I looked at the calendar today and I realized that I missed my vegan blog for the entire month of May! Spring gardening had me hopping instead of blogging, and I do have the photos to prove it. So now that the blur of building a new veggie and herb garden from scratch has cleared, I can get back to staying in touch with the reason I'm growing my own fresh veggies in the first place...the dinner table.
I must admit, I did do some experimental work in the kitchen during the month of May and the results were fabulous. I now present you with my very own...um, or should I say, my mother's very own banana bread recipe, sans the sugar, dairy and white flour. This recipe has been rigorously tested and the results are in...this is just like the banana bread mom used to make. So how did I do it? Read, cook, eat and enjoy:)
First things first. You will need to go to the health food store, or in my case, I went to both the health food store and the vegan grocery here in Kitchener. The two specialty ingredients are a little pricey, but worth the expense, if you ask me.
The first is Paneriso Foods Egg Replacer. And, this is actually a great deal at approximately $7 if you consider the box contains the equivalent of 100 eggs! The second is called Diabetic Delight, by Sweet. It is xylitol, a natural sweetner metabolized independently of insulin. The measurements are equal to regular sugar. I paid approximately $10 for a pound of this low-glycemic sugar, which contains 40% less calories and 75% less carbs than normal sugar. I have added a link to their website under the vegan related links section of this blog.
There is another natural sweetener option, called stevia. It is much sweeter than sugar and I have not tested this option yet. In the fall I will try it out, once the stevia plants in my garden mature and we've dried our harvest.
Okay, so, let's get started., using organic ingredients where you can...
Grease 1 round cake pan with olive oil, or you can use 2 small loaf pans instead. Preheat oven to 350.
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup of spelt flour
1 cup of 100% whole wheat flour
1 cup of Diabetic Delight aka xylitol
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 to 1 full cup of walnuts (optional)
1/2 to 1 full cup of raisins (optional)
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup of olive oil (hemp or flax oil can work too)
3-4 ripe organic bananas, crushed
1/4 cup of unsweetened Almond Milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Equivalent of 2 eggs, using egg replacer (1 tsp + 2tsps water)
Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, mix well. Set aside.
Put all the wet ingredients into a separate bowl, mix well.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix well, but do not over mix.
Once mixture is thick and moist, add to the baking pan(s). Depending on the size, shape and quantity of pans you use, cooking times will vary.
If you are cooking the entire recipe in 1 round cake pan, you will need to bake at 350 for 1 hour.
If you are cooking this recipe in 2 loaf pans, you will probably need 45 minutes at 350.
And you can also try muffin tins, which may only be a half hour at 350. The trick to knowing when it's done is that the top will be a dark brown and the toothpick comes out clean.
You can also freeze the results and take pieces out of the freezer as needed. This recipe is far healthier than your typical commercial morning muffin and is a great way to start the day!
