Five banana breads later and I am finally happy with the results. I never thought coming up with a healthy vegan banana bread would be this difficult. Since I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to cooking, I knew I wasn't stopping until it came out PERFECT! It's not like I had anything to compare it with either. I've honestly never tried vegan banana bread and I had only my non-vegan banana bread recipes to modify. I’ve made other vegan desserts before, so I knew what I needed to replace in my original recipes. I had to adjust measurements several times until I got moist, fluffy, and most importantly, edible banana bread.
My banana bread is made with date sugar and contains no oil. It gets its sweetness mainly from the bananas and of course the date sugar. It won’t be the sweetest banana bread you will ever try, but that is what I was after. This is the healthiest version I could come up with and I am super excited about the results! So, give it a try and let me know what you think!
Healthy Vegan Banana Bread
Ingredients:
3 over-ripe bananas (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder, sodium-free Hain Pure Foods Baking Powder
1 teaspoon baking soda, sodium free Ener-G Baking Soda
1/4 cup date sugar (I use this one Aunt Patty's Date Sugar)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mash bananas and stir in date sugar, vanilla, and applesauce. Mix lemon juice with almond milk and stir into banana mixture. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon, stir to combine ingredients(don't ignore sifting here folks, I think it made a huge difference in the fluffiness of the bread). Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and stir until combined (don't over mix here).
Spread the mixture evenly into a non-stick 9x5-inch pan (you can lightly oil if you think you need it) and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Enjoy! YUM!
6/24/11 *Note: The gluten-free version of this bread will be up in the next week or so. Look for it! =)
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Oh this looks so good! Thanks for sharing. I am really looking forward to trying this.
ReplyDeleteThis is similar to the one I make. I also added 2 TBS ground flax seeds to mine.
ReplyDeleteVery yummy. I have plenty of bananas in the freezer, i may just have to make some.
A recipe with no sugar, that's right up my alley! You're not alone on feeling that vegan banana bread is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI make a very similar recipe only I use almond flour to make it gluten free. Looks fantastic!!
Thanks for the foodie friend add on Food buzz, I'm looking forward to more of your healthy recipes!!
thanks Leanne! =) it is a challenge to not use sugar..but who doesn't love a challenge??! I want to make a gluten-free one for a friend who has an allergy...I will try it with almond flour...thanks for the info! =)
ReplyDeleteI made this bread over the weekend and absolutely loved it!!! It was moist, fluffy and delicious! I followed the recipe as listed except that I didn't have a sifter - I was happy that it still turned out great though! Yum!
ReplyDeleteThis is GREAT bread. Tasty and so moist. I love this bread and it freezes very well too. Thank you for sharing your recipe. -Mike (GG)
ReplyDeletethis looks soooo good!!! i LOVE banana bread. it's usually made with tons of butter too. oooo can't wait to try this!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I love the ingredients list on this! And it looks fantastic :) I'm going to save this recipe to try later :D
ReplyDeleteHi Heidi,
ReplyDeleteI actually just made this again this morning and it comes out perfect, give it a try and let me know how it works out for you =)
Jen =)