Banana Bread

 

            Hello there! Sorry I haven’t posted the last two weeks, I have been busy, busy with an awesome venture, and as I often struggle to push myself to do things when I’m stressed, I decided to take a little break to relax and enjoy the process of change. But now I’m back and so ready to dive right into all things health, lifestyle and food.

The one recipe that I absolutely love but have always struggled with recreating has been banana bread. It goes without saying that if I love bananas as much as I do, then putting them into a deliciously dense and spiced loaf will only make me love this amazing fruit more!

So in keeping things completely honest with you, this recipe has actually taken me a few years of on and off, trial and error to get where it is today. And I absolutely love it!

 

            This recipe is the perfect way to use up bananas that are super ripe. In my house that isn’t very often, but to get a really good flavour you need to use bananas that have no green on their peel and have brown spots all over them. The spottier the better. I have also made this recipe where I added in walnuts and dates; which is an amazing combo with the bananas, but if you wanted to add in any other nut or dried fruit that you have, go for it! Just add in a 1/3 of a cup of each (2/3 of a cup in total) and it will have a good consistency while still holding together, dark chocolate chips would also be a delicious alternative here.

            Having moved out of home I can no longer just borrow my mum’s loaf tin, so instead I have baked mine in 2 medium loaf tins that I own. If you want to, you can just use a larger regular size loaf tin for this recipe but the cooking times will vary and be longer than the cooking time I have found with the smaller loaf tins. Just keep checking the centre of the loaf with a skewer for when it is removed cleanly, and also just press down on the centre of the loaf to make sure that the loaf is relatively springy and doesn’t cave in under your fingers.

Banana Bread

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: 2 medium loaves

Time: Prep: 10 min

Cooking: 45min- 1hr

Ingredients:

- 4 small to medium bananas, 3 mashed, 1 for top decoration (optional)

- 3/4 cup almond meal

- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour or brown rice flour

- 2 eggs (or flax eggs, 1 tbsp flaxseed meal, 3 tbsp water, for each ‘egg’)

- 1 tbsp hulled tahini

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 3/4 cup nut milk

- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil

- 2 tbsp rice malt syrup

- 1 tbsp cinnamon

- ½ tsp clove

- ½ tsp nutmeg

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional Extras:

- 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

- 1/3 cup dates, chopped

Method:

- Preheat oven to 180C and grease loaf tins.

- Grab a mug or a small container and make up your flax eggs, and put to the side to set.

- Mix the buckwheat flour, almond meal, spices, baking powder and soda, in a bowl and set aside.

- Combine the flax eggs, vinegar, nut milk, coconut oil, vanilla, tahini, and mashed bananas in a second bowl.

-Once each is combined separately, pour all the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix well.

- Stir through the dates and pecans if you wish to add them in, before transferring the mixture to the greased loaf tin. Top with slices of banana (I quartered my banana lengthways to get 4 long banana strips), before popping in the oven for 45mins- 1 hr, or until a skewer comes out clean.

- Leave the bread to cool in the tin before removing it and transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving. Store in an air-tight container in a cool place or in the fridge.

 

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

'Every thought I think is creating my future' - Louise L. Hay