The Best Freaking Plant Based Banana Bread in the Universe
This is a beautifully rich, moist banana bread that rises high in the pan. It takes a lot of baking, but is easy to prepare and worth the wait. And you can easily substitute a gluten-free baking flour for the whole wheat to make it wheat gluten-free.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
⅓ cup (75 g) organic pure cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/3 cup applesauce (75 ml) n
1 tbsp oil *Optional
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 small or 3 large overripe bananas (about 1 ½ – 1 ¾ cups mashed)
¼ cup (56 ml) almond milk, reserved *Use only if needed
3/4 cup fiinely crushed pecans
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Mix the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift them if any of the ingredients are lumpy.
In a separate bowl, blend the applesauce, oil, vanilla, and mashed Bananas, blending well.
Add dry ingredients to moist ones, stirring as you go. If it gets too thick to manage, use the reserved milk. Do not over-stir. We want to leave the air in the batter for lightness.
Add the crushed pecans and stir just enough to blend them in.
Scrape batter into a paper-lined or lightly sprayed loaf pan and bake on the middle rack at 350 for 60-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. *Even then it's going to seem very gory in the center until it cools for a couple of hours.
Tips
This banana bread is a tricksy hobbit. The toothpick will come out clean even when the middle is still a little bit gooey.
It continues to cook a bit after coming out of the oven, though, because it cools so slowly. If you let it cool thoroughly without removing it from its pan, the center will usually solidify. It's almost impossible to tell when it's done perfectly other than by trial and error.
In my oven at 350 in a glass loaf pan on the middle rack, it's 65 to 70 minutes. Watch the crust. If it starts to get too dark, take it out.
Option: Rub the top with a small amount of vegan butter like Earth Balance Spread to get the glossy effect and yummify the crust.
The more you raise the ratio of wheat flour to oat, the lighter it will be and the faster it will cook.