Banana Bread

Could anything be lovelier than the comforting scent of warm, soft banana bread wafting through the house on a crisp fall morning?  My love affair with banana bread is a recent one, as my mother, not being much of a breakfast pastry eater, rarely made it.  It fell into a broad category of her dislikes that I was deprived of during childhood, along with coconut, bread pudding, and nuts or dried fruit invading a baked good in any form.  "Why would you ever put in nuts when you could put in chocolate chips?" she would ask, without a hint of irony in her voice.  As I discovered when I was turned loose in my own kitchen, I am quite, even especially, fond of all these things and I have done my best to make up for lost time.

After trying several recipes for banana bread, I found that my own version is in fact my favorite.  It uses four bananas rather than the standard three, which keeps it wonderfully moist and sweet enough with less sugar.  You may use any milk alternative you like, but I think coconut makes the most natural partner for bananas.  And trust my mother on this one: gooey chocolate chips make a much more beguiling accent than walnuts.  Your morning coffee just found a new best friend.

*Ingredient note: You may have noticed that most of my baking recipes call for white whole wheat flour.  It is made from a lighter variety of wheat, so while its nutritional profile is the same as traditional whole wheat, its color and flavor are milder.  I can't resist adding it to recipes like this because it adds some nutrition without sacrificing flavor.  If unavailable, you can substitute regular whole wheat flour or all purpose flour.

Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 very ripe, darkly speckled bananas
1/4 cup regular coconut milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350* F.  Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside.  Combine coconut milk and lemon juice in glass measuring cup and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine flour, white whole wheat flour, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  In another bowl, mash the bananas well with a wooden spoon, then stir in the coconut milk mixture, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla.  Mix until well combined (there should still be some small banana chunks).  Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until most of the flour is incorporated, then gently fold in the chocolate chips.  Do not over mix.

Pour into prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center of loaf comes out clean, about 55 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon Almond Coffee Cake

First of all, I need to give a big shout out to the Giants for winning the NL West last night!  Can major league baseball inspire breakfast pastry, you ask?  Why yes it can, if that pastry is a coffee cake modeled after the cinnamon-roasted almonds sold at the ballpark.  If you have ever walked past the Emerlad Nut stand at AT&T Park then you know exactly the irresistible scent that I am talking about.  Once I bought a little bag of the nuts at a game and was disappointed to find that the flavor wasn't quite as beguiling as the aroma.  Not so for this moist, delicious coffee cake.  Picture to come when I get home tonight.  GO GIANTS! 

Cake Batter:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup plain almond or rice milk

Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup dairy-free, soy-free margarine (such as Earth Balance Soy Free), softened

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour an 8" square baking pan. 

For crumb topping, place almonds in food processor and process until finely chopped.  Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and pulse to combine.  Pour into bowl and cut in margarine with a fork until evenly mixed.  Set topping aside while you prepare the cake batter.

In medium bowl, combine all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, almond meal, baking soda and salt; stir well.  In bowl of standing mixer, whisk together the sugar, egg, oil, vanilla, and almond extract until well combined.  With mixer running at medium-low speed, add 1/3 of rice or almond milk.  When almost combined, add half of flour mixture and mix until most of flour is incorporated.  Repeat, ending with the final 1/3 of milk and stirring just until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over the batter.  Bake at 350 until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 - 50 minutes.  Let cool before cutting into squares.  You can make this the night before; let cool, cover, and wait until morning to cut into squares.  Makes 9 servings.

Banana Pancakes

As promised, here is my creative breakfast recipe for the week: my first ever vegan pancakes, which I was pleasantly surprised by.  I almost wonder why pancakes have eggs in them to begin with, as moist, tender and flavorful as these were.  I used an over-ripe mashed banana to replace the egg, and in keeping with my tropical obsession, coconut milk and coconut oil.  Some whole wheat flour added substance, and a healthy dose of baking powder kept them fluffy.

These are very loosely based on the "American breakfast pancakes" from one of my favorite cookbooks, Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess.  If cooking out of a book with a title like that doesn't make you feel fabulous, nothing will.  We enjoyed them with dairy-free margarine, crisp applewood-smoked bacon (yes, vegan pancakes with bacon, stop laughing!), and real maple syrup.  In my opinion, real maple syrup is an absolute must, so please step away from the "pancake syrup" and splurge on a bottle of the good stuff, grade B if you can find it, which has a deeper color and flavor.  My husband, who has been a little wary of some of my alternative cooking projects, gave these the thumbs up.  Enjoy!

Banana Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup regular or white whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup regular coconut milk + 3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp flax seed meal
1 very ripe banana, well mashed
2 Tbsp coconut oil

In a glass measuring cup, combine the coconut milk, water, and flax seed meal; set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.  In a medium bowl stir together the flour, whole wheat flour, salt, and baking powder.  In another bowl mix the mashed banana, coconut oil, and coconut milk mixture.  Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet ingredients.  Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.  Transfer to a pitcher or large glass measuring cup.

Heat your griddle or large frying pan and coat lightly with oil.  Pour batter onto griddle and cook until surface is bubbly and edges look dry.  Flip pancakes and cook until golden.  Repeat with remaining batter.  Serve hot with dairy-free margarine and maple syrup.

Gone-Nuts Granola

For three nights this week, I was up late tending batches of granola for my husband's backpacking trip.  I practically drooled as pan after pan of nutty, spiced oats came out of my oven tempting and taunting me, enough granola to sustain four men hiking seventy-five miles over a week, of which I could taste none.  When my non-cereal eating husband sampled it and raved, I knew I had to make myself a nut-free version.

Sunflower seeds have been my new best friend this week.  They look like a nut, taste like a nut, and bake like a nut, but for allergy purposes, they are not a nut.  First I bought a jar of sunflower seed butter so I could keep eating my toast with bananas, and now they would be the perfect stand-in for nuts in my new granola recipe.  Not to mention they're a good source of protein and very inexpensive.  I've been in a tropical mood lately - the coconut milk is probably going to my head - so I added coconut and banana chips to the mix.  I also used an array of spices, including cardamom, which I've been sort of obsessed with ever since that vanilla bean panna cotta with cardamom-infused apricot puree at a French restaurant several years ago.  Cardamom is a prominent spice in chai tea, so I couldn't leave out its partners, cinnamon and ginger.  Making granola is even easier than baking cookies, so get to it - it's worth it just for the aroma that will fill your home!

Gone-Nuts Granola

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 Tbsp flax seed meal
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup unsweetened banana chips, crumbled
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat your oven to 250 F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

In large bowl, combine oats, flax seed meal, sunflower seeds, and coconut.  Mix brown sugar, salt, and spices together in a small bowl and sprinkle over oats; stir to combine well.  Whisk honey, coconut oil, canola oil, and vanilla together in glass measuring cup; pour over oat mixture.  Stir with a wooden spoon until oats are evenly coated.  Spread in even layer on prepared baking sheet.

Bake about 45 minutes to an hour, removing from oven and stirring thoroughly every 15 minutes.  Watch carefully to prevent burning.  Granola should be uniformly golden when done.  Remove from oven and stir again; let cool.   Stir in bananas and apricots.  Store in airtight container.

Chocolate Breakfast Scones

In honor of going egg-free and officially joining the ranks of vegan bakers, I decided to make myself a special treat for the first morning of my new dietary restrictions.  I chose the cocoa-nut (as in cocoa + coconut) scones from Alisa Fleming's excellent guide and cookbook, Go Dairy Free.  I ordered this book about a week after we found out about Warren's allergies, when I was basically living on lettuce and meat and feeling very sorry for myself.  When it arrived, it was like being handed a compass and a map while lost in the wilderness.  If you are new to living without dairy, or just want some new recipes, I highly recommend it.  You can visit Alisa's website, with recipes and dairy-free information, here.

My first foray into vegan baking was actually a lot of fun.  Part of why I fell in love with baking to begin with was the mystery of it all, how you can put a soupy mess into the oven and ten minutes later pull out a light, fluffy masterpiece.  Doing it now with all different ingredients makes the whole experience fresh again. Working with the margarine was a little tricky; it melts more readily than butter so I had to work quickly when cutting it into the dough.  I was a little skeptical as I pushed the pan into the oven, but as soon as I took the crackle-topped scones from the oven, I knew they were a success.  Rich with cocoa flavor but not too sweet, they were perfect with my morning coffee.  My husband liked them as well, but they were a bit too sophisticated for Isaac, who dismantled his to rescue all the chocolate chips.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins are a staple at our house, but the version I had been making lately was a decadent affair involving sour cream, so it wasn't an ideal candidate for dairy-free conversion.  In search of a simpler muffin from a simpler time, I turned to my well-worn original copy of the Betty Crocker Cookbook., where I found the basis for this recipe.

The only trick to making good muffins is to avoid over mixing.  When you add the dry ingredients to the wet, stir with restraint; there should still be some lumps of flour.  The first time I tried these I used coconut oil instead of margarine, but the coconut flavor was out of place.  I used Earth Balance Soy Free margarine this time with much better results.  Enjoy these warm, so the blueberry juice oozes with every bite.

Blueberry Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup plain rice milk
1/4 cup dairy-free, soy-free margarine, melted
1 egg
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 F and grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  In a glass measuring cup, combine rice milk, melted margarine, and egg; whisk to blend.  Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in milk mixture.  Stir just to combine.  Gently fold in blueberries.  Divide batter evenly in muffin pan and bake until light golden, about 20 minutes.  Cool slightly in pan, then run a knife around muffins to loosen and place on platter.  Serve warm.