Banana Bread

by Feb 27, 2008

bananabread

If you eat bananas, you need a good banana bread recipe to put those freckly ones to use. This is my favorite because it is super quick to stir together and it tastes great. Surprisingly there is no added fat — quite a nice side benefit!

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
1 cup barley flour
1 cup unbleached wheat flour
2 tablespoons organic ground flaxseed meal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup coarsely chopped 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 barley flour, wheat flour, flaxseed meal, 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

  • You can make this bread using all barley flour if you are trying to stay away from wheat. The loaf will look like the photo above, with less of a rise or “hump” on top than a bread made with wheat. This is because barley has less gluten than wheat.
  • Adjust the sweetener to your taste — this recipe can accommodate up to 3/4 cup sugar, but I prefer it less sweet.
  • This recipe also 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!

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