Crackly Banana Bread

Banana Bread. It’s a classic for all of those overripe bananas that no one ate. Sometimes they go in the freezer for a smoothie. And sometimes, especially in the midst of a pandemic, they get baked into a delicious, sweet quick bread. And sometimes you don’t like bananas, and you should just go bake chocolate chip cookies. You’ve earned them.

Here’s why I choose this recipe over banana bread breads: 1) the ingredients are pretty clean: whole wheat flour. maple syrup. coconut oil. and 2) the crackle! Isn’t millet something in birdseed? Yes, it is. And it’s also a seed that makes this bread a fun twist on an old classic. It can be a bit of a challenge to find (as if you need more challenges at the grocery store right now). You can find it in the bulk section of Whole Foods, Wegmans and health food stores or order online.

Also, we have a banana tree this year! It’s fascinating to watch the bananas grow. Look how pretty the purple flower that they will burst out from is:

I don’t currently have access to white whole-wheat flour, so I used a sprouted whole wheat flour I had in the freezer. I was lucky enough to get one piece before the loaf disappeared… no one minds whole wheat flour in this recipe!

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Crackly Banana Bread

Course Snack

Yield 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 3 large ripe-to-over-ripe bananas
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) virgin coconut oil, warmed until it liquefies
• 1/3 cup (65 grams) light brown sugar
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup (60 to 80 ml) maple syrup (less for less sweetness)
• 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
• 1 tsp (5 grams) baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) white whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) uncooked millet

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan. In the bottom of a large bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon until virtually smooth but a few tiny lumps remain. Whisk in egg, then oil, brown sugar, syrup and vanilla extract. Sprinkle baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves over mixture and stir until combined. Stir in flour until just combined, then millet.
2. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool loaf in pan on rack.

Notes

Source: Smitten Kitchen