Banana Spelt Bread
When I was in college I used to be the go-to girl that made the banana bread. My roommates and neighbors would bring me their ripe bananas and some sad puppy dog eyes and ask me to make banana bread. Now that I think of it though, why wasn’t I charging a baking fee for the rest of the ingredients that I was supplying? I mean, at least a banana bread tax of 2-3 slices per loaf, wink wink.
As it happens, Pinterest exploded when I was in college, so I found a super classic banana-y banana bread recipe whilst browsing Pinterest, procrastinating that biomechanics homework…oops. Since then, I have had to make a lot of tweaks to recipes, especially my fav recipes, to make allergy-friendly goodies that my kids can enjoy too. This is my version of that classic banana bread recipe, made vegan with a few simple swaps, as well as less sweet. I love using spelt and einkorn flours when I have them on hand, so I’ve used whole grain spelt flour. You can use whole wheat or all-purpose as well. Whatever suits your baking cupboard. See the notes below for measuring tips.
I highly recommend toasting a thick slice, lathering it with creamy almond butter, and enjoying with a warm mug of tea…aaaaah simple pleasures feed my soul.
Ingredients
2 chia eggs (2 tbsp ground chia seeds + 5 tbsp water, mixed)
4 medium to large, very ripe bananas
1/2 cup coconut oil, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 - 2 cups spelt flour*
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9x5 loaf pan. You can also use parchment paper for easy removal.
Mix the chia eggs in a small bowl. Let sit. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to thoroughly mash the bananas. Add the chia eggs, coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the spelt flour, starting with 1 1/2 cups. If you are using larger bananas, you may need to add more.
Once the batter is quite thick, pour it into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then gently remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Keep on the counter in a well-sealed container for 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes:
*You may use whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand. Start with 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and add more as needed. For all-purpose, you will likely need closer to 2 cups, maybe even slightly more if you have large bananas. Either way, whichever flour you use, start with less, you can always add more.