Vegan Banana Bread

[b-man]

Vegan Banana Bread

Quick breads are among the easiest recipes to adapt for egg- and dairy-free baking. In this vegan banana bread recipe I’ve substituted silken tofu along with a little extra moisture (in the form of oil and water – who says they don’t mix?) for the usual eggs and given my bread a little extra healthy fiber and vitamins by replacing some of the white flour with whole wheat.

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour
½ cup (125 ml) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (180 ml) evaporated cane juice or raw light brown sugar
3 very ripe bananas
6 tablespoons silken tofu
8 tablespoons (1 stick) room-temperature vegan margarine or shortening, plus a little extra for greasing the pan
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
¼ cup (60 ml) water
½ cup (125 ml) coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease a 9x5-inch/2-quart (23x13-cm/2-liter) loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and evaporated cane juice or sugar.

Mash together bananas and tofu until smooth. Then, in a smaller bowl, cream together with margarine or shortening.

Add the banana, tofu and margarine mixture to the dry ingredients along with the vanilla extract, oil and water. Stir together or mix with an electric mixer on low until ingredients are just combined.

Spoon mixture into prepared baking pan. If you need to even out the batter more evenly in the pan, wet the back of a spoon with water and use it to spread out the batter and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until top is lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Let cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Continue cooling on rack. Serve warm or at room temperature or toast slices of the bread.

Yield: 1 loaf

B-man