Eat Me.

Anything you can do we can do vegan.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Pumpkin Banana Bread

In the vegan pantry a can of pumpkin is essential. Whether used with an accidentally vegan cake mix when a last minute desert is required or turned into a chocolaty pumpkin pie it is also a backup for rescuing recipes from the brink of disaster. Like when you are out of apple sauce but NEED to bake something. Or when you accidentally put twice the amount of sugar into your banana bread thus requiring you to double the recipe but alas - no more bananas. And from these situations come happy accidents that taste absolutely delicious. So it was that pumpkin banana bread was born.

A few words to describe: dense, moist, spice, warm. Need I say more if your mercury is as low as ours?

Pumpkin Banana Bread


You Will Need:
3/4 C Evaporated Cane Juice or other Vegan Sugar
1/2 C Maple Syrup (or I suppose you could just add another 3/4C sugar)
1/4 C Vegetable Oil
1-1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1-1/2 C Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Teaspoon Baking Powder (See note below...)
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Allspice
1/2 Teaspoon Cardamom (If you have it...)
2-4 Tablespoon Non-Dairy Milk
1 16 oz. Can Pumpkin (I prefer the Trader Joe Organic or any Organic variety - it makes a huge difference)
2 Very Ripe Bananas

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 bread pans (I prefer light metal) using whatever greasing method you like.

In a large bowl combine sugar, maple syrup, vegetable oil, baking soda and spices. Add flour and stir well to combine. Now add bananas and can of pumpkin. At this point we want the dough to be pour-able but definitely not runny. If your dough is too stiff loosen it up with the aforementioned non-dairy milk.

Pour into pans and bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 15-20 minutes then remove to wire rack. Store in closed container. Makes 2 loaves.

Notes:

Baking Powder: I originally added this when veganizing my mom's banana bread recipe to add a bit of lightness to compensate for the egg removal. However I didn't use it at all the past few times and the bread is a bit denser but I don't think that is such a bad thing..... It is all up to personal taste at this point.

Bananas: I find that throwing your brown bananas in the freezer works well to save them for when you need them. Throw them in the microwave for a minute or so to thaw before you use them. Just don't leave them there if you plan on evacuating for a hurricane. I am told they get quite gross after sitting in a freezer for four weeks with no electricity in the August heat.

3 comments:

squashimi said...

mmm.. I'm eating some right now! I forgot about the 2 pans thing (not that we HAVE 2 pans!) and it took like 3 hours to mostly bake. Thanks for the recipe! I'm going to tackle the crackalicious eggplant/tempeh sandwiches tomorrow.... YYUUMM!

whatweatelastnight said...

Sheesh! Maybe I should list what sort and what quantity of pans are needed before the recipe starts so you don't get pulled into such a time suck! Glad you liked it!

whatweatelastnight said...

Wait... don't you mean eggplant/tempeh sammiches?