almondventures (recipe: banana walnut bread)

Back in November I saw a recipe for Paleo Pumpkin Bread from Elana's Pantry. I've been reading Elana's blog for years, but I've taken a special interest in it since she's not using much agave nectar and leans toward an ancestral diet now. She uses almond flour in most, if not all of her baking, but almond flour runs about $10 a pound. Gluten-free baking is so temperamental and throwing away several dollars' worth of almonds would really hurt.

For the most part, I've just learned to live without bread. I've written before, many times, about how much I hate culinary mimicry. I've just been wrecked by too many years of tofu “scramble” and rice “cheese” and gluten “sausage” and other “foods” bracketed by “quotations marks.” But I have to say, every now and then, I do get the craving. And since this bread required only one cup of almond flour, it seemed a simple thing to try.

I was skeptical, and kept my expectations low, so I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn't believe how perfect the bread looked when it came out of the oven. I took a bunch of pictures and then joked that it would probably taste like sawdust. But the flavor was excellent, too. It was a bit soft because it lacked the bite of gluten, but that was no loss.

This bit of inspiration kicked off a veritable glut of almond flour experimentation. In the end I'd made two kinds of banana bread, a fig-walnut bread, a cranberry-orange bread, and a cornbread for chili. All of them turned out beautifully, and thus did almond flour earn a permanent position on my grocery list.

This is one of the first breads I tried. I don't buy bananas very often because we have so many local fruits available, but we did have a few and they were turning brown and what else do you do with brown bananas but make banana bread? Which I haven't eaten in years, by the way. 

I want to make a special point about the pan I used for this bread. I bought two of these mini-loaf pans (5 3/4" x 3") to make Elana's bread, and because they worked so well I've been reluctant to try a full-size loaf pan with this kind of bread. The pans are not expensive and I've seen them at several regular grocery stores. They make a cute, small loaf that is ideal for gift-giving as well as avoiding a bread binge. You can get 6-8 small slices of bread that are the perfect size for serving with tea or for a light dessert.

If you have a hard time stopping once you start eating bread (I do!), this loaf pan will be perfect for you. Even if you have absolutely no self-control and eat the entire loaf to yourself, you'll just be having a cup of nuts with some fruit and eggs. Not a bad snack! 

Banana Walnut Bread

1 c. almond flour

1/4 t. salt

1/2 t. non-aluminum baking powder

1 T. cinnamon

3 pastured eggs, beaten

1/2 c. banana, mashed (about 2 small bananas)

1 T. honey, warm

1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

for garnish:

1/4 c. walnuts, chopped

2 T. turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F. Thoroughly grease a petite loaf pan ( 5 3/4" x 3") with butter and set aside.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

In another bowl, stir the banana into the beaten eggs. Stir in the honey and fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Fold in the nuts.

Spoon the batter into the greased loaf pan. The batter will come almost all the way up to the top. Spread the garnish nuts on top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

Let the bread stand in the pan for about 5 minutes, then gently loosen the sides and place the bread on a cutting board for slicing. Enjoy!

This recipe has been shared on Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade.