I failed to take a decent picture, because I am already on the train on my way to visit my family for the holidays. Maybe I'll add one later, but since it is kind of time sensitive (3 days to Christmas) and now I have a moment, I am sharing my recipe for a specially X-mas flavored banana bread.
It is vegan, gluten free and doesn’t contain any added sugar or sweeteners, and it is really yummy! The difference to my ‘usual’ banana bread is really just the spices, so you could use this recipe anytime.
Banana bread It is one of my favorite things to bring to class or on travels, because it is very easy to make, super-fast, needs little ingredients and can be taken everywhere. Plus, it accommodates all my nutrition preferences – at least in this version : )
Ingredients
- 300 g Coconut flour
I have also experimented with mixing it with Buckwheat, but it tends to be drier and not as sweet, so I prefer to use only coconut and almonds (next point)
- 150g Ground almonds
Personally, I prefer to buy organic almonds and ground them myself, this way I know what is in there and I feel the texture is really nice and juicer than the ready-made version
- 2 Teaspoons Baking powder
- 100ml Plant milk
I use almond, but have tried soy too and it didn’t make a big difference.
- 3 ripe bananas and 1 small apple or 150g apple purée
The bananas have to be ripe to have that sweetness that makes added sugar obsolete.
- 1 Teaspoon Coconut oil
To make it ultimately christmassy add:
- Grated orange peel
- Cinnamon
- On or all of those: Ginger, Cloves, Green Cardamom, Nutmeg, Chinese Star Fennel
Baking Note
Before we get started, two little confessions: First, I usually measure the ingredients by eye and feeling (many failed banana breads taught me just the right consistency), but I am giving my best to give detailed instruction. Second: I have a gas oven, which makes it basically impossible to bake something that is not burned outside while still raw on the inside. So, as for the baking time, please be attentive and bake according to your oven until the top is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. A general recommendation would be 200 °C for 2-30 minutes.
Preparation
I mix all the dry ingredients - flour, ground almonds, seeds (if you wish to add), baking powder and spices – in a big bowl. The bananas, milk, coconut oil go into a blender to make a smoothie kind of texture. Then, I mix everything in the bowl and pour the batter into a loaf pan that’s lined with parchment paper. Bake it like described above. After you take it out of the oven, give it a few minutes to cool down before taking it out of the loaf pan. You will see that the consistency changes after it cools down and it becomes firmer and easy to cut. If you can’t wait, you can also enjoy it warm : )
Bon Appétit & happy holidays!