Banana bread is one of those things that I hated for most of my life because I’m not the biggest fan of bananas. But, after making it a gazillion times for other people, my hate slowly started to transform into love for this loaf o’ goodness!
With it’s pound cake-like texture, subtle sweetness, and rich flavor, it truly is an all-around great dessert or breakfast. It’s hard to beat the classic version however, I think I have indeed beat it. How? By adding in a little rum, of course! (Y’all know how much I love to add in some alcohol wherever I can!) Now, just so we’re clear, you definitely won’t get drunk off this nor will it be like your eating a booze soaked cake. The rum simply brings out and enhances all of the other flavors. Without it? Meh. With it? Pop, bang, razzle, dazzle, boom, mic drop, amaze-balls… you get the picture!
It all gets started with some prep. First things first, you’ll need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a metal loaf pan by greasing it then lining the bottom and 2 longest sides with parchment paper. You’re also going to need coat about a cup of chopped walnuts in a little flour to help them not sink in our batter when we add them in. Set those aside for a moment then prep the Ener-G Egg Replacer by combining it with equal parts rum and warm water. Once that’s combined thoroughly, we can start to build our batter in a large bowl.
Into a large mixing bowl goes 4 overripe bananas that you will mash with a fork. Once those are mashed, the Ener-G can be added in along with brown sugar, some coconut oil, coconut cream, and a little vanilla. Whisk or beat all of that together then it’s time to add in the dry ingredients -flour, baking soda, some roasted cinnamon, and salt. (Roasted cinnamon is more richly flavored than normal cinnamon -it’s a little more spicy, a little more woodsy, and has a slightly deeper sweetness to it!)
Once the dry ingredients have been worked in, it’s time to add in the chopped walnuts that were coated in a little flour. Gently fold those in until evenly distributed. If you wish, you could also add in some shredded coconut here (a generous 1/2 cup should be sufficient) but this is completely optional -as you can see, I opted for no coconut.
Next, the batter gets dumped into the loaf pan you prepared earlier.
The banana bread will bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or like 80% clean since this is a pretty moist little thing. The top will be firm and deeply golden brown. Be sure to let the finished banana bread rest for at least an hour or two so that it’s easier to cut and serve -overnight is even better but obvi we don’t all have the patience for that shit so just give it as much time as you can!
Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients
- Vegan “butter” for greasing pan
- 1 cup chopped walnuts + 1/2 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer + 2 tablespoons rum + 2 tablespoons warm water
- 4 overripe bananas
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted slightly if too hard to work with
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon roasted cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a metal loaf pan by greasing it then lining the bottom and 2 longest sides with parchment paper. Set pan aside until we’re ready for it. In a bowl, combine chopped walnuts with 1/2 tablespoon flour and stir to coat each walnut piece with the flour. Set coated walnuts aside until we’re ready for them. In a small bowl, combine the Ener-G with the rum and warm water. Stir well to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl mash the 4 overripe bananas with a fork. Once mashed, the Ener-G mixture you made a moment ago can be added in along with the brown sugar, coconut oil, coconut cream, and vanilla. Whisk or beat all of that together then add in the flour, baking soda, roasted cinnamon, and salt. Whisk or beat once more to get all of the dry ingredients incorporated. Add in the chopped walnuts that were coated in a little flour and, if opting for shredded coconut, add that too. Gently fold to combine.
- Pour batter into pan you prepared earlier then bake for about 1 hour. When it’s done, a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean or like 80% clean since this is a pretty moist little thing. The top will be firm and deeply golden brown. Let the finished banana bread rest for at least 1 hour so that it’s easier to cut and serve. Letting it rest overnight is even better. Banana bread will keep on counter in an airtight container, or covered well in its pan, for up to 5 days.
Compassion is the Secret Ingredient 