10.12.2012

Soaked Banana Bread that is Actually Good!?

 


I've tried several soaked banana bread recipes. The one in Nourishing Traditions, a few around the web, and some I've tried adapting from non-soaked recipes. And I've never found one I've liked.

This is very disappointing, because I grew up with awesome banana bread. My mom's recipe, entitled "Linda's Easy and Delicious Banana Bread" in the church cookbook, is really the best I've ever had. I'm so proud of her for transitioning to making it with whole wheat flour, coconut oil, and unrefined sugar! Go mom!

I do try to make most of our baked goods soaked, soured, or sprouted, but I don't stress about it. If we want muffins and we want them now, I let it go. And I'm okay eating my mom's banana bread because it's so yummy and much healthier than most banana breads out there.

But I was determined to find a good recipe for whole grain, soaked banana bread.

And I think I finally did.

This is adapted from the recipe for "Banana Crunch Cake" in King Arthur Whole Grain Baking. I've made that coffee cake soaked and it turns out great! So why not just put it in a loaf pan and call it "bread"?

This recipe is not a replacement of my mom's banana bread. It's completely different. The banana is a little less pronounced, and it's a little more tender and less moist. But it's not dry, either. It's melt in your mouth, subtly sweet, and about as light as whole grain gets. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Notes:
  • I only used 1/3 cup sucanat because my bananas were super ripe (by super ripe I mean almost black) and I wanted it only mildly sweet. If your bananas are just a little freckly or you want it a bit sweeter, you can use up to 2/3 cup. 
  • I decided to make two smaller loaves to make sure they cooked all the way through, since my problem with soaked banana bread in the past has been that it never cooks all the way through.
  • Feel free to try this as muffins or mini loaves!

 

Joanna's (actually good) Soaked Banana Bread


Ingredients:
1 c. oat flour (grind rolled oats in your coffee grinder or blender)
1 c. white whole wheat flour
1/2 c. plain yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, or sour milk
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 c. mashed very ripe banana (2 large or 3 medium)
1/3 c. sucanat
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4-1/2 c. chocolate chips, optional

  1. Combine flours, yogurt, and melted butter in a mixing bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. Cover and let soak 8-24 hours.
  2. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two loaf pans.
  3. To the soaked mixture, add banana, sucanat, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until there are no more lumps of soaked mixture.
  4. Sprinkle on baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add walnut and chips, if using. Mix just until everything is incorporated.
  5. Gently pour the batter into the two prepared pans. It will only be a couple inches high in the pan.
  6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and no longer jiggly when you touch the middle.
  7. Let cool in pans for five minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Serve with plenty of butter!

Do you make banana bread? What's your favorite recipe? If you try this one, let me know how it goes!


This is part of: Freaky Friday, Foodie Friday, Figure Friendly Comfort Foods, Make Your Own Monday, Monday Mania, Monday Musings, The Better Mom Link Up, Scratch Cookin' Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Hearth and Soul, Living Green Tuesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday 

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18 comments:

  1. Sounds yummy! I'm almost out of sucanat, I've been wanting to do more soaked baking though.

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    1. It's really quite easy, you just have to think ahead. :) And I bet you could use honey, but I haven't tried it.

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  2. Did I miss something? How does it get the banana flavor?

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    1. My mom used to work at Dairy Queen and told me about a time she forgot to put the banana in a banana split. Looks like I've done the same thing in this recipe! Agh! We'll just call it mommy brain, shall we? I've fixed it now, and thanks for pointing it out to me. :)

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  3. This sounds fantastically healthy and high in fiber. Thanks for sharing your bread on foodie friday.

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  4. What can you use if you have dairy issues?

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    1. Anna, you can substitute water with 1 T. lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, or coconut milk kefir/yogurt.

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  5. So happy to see this! I'm trying to experiment with soaked flour recipes for the October #unprocessed challenge, though I haven't done much so far.

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    Replies
    1. Barb, good luck! Soaking grains is not difficult at all, it just takes some forethought. :)

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  6. I am a Vegan and will plan on trying this recipe but a little revamped. I will use soy or coconut kefir in place of the dairy. An egg replacer because I don't use eggs. And I was thinking coconut sugar too. If I remember I will let you know how it turned out ;)

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  7. This has definitely caught my attention. I have never done soaked baking so I may have to give this a try. So glad you shared it WJIM this week. Blessings.

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  8. This looks yummy! I will definitely give it a try - thanks for sharing.

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  9. Made this yesterday- delicious! I used coconut sugar and sour cream because that's what I had. One loaf is going to a friend and the other is g-o-n-e gone! I baked mine right about 47-48 minutes, just until the corners were beginning to brown. We love it! Thankfully I have two more brown bananas, I'll start another batch tonight!! :) :)

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    Replies
    1. Oh I'm so glad you like it! Yeah, it goes quickly, doesn't it. :)

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  10. recettes avec truffes noiresI just made this recipe today and it's so incredibly yummy!

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  11. I made this a couple days ago and it is so delicious! I substituted the oats and wheat with spelt instead (it was all I had on hand). This recipe is great and I'm so glad that this recipe turned out so well. This will be my banana bread recipe from now on :)

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  12. I made this but it didn't rise at all despite leaving the flours to soak for 22 hrs. Any idea what could've gone wrong?

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  13. Is the 12-24 hr Soak Refrigerated ? eggs in it

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