Best Banana Bread (using almond pulp)

Another example of banana bread being great for baking experimentation...the almond pulp left over from making almond milk.  I’m constantly wondering how to put it to good use.  Thank you, banana bread.

Due to the high moisture content of the almond pulp, I cut it 1/2 and 1/2 with flour in this recipe.  The resulting bread is very moist and is especially delicious toasted.

Banana Bread (using almond pulp, for regular recipe see here)
makes 1 loaf (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch pan)

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup unrefined organic cane sugar (I used Rapadura brand)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 cup flour mix
1 cup almond pulp (packed into cup measure), leftover from almond milk
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray or a light coating of solid vegetable shortening (no trans fats please!)

2. Peel the bananas and mix them with the sugar on low speed of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment until the mixture is fairly smooth and the banana chunks are minimized.

3. Add the eggs and mix to incorporate.

4. In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the flour mix, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda.  Add to the banana mixture and mix just until combined. Then add the walnuts.

5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until cracks on top of loaf no longer appear wet. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out on a cooling rack.

Kitchen Coach Tips

• When you have bananas that are getting freckly, either make banana bread or peel them and pop them into a freezer bag to use later.  Frozen bananas make great additions to smoothies, or you can thaw them and use them in this bread.

• Add 2 tablespoons ground, organic flax meal if you have it.  If you do this, you can even omit the sunflower oil.

• This recipe takes nicely to alternative sweeteners. If you are going to use a liquid sweetener, like barley malt or brown rice syrup, I've found it best to combine with some granulated sweetener, e.g. 1/4 cup brown rice syrup + 1/4 cup unrefined cane sugar in place of the 1/2 cup unrefined sugar in the recipe above. I've also used Stevia Fiber, 1 tablespoon, in place of the sugar and got a great result.

• Try this bread toasted with a little butter and fleur de sel sprinkled on top. Yummy!

Best Banana Bread

Banana Bread!  Come and get it!  It's delicious and happens to also be wheat-free (yep, even gluten-free) but not pleasure-free. 

Quick breads, like this trusty banana bread, are great for experimenting with alternative (non-wheat) flours, and sweeteners, for that matter.  This recent batch resulted in such a nice rise and such great flavor, I’m not sure I’ll go back to my original.

Banana Bread
makes 1 loaf (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch pan)

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup unrefined organic cane sugar (I used Rapadura brand)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 cups flour mix
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray or a light coating of solid vegetable shortening (no trans fats please!)

2. Peel the bananas and mix them with the sugar on low speed of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment until the mixture is fairly smooth and the banana chunks are minimized.

3. Add the eggs and mix to incorporate.

4. In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the flour mix, xanthan gum, salt and baking soda.  Add to the banana mixture and mix just until combined. Then add the walnuts.

5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until cracks on top of loaf no longer appear wet. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out on a cooling rack.

Kitchen Coach Tips

• When you have bananas that are getting freckly, either make banana bread or peel them and pop them into a freezer bag to use later.  Frozen bananas make great additions to smoothies, or you can thaw them and use them in this bread.

• Add 2 tablespoons ground, organic flax meal if you have it.  If you do this, you can even omit the sunflower oil.

• This recipe takes nicely to alternative sweeteners. If you are going to use a liquid sweetener, like barley malt or brown rice syrup, I've found it best to combine with some granulated sweetener, e.g. 1/4 cup brown rice syrup + 1/4 cup unrefined cane sugar in place of the 1/2 cup unrefined sugar in the recipe above. I've also used Stevia Fiber, 1 tablespoon, in place of the sugar and got a great result.

•   Try this bread toasted with a little butter and fleur de sel sprinkled on top. Yummy!

Amy's Flour Mix

Variety is the spice of life, right?  Then why always bake with wheat flour?  Bob’s Red Mill makes it super convenient to try all kinds of different flours milled from grains, seeds, roots and even coconuts!  Coconut flour has become my recent favorite - first because it bakes up fluffy and provides a moist crumb, and second because it is very high in fiber -- 10 grams per 1/4 cup v.s. less than 1 gram per 1/4 cup of all purpose wheat flour.  The flavor is mild and, I might add, hasn’t yet been detected by my children and their coconut-averse taste buds. 

I’ve used this flour mix to make coffee cakes, banana bread, pancakes and other quick breads.  Because it is gluten free, I always add a teaspoon of xanthan gum per 2 cups of flour to provide a stretchy-stickiness that baked goods need to rise and taste decent.

Amy’s Flour Mix
a large canister - something that holds 12 cups (or more)

Bob’s Red Mill sells their flours in standard sized bags that appear uniform, but they do hold different weights of ingredients depending on the density.  Don’t be thrown off, just go for the Bob’s bags that are perfectly grab-able.

1 16 oz. bag Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flour

1 24 oz. bag Bob’s Red Mill Brown Rice Flour 

1 24 oz. bag Bob’s Red Mill Potato Flour

1 20 oz. bag Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour

1.  Sprinkle all flours into a large canister and use a whisk to blend them together.  Use in your favorite recipes.   

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• This is  gluten-free flour mix and I’ve made delicious quick breads and coffee cakes using it.  I have not tried baking yeasted breads with this mix.

• For every 2 cups of flour mix, add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum to your recipe.