A friend and I were talking the other day and I became inspired to try to create delicious vegan desserts and pastries. It seems that the term "vegan" has a lot of negative emotions attached to it. People assume that vegan food will be dry and tasteless, devoid of imagination. Well, as you will find in this blog, I will highlight new and interesting ways of creating "normal" desserts without the dairy.
The first recipe I'm sharing is for Easy Banana Bread. I found this in one of the cookbooks my mother gave me when I got married and it has proven to be my go-to recipe every time I have some overripe bananas.
Ingredients:
3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed in
1/2 C. cooking oil
1/2 C. white sugar (or brown, depending on which you prefer)
2 C. white flour (or a mix of white and wheat ~ again, depending on what you prefer)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
Chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Instructions:
Mash bananas in oil until nearly smooth. Add sugar to banana mixture and stir to combine well. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Add banana and stir well, making sure to incorporate all the flour. Spoon batter evenly into a greased muffin tin, filling cup at least 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until beautifully golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
Alternative: You can use this same recipe for a loaf of delicious bread. Decrease temperature to 300 and bake for one hour.
Yield: 1 loaf of bread or 12 muffins
