Two Breakfast Breads: Quinoa Banana and Almond-Hemp Banana

by Ali Seiter

A love of baking has always flowed through my veins. Dating back far prior to my vegan days, I pulled up a step-stool to the granite countertop to dust rum balls in powdered sugar and package in snowflaked metal tins as a Christmas thank-you for my teachers, rolled out homemade flaky crust while roasting my own pumpkin for pie, and claimed the entire kitchen as my weekend kingdom to experiment with new gourmet cookie and brownie recipes from Epicurious that my friends eagerly sampled at school on Monday.

After forgoing dairy and eggs, I scoured the internet and newly acquired vegan cookbooks for animal-friendly baking substitutions. I quickly learned to replace eggs with flaxseed, cow’s milk with soy, and butter with oil. Also adapting to the healthy baking spectrum, I ceded all-purpose flour for various whole grain varieties, sugar for agave nectar and brown rice syrup, and oil for applesauce or mashed bananas. To my sheer glee, I discovered that this new method of compassionate and nourishing baking produced extraordinary results—hearty yeast breads, moist muffins, and chewy cookies. I converted my friends to vegan baking as well (reveling in all its deliciousness, how could they not like it?), though I reserved my whole-grainy (Read: weirdly healthy) recipes for my private enjoyment and served them the not-so-wholesome vegan cupcakes, courtesy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Recently, an interest in baked goods for breakfast around the vegan blogosphere have sparked my interest. I’ve already achieved great success in the morning baking realm, what with my Apricot Almond Quinoa Muffins, Buckwheat Zucchini Date Muffins, and Choosing Raw’s unfathomably perfect Fig Bars (seriously, go make these bars right now). After hunting down two quickbread recipes featuring 3 mashed bananas each (Choosing Raw’s Ancient Grain Banana Breakfast Bread and Bake n’ Beebs Peanut Flour Banana Bread), only to realize that my house only contained 3 unfrozen bananas total, I halved each recipe and decided to bake them together. At the same time. In the same pan. Go baking experiments! Of course, I tweaked these recipes to suit my personal preferences and ended up with two half-loafs of moist, banana-ey, and (as always) incredibly healthy breakfast bread. For your sake, however, I wrote the recipes in their original sizes here.

Bread batters in same pan, separated by aluminum foil barrier.

Half of one loaf finished before the other, removed with aluminum foil.

Finished loaves reunited!

Quinoa Banana Bread (Gluten Free, Soy Free, Oil Free)

Makes 10 slices.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/2 cup any GF whole-grain flour (I used oat.)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 ripe bananas
• 3 tbsp flaxseed meal mixed with 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup agave nectar (I used 1/4 cup and thought the bread tasted a bit too sweet. Keep it if you like your baked goods on the sweeteer side, otherwise I’d recommend halving the amount.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×3-inch loaf pan with aluminum foil or lightly oil it.

Stir together the quinoa flakes, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, mash the bananas. Add the flax mixture, applesauce, and agave nectar and whisk well to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes then cover with foil. Bake another 15 minutes, or until a toothpick/sharp knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

 

Recipe featured on Finding Vegan and Vegan Breakfast, recipe submitted to Healthy Vegan Fridays and Gluten Free Fridays.

And its sister loaf…

Almond-Hemp Banana Bread (Gluten Free, Oil Free)

Makes 10 slices.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup almond meal/flour
• 1/4 cup GF whole-grain flour (I stuck with oat flour from the first recipe.)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp flaxseed meal mixed with 3 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp agave nectar (Again, the bread tasted a hint too sweet for my liking. I think the bananas lend an adequate amount of sweetness to the breads and may not even require added sweetener. Play around and let me know what you think.)
• 3 tbsp soy milk (Sub any nut milk for a soy free bread.)
• 2 tbsp hemp seeds (could also use chia seeds, sunflower seeds, any other type of nut, perhaps some cacao nibs or coconut.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×3-inch loaf pan with aluminum foil or lightly oil it.

Sift together both of the flours, baking powder, and cinnamon into a large bowl

In a smaller bowl, mash the bananas. Add the vanilla, flax mixture, agave nectar, soy milk, and hemp seeds and whisk well to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick/sharp knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

 

Recipe linked to Wellness Weekend and Gluten Free Fridays.

Along with a ripe plum and a glass of soy milk, these two breads composed a lovely summer breakfast complete with whole grains, fruit, and omega-3 rich seeds.

Comment Provoking Questions: What is your baked good of choice to enjoy for breakfast? Do you bake at home or patronize a local bakery? Are there any vegan-friendly bakeries where you live? How sweet do you like your baked treats?

Until next time, Ali.

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