This is a family recipe and I remember many good times in the kitchen as a little kid, with my mom whipping this up in the Kitchen-Aid. I wasn't tall enough to see over the counter in the big, whirling metal bowl but I knew that it's contents were always delicious, and if I was lucky that day - I'd get a spoonful of the batter =) Banana bread was my favourite, topping cookie dough!
The secret is to use overly ripe bananas: I'm talkin' brown, slimy bananas. They have the most flavour. My mom usually would wait til they were pretty brown then stick them in the freezer until she had time to make the bread. Yesterday, we just had some really ripe nanners kickin' around so I used those.
Obviously, I also veganized the recipe... Earth Balance wasn't around 50 years ago.
The WORD "vegan" wasn't even in existence until 1944!
Anyways, this bread is truly delicious, it's crispy on the top and over-loaded with nuts and cinnamon, while the bread itself is SUPER moist and flavourful. MMM! You can make it fairly healthy too!
Moist Banana Bread: makes one loaf
1 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup vegetable "shortening"
1 cup brown sugar/raw sugar or other sweetener
1 t cinnamon and nutmeg mix
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 1/4 cups flour
2 Tb ground flax mixed with 1/4 cup water
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together until you have a pretty smooth batter. Try it! Yummaaayy. Pour it into a loaf pan.
Now if you want to totally step up the whole game: roughly mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 t cinnamon, 1 Tb olive oil and 1/3 cup chopped pecans. Sprinkle this on top of the batter in the loaf pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, doing the tooth pick test to make sure it's ready. Let it cool for around 20 minutes and then slice and enjoy with loved ones!
I also had some really ripe bananas and decided, hey lets give this thing a try. I made it a little different though: used unsweetened organic applesauce instead of the "shortening", used 1/2 cup honey instead of the sugar, and for the flour I used 1 cup whole wheat and 1/4 cup whole grain barley flour. I kept the topping pretty much the same but I drizzled a little honey 1st and used raw cane sugar instead of brown sugar. This turned out AMAZING! Sooooo moist and flavorful!! After I first tasted it I said out loud "Do not eat the whole loaf all at once" haha. Anyhow, hope you are having a great day!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL those sound like great adaptions. it's way too yummy. the secret is super ripe bananas! :)
DeleteWhat exactly is vegetable shortening? Some kind of oil?
ReplyDeleteOh and Lindsey- is applesauce really working? Just apples mashed together and made smoothy, like you can get it everywhere?
My mothertongue is German so I´m experiencing some bumps on the road from time to time translating the recepies :) :)
Anyway, awesome blog! I just love how you Emily seem to be in love with avocados !
I just used earth balance "vegetable shortening" - it's vegetable oil in solid form. :) Thank you!
DeleteHi emily! I can't wait to make this but I'm trying to avoid wheat and gluten at the moment. Instead of replacing the flour with premade gluten-free flour, I was really keen to make my own. I don't really know whether I can use just one type or if it's best to mix a few? Thanks for your help!
ReplyDeleteNo go ahead and use a variety of types. I love to do that :)
Deletejust made it with pear and apple sauce about to go in the oven. love this recipe made a banana one couple of months ago. defiantly will use this any time want to make bread. thanks!
ReplyDelete