Banana Spelt Bread

Delicious, simple, and with an aroma that fills your kitchen with comforting goodness, banana bread is one of my all-time favorites. This variation is adapted from Veganomicon. Its many virtues include being vegan, lower in fat, full of fiber, and subtly sweet. The use of spelt flour ups the fiber content and gives this banana bread a darker-than-usual hue (as does the molasses). It’s nutty, perfect with tea, and you can’t go wrong lightly slathering it with butter or Earth Balance and some jam.

This weekend, I brought the banana bread over to Jamesina and Ryan’s house, both of whom are longtime friends of Brian. I worried that it might be too healthy but everyone gobbled it up, particularly Brian, who I had to save pre-visit slices from, lest there be none left for anyone else. Ryan said the bread was reminiscent of Friendship Bread, which I’d never heard of. So Jamesina got me rolling with a starter for it and the end result will be posted very soon (it takes 10 days to make!)

3 small, very ripe bananas
1 ½ teaspoon Ener-g Egg Replacer mixed well in 2 tablespoons warm water (or ¼ cup sweetened or unsweetened applesauce)
¼ cup canola or walnut oil
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons dark molasses
1 cup all-purpose flour (preferably organic and unbleached)
1 cup + 1 tablespoon whole-grain spelt flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon table salt
2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mash bananas with potato masher, spoon, or fork. Add egg replacer, oil, sugar, and molasses and hand-whisk briskly or mix with beater on low.
3. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to banana mixture. Use large spoon to mix until just combined, being careful to not over mix.
4. Add batter to loaf pan and place in oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is brown and cracked and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not over bake or bread will dry out. Remember, it will continue to cook after taken out of the oven.5. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before taking bread out of pan and placing on cooling rack to cool completely.