banana bread with toasted walnut cinnamon swirl

by goodnessis

Just before we left for Israel for the holiday break, I was trying to use up most things in the kitchen and had many over- ripe bananas.  With this in mind and the arrival of a new cookbook, ‘At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen’ by Amy Chaplin, I was perusing through it the night before where I was drawn to a recipe for pumpkin bread with a small note of a variation – “When pumpkin isn’t available, replace with four large ripe bananas.”  I had no pumpkin, but four very ripe bananas.  It is an amazing book full of delicious recipes, that has inspired me to try when I come back to Portugal.

mizpe-hayamim-Israel

be still…a whole other world away.

banana bread with toasted walnut cinnamon swirl

Inspired by ‘At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen’ with a few tiny variations

Makes one 9 inch loaf pan

cinnamon walnut swirl:

1 cup toasted walnut halves, chopped

2 tsp cinnamon powder

2 Tbsp maple/coconut or regular sugar

2 Tbsp maple syrup

banana batter :

4 large very ripe bananas

2 cups whole spelt flour/sprouted spelt flour

2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons coconut oil – melted to a liquid form

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 Tbsp almond milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 flax egg  (1 Tbsp flax meal + 3 Tblsp water – allow to sit for 5 minutes)

1 Tbsp vinegar

Make the cinnamon walnut swirl – Place walnuts, cinnamon, maple syrup, and sugar in a bowl.  Mix to combine and set aside.

Make the banana batter – Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Lightly oil a loaf pan and line bottom and sides with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir to combine. In another bowl, peel the bananas and mash with a fork.  Add the oil, maple syrup, almond milk, vanilla essence, flax egg and vinegar.  Whisk until smooth.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined.  Spread half of the batter over the bottom of loaf pan.  Layer cinnamon-walnut mixture evenly over batter and top with remaining batter. To create a swirl, use a small rubber spatula or butter knife to zig-zag back and forth, finishing with one stroke through the center (Oops…I forgot to do this part).

Place in the oven and bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before turning out and placing on a wire rack.  Slice and serve warm or at room temperature. I also look forward to trying the pumpkin version!

Goodness shared by Stacey