The Best Banana Bread Ever

I had some very ripe bananas sitting on the counter and was about to freeze them to make my banana ice cream (see earlier post!), but my brother suggested I make banana bread. What a genius idea!!!! It's too cold out for ice cream anyway. Banana bread always reminds me of my mom. I don't think she ever made it too terribly often, but banana bread is one of those things that just always reminds you of moms. And seriously, who doesn't loooooove banana bread?!?! I'm just so excited I can't even stand it. My mouth was watering waiting for it to come out of the oven. 

Normally when I start to come up with a recipe, I'll do a little research and look at other people's recipes and go through my many cookbooks, try to figure out how I can make it healthier, and decide on a plan of action, and then midway through, throw it all out the window and just make it up as I go. Today was no exception. But here's what I eventually did.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 vegan sugar
1/4 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup applesauce
3 very ripe medium bananas, mashed
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp each nutmeg and cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the vegan butter, sugars and the applesauce. Melt the coconut oil over very low heat, so it isn't hot enough to melt the sugar but liquid enough to use. Add this to the butter and sugar. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Combine and then add the remaining ingredients until everything is well incorporated. Put the batter into an oiled cake pan and bake for 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

If you're feeling extra indulgent (which for some reason, I always am), you can make a struesel topping. Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3 tbsp vegan butter, 1 tbsp flour and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Stir in some more walnuts and sprinkle on top of the bread batter before you put it in the oven.

This bread came out so moist and yummy, and I'm going to have to try really hard not to eat the whole loaf right now.

Yummmm

My first piece. Going back for seconds now.

What I really love about banana bread is that it tastes like cake, but you can eat it for breakfast. It's like starting the day with dessert. Nothing wrong with that ;)