Recipe: Spiced banana bread

The aromas of this beautiful loaf will waft through your kitchen as it’s baking in the oven and linger in your home for hours after. I love the soft, springy texture of this delightfully sweet bread. It has the perfect amount of aromatic spices to enhance the flavours, and a finishing touch of caramelised maple banana that really makes it sing. It’s the perfect weekend loaf to enjoy with friends but is equally as good in a weekday lunch box.

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

1½ cups buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup rice milk (or other plant milk)
¼ cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups very ripe bananas (about
4 bananas), mashed
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
½ cup sultanas

TOPPING
1 small banana, sliced lengthways
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) fan-bake. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Sift the buckwheat flour into a large bowl. Add the baking powder, baking soda, coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg. Mix to combine.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the rice milk, coconut oil and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the banana, walnuts and sultanas and mix again.
4. Tip the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and spread out evenly. Arrange the sliced banana on top and drizzle over the maple syrup.
5. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until golden. To test if it’s cooked through, insert a knife into the centre of the
loaf. It should come out clean if the loaf is ready.
6. Remove from the tin and let cool before slicing and serving.
7. Store in a sealed container for 3-5 days.

Images and text extracted from Simple Wholefoods by Sophie Steevens published by Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP: $49.99. Photography by Lottie Hedley.