Vegan banana bread with a gluten-free option. Tastes like Christmas ❤️At the beginning of my last week in Prague I saw myself left behind by my flatmates with TONS of food (that has its great benefits, right? ;) including a few very ripe bananas and two frozen ones (still in their skin… Well… ;)
Even though I was jumping for joy because of all those wonderful fruits I realized that there wasn’t enough time for eating all of them (especially as I had bought some myself, too). Besides, what should I do with unpeeled, frozen bananas that got black (inside!) when I defrosted them? So I realized the only way out of this disaster is banana bread. And, oh dear, I L O V E banana bread.

While figuring out what to put inside I saw that this was my chance to use up as much food as possible. All these opened flour packages had to bite the dust, as well as the sugar, the chocolate (cut in pieces), the baking powder and my apple. And some of the bananas, of course. Could have been more, though – if only I had known before ;)

And then? The banana bread turned out to be surprisingly delicious. Probably the best one I’ve ever made – tasted a little bit like Christmas. If you don’t like that, skip the cinnamon and the raisins and use more chocolate. Or cocoa.

Vegan banana bread with a gluten-free option. Tastes like Christmas ❤️Vegan Banana Bread – opt. gluten-free

What you need:

For the banana bread:

  • 4 very ripe bananas (2 of mine were the defrosted one that were black inside)
  • 1 small apple
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 7 tbsp water
  • 2 1/2 cups mixed flour (I used buckwheat, wholemeal and “normal” wheat flour. Take just buckwheat and corn or rice for a gluten-free version)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Cinnamon
  • Salt
  • Goodies to put inside such as: raisins, chocolate chips, goji berries, cocoa, seeds, other super-foods,…
  • Coconut oil and flour or bread crumbs for the pan

For the hazelnut sauce:

  • 1 tbsp hazelnut butter
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 6 tbsp hot water

How to make it:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius.
  2. Mash your bananas very well and grind your apple. Mix these things together in a small bowl. Add water and sugar and mix again.
  3. In a huge bowl mix together flour and baking powder; cinnamon and salt.
  4. Add the wet ingredients and stir well. If it’s not moist enough, add more water.
  5. Now it’s the time to put all your goodies in! If you want it healthier, take more so-called super-foods as goji berries, chia seeds and flax seeds. If you have a sweet tooth, take vegan chocolate chips or dark chocolate cut in pieces.
  6. Grease a baking pan with coconut oil, dust it with flour or bread crumbs and put the batter in.
  7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes (to be honest: I didn’t watch the time) – try with a fork.
  8. Let it cool. In the meantime mix all the ingredients for the hazelnut sauce together. As soon as your bread is cold, sprinkle it with sauce and enjoy!

Vegan banana bread with a gluten-free option. Tastes like Christmas ❤️ Vegan banana bread with a gluten-free option. Tastes like Christmas ❤️ Vegan banana bread with a gluten-free option. Tastes like Christmas ❤️

Credits:
Idea, Words, Photographs: Diana Ranegger