I'm kinda sick of bananas at present...and I'm kinda fussy about banana bread too...but just saw a recipe posted on-line for some and got to pondering the three disheveled and blackened once-yellow and robust fruits in my refrigerator. There's been a twinge of fall in the air the past couple days, what with school starting and the first changing of the leaves, and I've been hankering to be in the kitchen. So, alone in the house, yelling at the dog who keeps getting into the rubbish, and swatting away the fruit flies that promptly appeared out of oblivion when I moved said bananas from fridge to counter, I set to work. Warm banana bread will make it better.
That inspiring on-line recipe was a Hawaiian variation which included macadamia nuts and coconut. I went old school to avoid the grunts and looks of disgust from my youngest child. But feel free to add nuts, etc to your own batter. It was also not gluten free, but I feel better about baking with less wheat of late. I'd never used quinoa flour before, but it gave the bread a nice nutty richness and apparently can be readily swapped out for white/wheat flour. Way cool.
Makes one loaf.
3 overripe bananas
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery spread
1/4 cup almond milk
2 cups quinoa flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. Coat your grandma's bread pan with baking spray.
Whisk maple syrup and buttery spread together in a bowl, and then add bananas, mashing as you go. Add milk, and combine.
Add the dry ingredients, and mix until you have a nice silky batter.
Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool a bit, then transfer to a wire rack.
Put the naughty dog to bed, set out a jar of vinegar for the fruit flies, and put your feet up on the backyard swing, enjoying a buttered slab of banana bread and one of the few remaining lazy evenings of summer.
