweet enough for me
• 2 eggs
• 225g Self Raising Flour
• 3 Ripe Bananas
• 100g dates (chopped)

Method

1. Mix the butter & sugar together, add the honey and eggs. Mix well.
2. Add flour and mix again (I sieved the flour first)
3. Mash the bananas with a fork and add to the mix along with the dates
4. Add to a prepared loaf tin (greased/lined if you need to) and bake for 1 hour 15 mins at 160DegC
5. Let it cool on a wire rack, cut it into slices and dig in.

at some point I'll actually take some shots of the ones I made myself, so you can see how it turned out - warts and all.

Banana Vodka

Last week I went on something of a Banana frenzy, much to the consternation of anyone who knows me.. raising several questions as to my sanity and why Bananas. Any Banana lover understands of course, the attraction of the taste of Bananas on a regular basis. That said.. I did buy a LOT of Bananas and made several dishes with a Banana basis, eg.: Several Banana Smoothies; Banana and Oat Biscuits; Vodka Banana Milkshake Ice Lollies; Banana and Date Loaf; Banana Tart Tatin and the subject here, Banana Vodka.

I'm starting with this one, as it's so simple, though it takes some time to make it.. two days.. though to be honest, that's just waiting.

Having bought so many Bananas recently I was looking up new ways to use them up and came across a Youtube link.. and after watching, I just had to give it a go. I didn't make any measurements, just put two bananas and some Finlandia Vodka I had into a jug, put some clingfilm over it and left it in the fridge for two days. The end result was pretty good, though mellowed out over the day myself and some friends drank some at a BBQ. I was quite pleased when one of the girls at the BBQ searched me out to ask for more - that's a recommendation if ever there was one, in fact she has today asked me how to make it :). Next time, I think I'd try a less flavourful Vodka, to allow the focus to be on the bananas more, but I liked it and will definitely be doing it again.

Anyway.. here's the original video - enjoy: