Mmm, banana bread :)

Is there anything better than something (homemade) fresh from the oven? Especially when you're six and a half months pregnant, and that nagging voice in the back of your head has been itching for banana bread for the last, well, six and a half months.

I finally caved and made some this evening. Thanks to my handy-dandy vegan cookbook (stay tuned next time for a link!), and my own vegan baking knowledge, I put together a scrumptious (and healthy, woo!) loaf tonight.

Here's the recipe;

2 Cups whole wheat flour
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup pure maple syrup (it's more expensive, but having switched from imitation, I've noticed a significant [and much better] difference)
3 Medium (approximately 1 1/2 cups), very ripe bananas
1 Teaspoon aluminium-free baking powder ('cause who wants heavy metals in their food?!)
1/2 Cup distilled water
1/4 Cup canola oil
1/4 Cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 Cup chopped pecans, or nut of choice (optional)

-Preheat oven to 350 (F). Lightly grease an 8 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 -inch loaf pan.
-In medium mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
-In separate mixing bowl, mash bananas (a potato masher works great!) and add maple syrup. In a small cup, mix together baking powder with water, and add to the syrup/banana mixture, stir to combine. Add applesauce, canola oil, and pecans (if using), and mix.
-Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir only until combined.
-Pour into prepared loaf pan.
-Bake at 350 (F) for 75 minutes (but check on after an hour), or until a butter knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
-Remove loaf from pan and allow to cool completely.

Of course, I couldn't wait for it to cool completely, and had to have a slice 20 minutes after it came out. It's not overly sweet, the natural ripeness of the bananas, mixed with maple syrup give it enough sweetness for my tastes.

I enjoyed my slice spread with (organic) chunky peanut butter (this coming from the girl that hates peanut butter and banana sandwiches) and a tall glass of soy milk. It's also good plain, or with your choice of margarine.

I will give credit where it is due, and I (impersonally) thank Lois Dieterly (author of my favorite vegan dessert cookbook, Sinfully Vegan) for the above recipe, of course, I did a lot of my own thing to it, so it's a combination of her recipe, plus my recipe.

Please stay tuned for links. And the pictures I promised.

-Cassie

PS; There's only 14 weeks (give or take) of my pregnancy to go, and still so much to be done. I'm becoming overwhelmed (but not all in a bad way). I'm also getting kicked like freakin' crazy, and am honestly waiting for an alien to burst out of my stomach and eat me, then Dennis. But I have to remind myself it's a baby, and this is real life, not a cheesy science fiction movie :)

And the crazy pregnancy dreams you might hear pregnant woman talk about? About having a litter of puppies or kittens? Yeah. They've started too. Except mine was a little backwards. I had one puppy, and then it transformed into a human.. Then I had a separate dream that I had (human) quadruplets. Oh boy, what am I in for? :)