Eggless banana bread
Eggless banana bread
Who would like a slice of banana bread? I really like making cakes and I like sharing them with others. Always in the hope that they will enjoy them, of course. I may have a mindset problem, but I think a piece of cake and a cup of good coffee (or tea) has a mood enhancing power on the most dreary of afternoons.
You know when someone offers you a slice of cake? You have basically two choices, as far as I am concerned. Politely decline or accept it and consume it with joy. If the said cake is making you smile, say so. If it’s not to your liking, keeping it to yourself is possibly a good idea, unless the gifter insists on feedback and even then, a pinch of tact goes a long way.
What really irks me is when people take the cake and then simply proceed to tell you how they have had better, their wife makes a nicer one or they don’t really like one of the key ingredients (banana-less banana cake, anyone?)
They will want to call it ‘honesty’, but that’s just plain rude, in my opinion! Someone made this cake with love and care and they really hoped you would enjoy it or else they wouldn’t give it to you. If for whatever reason it’s not quite to your taste, fair enough, but have a bit of consideration for them. You are not a Masterchef judge! Get over yourself!
This mini-rant is based on a real life experience that has recently left me puzzled. And the funny thing is that these are usually the same people who would not be able to handle it if you were to be honest in return. I think we have probably all come across that type of person before…
The moral of this life lesson is to not waste your cake on people like that, give it to those who will offer you a simple ‘thank you’ and a smile in return.
Going back to the cake. This is my healthier take on one of my favourite cakes of all time – banana bread. I like to make mine with buckwheat flour, personally, but you are welcome to use a gluten-free flour mix or a regular all purpose flour, if gluten doesn’t bother you. If you are keen on using alternative sugars, coconut sugar works rather well here, although I tend to use demerara sugar myself. It contains no eggs obviously (so no cholesterol worries here) and it’s quite low on fat – I only used 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) of oil for the entire loaf. Despite all the health conscious swaps, I still think it’s a cracking good cake and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.
- 180 g / 1½ cups buckwheat flour*, GF flour mix OR all purpose wheat flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- ¾ tsp of baking soda
- 1½ tsp of cinnamon
WET INGREDIENTS
- 360 g / 1½ cups mashed up, overripe bananas
- 60 ml / ¼ cup mild tasting oil (I used mild olive oil)
- 90 ml / 1/3 cup + 2 tsp almond milk (or other thin plant milk)
- 2 tsp lemon or lime juice
- 125 g/ ½ cup + 2 tbsp coconut sugar or demerara sugar**
EXTRAS
- 1 banana for decoration (optional)
- 2 tsp maple syrup, for glaze (optional)
- Warm up the oven to 175° C / 350° F and line a 900 g / 2 lb cake tin with baking paper. Move the oven rack a notch down from the middle position.
- Combine well mashed up bananas with oil, almond milk, lemon juice and sugar in a large bowl. Mix very well.
- In a smaller bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ones in three batches, mixing well each time. Mix until there is no dry flour left, but do not overmix (that’s only important if you are using a flour containing gluten)!
- Transfer the cake batter into the prepared baking tin. It should be fairy thick. Slice a banana in half lengthwise and place on top of the cake – do not press it down as the cake will raise all around it.
- Bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out fairy clean (this cake should be moist). Remove from the oven and brush with with a little maple syrup while the cake is still hot.
- Let the cake cool down completely before removing it from the tin and slicing. Use a serrated knife to slice if you have one – I find that it produces neater looking slices.
**If your bananas are very ripe and you like your cakes to be subtly sweet (or you are trying to use less sugar), 100 g / ½ cup of sugar is enough, especially if you intend to glaze the bread.
I used a 2 lb / 900 g cake tin of the following dimensions: 18.5cm x 8cm x 6cm (like this), which holds 8 cups / 2000 ml liquid (to the brim), but the batter should fill no more than 2/3 – 3/4 of the 2lb cake tin or else the cake may not raise.
This banana bread recipe is adapted from my earlier recipe for banana bread.
I replaced buckwheat with oats flour and used coconut milk. It tastes amazing.
Thankyou for a great recipe
I was a bit hesitant, so I used 1 cup buckwheat and 0.5 cups plain flour. I did not have coconut or demerera in the pantry, so I used regular brown sugar. I also skipped the banana on top, but tipped in a handful of raspberries (in season in Australia atm) and a handful of toasted pecans. The bread has these lovely crispy edges and the texture is perfect too, but what I loved the most is the rich nuttiness of the buckwheat flour itself. Next bake, I will definitely go with 100% buckwheat. I did not feel the need for a glaze, as it was intended to be a breakfast bread rather than an indulgent cake. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Let me say again, a very yummy banana cake - best recipe I've tried
What ratios of ingredients would I need for the 8x4" pan. I don't have another loaf tin and wouldn't want to purchase one.
TIA
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this banana bread and thank you for taking the time to let me know. As for your question, from what I can see the tin you have is larger (not smaller) than what I have used so rather than halving the recipe, you should increase the amount of batter by at least 25% for best results. Hope this helps! x Ania
The banana bread wasn’t too sweet, so I could top it with some maple tahini without it becoming dessert-sweet (aka perfect for snacks!)
I'll pick up some bananas this weekend and let you know how it goes once they ripen!
I personally think 'banana bread' is a bit of a misnomer, it is more like a cake I would say - not just this one, on the whole (I personally have never had one that was akin to bread). Ania
Thanks!
Yes, definitely. No problem at all. Hope you'll enjoy it. Ania
I have not unfortunately, but this one is oil-free out of the box - you can use any nut or seed butter you wish and I am pretty sure that if you want to use less fat, you can sub some of the nut butter with more mashed banana, just make sure you measure. Ania
Can I just ask how I should store it and how long it lasts?
Thanks so much!
One of the best i tasted!
What to modify if I want to make cupcakes out of this recipe?
Planning to experiment something.
But you should know the cake turned out great, will be making it second time tomorrow. Will be trying one version without sugar and one without sugar banana, lets see how it turns out.
If only i could post the picture here! Try this link: https://ibb.co/34r7zxN and ktell me what you think!
Another shot: https://ibb.co/LzZpdgC
My mom loved it, thank you!
It's 175° C / 350° F as per the METHOD, point 1. Cheers! Ania
I wonder if you have a rough chart of nutritional information as i do like to track my intake? Thanks again!
I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and that it helped make use of overripe bananas. At this point in time, I don't have any means of providing the nutritional information on my website, but I am working on having that information available in the next iteration of my design. Hopefully soon. Ania
Thank you for you kind words - I am so glad that the cake was enjoyed by everyone despite this small issue. There is a plethora of reasons why cakes deflate so it's hard to tell. For example, it can be caused by overmixing which knocks too much air out of the batter, or by the fact that the baking tin is a touch too small. Also, if you put bananas on top like I did in my photos, while they look awesome top down, they are heavy so they certainly contribute to the cake not being as domed as it would have been without them. Ania
Oh one question! If I want to make a half batch of this recipe, should I still bake for 50-55min?
Thank you Ania for all your amazing work! I really enjoy to try your recipes :)
Soyoon from Korea
I'm pleased you enjoyed it and yes, definitely too much banana would make it claggy / unbaked and potentially too sweet too. Glad you realised what the issue was. You'll definitely need to decrease the baking time for half of the batter, but be aware that the type of baking tin is very important for end result. I recommend using a 1lb/500 g bread tin rather than a larger yet more shallow tin. If using a 1lb/500 g bread tin I would start checking after 35-40 minutes. Hope that helps! Ania
I'm not sure, I have never had this happen with this cake before. Could it have been overmixed? It could be a number of things, cakes are tricky beasts - I've recently come across this article, which explains a number of reasons why cakes sink - perhaps you will find it useful too. Ania