For the second of day with cooking with wheat flour, I made this banana chocolate chip bread with whole wheat flour. Now the whole wheat flour that is available in US is not the same as what we get in India in terms of way and things that go into the whole wheat flour.
As always I was interested to know what's the difference between the wheat flour or atta flour, as it's referred, we get in India with what's sold in US. There does seem to be a lot of difference. When you read about the whole wheat flour as sold in US in Wiki and atta flour or chapati flour as we get in India, you will know more about the flour and how it is made.
Whole wheat grains contain all three parts of the kernel (Kernel means a grain or seed, as of a cereal grass, enclosed in a husk). There are, mainly, three parts for wheat grain.
India/Pakistan: Products of Pulverized Wheat-grains - from Wiki
Wheat Powder/Flour - 'Whole Grain' (Mixture of Germ, Endosperm and Bran)
Atta Flour – Mixture of Endosperm and Bran
Maida Flour – Endosperm
Sooji / Rava – Coarse Endosperm
If you think one can't bake with atta flour what we get in India, then you can check out Jugalbandi's post on how they got a beautiful bread with atta flour. They have always taken so many efforts in creating their posts, that you don't need science classes to learn more. Their 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Chapati Flour is simply a treat to eyes.
Now with all these details, I wanted to bake bread with the flour we get here. I tried this recipe from Champa, though Konda loved the bread so much that she didn't mind feasting on the entire loaf herself, I was sad seeing my bread was denser.
Ingredients Needed
Whole wheat flour / Atta flour - 2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp
Semi Sweet chocolate chips - 1 cup
Honey - 1/2 cup
Curds - 1/3 cup (Sour cream)
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Overripe bananas - 3
How to bake the Banana Bread:
Preheat the oven to 185 C.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda.
Puree the banana, then transfer to a bowl, add lemon juice, curds, honey and whisk together well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until moist. Do not over mix.
Add the chocolate chips and mix gently with a spatula.
Grease the baking loaf, and transfer the batter evenly onto the pan. Tap the pan for even distribution.
Bake in the oven for 25 mins. If it's the bigger pan you might have to bake for more time.
Check with the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on the wire rack in the pan for about 5 - 10 minutes.
Remove from the pan and let it cool completely on the rack. Slice when completely cool.
Notes:
I halved the recipe and used only one cup of the flour. If you are making a large loaf, you can use 9x5 pan.
The original recipe had Agave nectar if you want to make it vegan.
I replaced sour cream with curds, maybe this was the reason for the denser bread. If you don't have sour cream you can use soy milk or applesauce.
Champa says before measuring honey, spray the measuring cup with vegetable oil spray so that it doesn't stick to the cup.
She also says you could make these into muffins too. Check them at 22 minutes and then increase as needed for regular-sized muffins. For mini muffins, check at 12 minutes and then increase as needed. I was actually thinking of doing this but will do it next time.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 26
Recipe
Banana Chocolate Chip Bread | Whole Wheat flour bread with Banana Chocolate Chips
Other Banana Bread you can try Eggless Banana Bread, Gluten-Free Vegan Butter less Sticky Banana Bread
vaishali sabnani says
wow! this is amazing..well I have actually never bothered to find the difference between the flours..thanks for the info..truly you learn everyday:)
sushma says
Looks awesome. Tried banana walnut bread long time ago. Have to try banana and choco chip combo. Bread looks perfect.
Vijayalakshmi Dharmaraj says
Yummy bread n looks so soft...
Priya Suresh says
Banana,wheat flour and chocolate chips in bread,who will say no to it;.lovely combo, my fav combo;
The Pumpkin Farm says
no oil or butter, this is interesting....my last attempt with ripe bananas was turned down my family, but i am sure i made some mistake...will give it another try , like the bread, so will try to make bread using bananas and u have the choco chips as saviors if all things fail
divya says
looks yummy n healthy...
Foodiliciousnan says
Great info on the flours Valli. Btw I've tried the same recipe from Champa twice before with applesauce each time and i had no cause for complain. My kiddo loved it too! Give that a try next time
cookcookandcook says
Awesome.. did not think such a bread was even possible.. kudos to you.. 🙂
Padmajha PJ says
Thanks for pointing out the difference in flour Srivalli.Even though the names sound similar , the actual thing is not!
And banana and choco chips are an absolute fav here.Bookmarked!
Leena Chandrashekar says
Hi first time here..you have a awesome space..glad to follow you..plz visit my blog too...bread looks very delicious...
Manju says
What you have mentioned is correct Valli first time instead of whole wheat just replaced with atta result was not great.
Then I bought the whole wheat flour hear its different and turned good. When ever I have ripe bananas I use to go for these kind of recipes.
Chef Mireille says
I have found a different in not only wheat but millet and rice flour also when I buy at Indian market instead of American market - the Indian ones are all a bit drier and not as soft. Perhaps they are roasted in India after being milled - I don't know - will have to do some research on that one!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Good post about all the flours! Never researched it this much in detail 🙂
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
nice explanation valli.. i have made breads with chapathi flour. from exp one suggestion I can give for a lesser denser bread is to soak the flour in little water / liquid you are using for 10 minutes.
Harini-Jaya Rupanagudi says
Good combo. But I agree that there is a difference between the various types of wheat flours in different countries. Also the type of wheat also is different. Some wheat varieties are suitable for some types of breads etc..
Pavani says
I always wondered what would happen if I use Atta to make breads/ cakes & whole wheat flour to make rotis/ parathas. I stopped at wondering, never actually tried. Thanks for the info. I'll probably experiment to see how they taste while I'm still home.
Gayathri Kumar says
Nice to know the difference between atta and whole wheat flour. THe bread looks very moist and delicious...