Mother’s Day Dairy-Free Banana Bread

Nothing says thanks for ensuring that I didn’t turn out a pregnant teen or Republican like a made-with-love loaf of bread. (It also says, “I’m poor,” but the belly-warming slices spread with (vegan) butter should sufficiently distract from that whole issue.)

This is my take on a classic banana bread—one of the early baking projects I made as a child with my mom, standing on a stool to reach the kitchen counter. This week I’m experimenting with oat flour, recommended constantly in one of my favorite healthy-eating books SkinnyGirl Dish. I want to like oat flour, since it doesn’t seem to require all the extras that other gluten free ones do, but I recently tried making a batch of cookies with it, and they turned out very dry. So, for this loaf, I used over half oat flour and the rest traditional white flour—and it turned out just as moist as it’s supposed to be. I’d like to tinker my way out of all of the processed white flour, and will try to do this with my two recipes this next week.

What else, what else? As always, substitutions are at the bottom of the recipe. If you’re like me, and, well, hurting a bit in your financial sector, this is an economical and thoughtful gift to make for this Sunday.

The Recipe
½ c. agave nectar
1/3 c. oil
1 tsp. almond extract
2 eggs
3 very ripe, mashed up bananas (about a cup)
½ c. flour
¾ c. oat flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
½ c. chopped nuts

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan.
2. Beat oil and agave nectar with a whisk.
3. Add almond extract and eggs. Beat until combined.
4. Mix in banana until fully combined.
5. Add flours, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and baking powder. Fold together with a whisk until just combined. There will be lumps.
6. Fold in chopped nuts.
7. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes.

* Almond extract: Vanilla will work just fine, too. Or get creative with lemon or maple extract.
* Cinnamon and ginger: All those autumn spices work well in this bread—allspice, nutmeg, and cloves too.
* Eggs: For vegan bread, you could substitute ½ cup of applesauce. The texture will be a little different, though.
* Nuts: Any nuts will do. I used walnut, but pecans, almonds or even hazelnuts would put a slightly different twist on the bread.