I was introduced to this recipe for Crackly Banana Bread by Smitten Kitchen right after our daughter Freya was born (back on January 11th). It was the very first goodie we received from our very first postpartum visitor (Thanks, Dhruvi), and we ate the whole loaf within hours receiving it. Since then, i've made the recipe with slight variations about four times. I would have made it more often than that, but I kept on eating the whole loaf myself, so I had to exercise some restraint.
The recipe below is my fully-loaded and doubled version of this amazing recipe. Mine has less sugar, more whole grains (per Deb's suggestion), and extra goodies like nuts and dried fruit too. I also doubled the recipe because it's just so good, one loaf is simply never enough.
The recipe below is my fully-loaded and doubled version of this amazing recipe. Mine has less sugar, more whole grains (per Deb's suggestion), and extra goodies like nuts and dried fruit too. I also doubled the recipe because it's just so good, one loaf is simply never enough.
Deb Perelman's original recipe is fabulous and lends itself well to adjustments (a wonderful quality to find in a recipe). In the future, I might try adding toasted coconut ribbons and swapping in honey for the maple syrup. If you make this recipe with adjustments, let me know what you did and how it comes out for ya!
Fully-Loaded/Doubled Version of Smitten Kitchen's Crackly Banana Bread
6 large very ripe bananas
2 large eggs
2/3 cup virgin coconut oil or olive oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2/3 cup virgin coconut oil or olive oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup diced dried dates, optional
1 cup chopped toasted nuts (I used walnuts and pecans), optional
2/3 cup chocolate chips, optional
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup uncooked millet
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup uncooked millet
Preheat your oven to 350. Butter two 9x5 loaf pans.
Mash the bananas, then add all the other ingredients to them in the order above, stirring after each addition to combine them as you do.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the loaves in the pans on a rack. Wrap tightly in foil and or plastic wrap, once cooled, to keep them fresh. They last about a week and freeze very well too.
Here's our sleepy little 6 week old gal.
Here's our sleepy little 6 week old gal.
