Comfort Food: Vegan Banana Bread with a Twist

First, let me follow up on my last blog post. I mentioned that one of my favorite movies was That Thing You Do. One of my friends posted this amazing cover by Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day as a tribute to Adam Schlesinger, and it’s so good, I almost cried!

And as we are all figuring out how to pass the time during quarantine, I have not read a more entertaining account than this one from Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale. She seems to be having far more fun than anyone I know. She is an immensely talented storyteller, so this is definitely worth reading, even if it’s just to find out about her rubber chicken choir.

Now, back to the business at hand. Who else has found an unexplainable urge to stock up on bananas at the grocery store? Some of my friends have reported that this is a common error in pick up/delivery orders, requesting 7 single bananas and receiving 7 bunches of them! Or ordering one bunch of bananas and getting one single banana. Yikes! Why is ordering bananas so challenging? And in our efforts to utilize everything we’ve purchased, save from freezing tons of bananas, we turn to the best comfort food: banana bread.

Long ago, I searched the internet for the best vegan banana bread recipe, and when I tried this version from the Simple Veganista, I had to look no further. The basic recipe is outstanding. I had made it a few weeks in a row, and then I decided to tweak the recipe a bit, creating a version with a tropical twist by adding nuts, pineapple, and coconut. I tried canned pineapple, but even with draining the juice from the fruit, the resulting bread was too… I’m going to say it… moist. So I resorted to dried pineapple, and that was what worked. The result is the perfect mix of tropical flavors with a bread that has a good crumb.

So without further ado, I give you:

Vegan Tropical Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups flour (I prefer unbleached AP, but use what you like or have)
• 1/3 cup organic brown sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup avocado oil (or other neutral oil)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 large overripe bananas, mashed
• ½ cup diced, dried pineapple
• ½ cup diced walnuts or pecans
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare a bread pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
• Mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
• Add the remaining ingredients, and stir until combined.
• Pour into prepared bread pan.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes or until surface is browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  

Some helpful tips:

Let the bread cool in the pan for a few minutes prior to removing it from the pan. To do that, gently ease bread from sides of pan by sliding a knife between the bread and the pan around all sides, and then flip the pan over to free the bread. I use oven mitts or oven gloves to do this, since the pan will still be hot! Let the bread cool on a cooling rack. This slices best when it’s completely cooled, but I can’t ever wait that long! As with most quick breads, store it wrapped in aluminum foil at room temperature if you will eat it in 2-3 days. Move it to the fridge if it will take longer.  

If you need a nut-free option, just add a bit more pineapple and coconut.

If you need a gluten-free option, I would suggest using a commercially blended GF flour like Bob’s Red Mill.

If you try this recipe, let me know how it goes! Happy comfort baking!

I hope you and your family are surviving quarantine. What “comfort foods” are you making? I’d love to hear about it! Stay safe and healthy.