I have the best ever banana bread recipe! A friend of mine typed it and printed it out for me years back and it is one of my most-prized recipes. Dog-eared and creased as it is from years of handling, it has never ever failed me and makes the most perfect 2 loaves of bread in a jiffy! Unfortunately it is not vegan! Finally I think I have found a way to veganize it and make it sugar-free without compromising texture or taste.
Did I tell you about my current obsession with figs? Fall in California brings exotic, sexy fruits like persimmons, figs and pomegranates to the local markets. I have a strange (imaginary?) allergy to persimmons but I happily gorge on both figs and pomegranates freely at this time of year.
You already know how I love cooking with dried figs, like the No-bake Fig Energy Balls and the Fig and Oat Bars. This time I used fresh ripe seasonal figs in my recipe. The purple California Smyrna figs are so pretty that I could not just bury them inside the batter. I wanted to show off their seedy beauty and hence decided to place them cut-side up on top of the bread.
Here’s the veganized version of my favorite banana bread recipe with fresh figs. It also does not have any added sugar and is sweetened entirely with fresh and dried fruits.
Recipe for Vegan Banana Bread with Fresh Figs
- Hand mixer
- Blender
- 2 loaf pans (I have 2 Pyrex 9″x5″ loaf pans that I love and have used for ever)
- Convection Oven
Dry:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (almond flour would work well if you want to go gluten free) + about a tablespoon for the pans
- 1 cup golden flax meal
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 Tbsp of brown sugar (or turbinado) (optional)
- 5 dates and 4 dried apricots or figs, rinsed and soaked in warm water for 1/2 hour
- 1 large apple (Or 1/2 cup apple sauce)
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (you can use any vegetable oil or coconut oil)
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla
- About 20 small figs or 10 large ones
- A little coconut oil for coating the pans
- Preheat over to 350F
- Grease the pans with coconut oil and dust with flour
- Combine all the dry ingredients except walnuts in a large bowl
- Puree the soaked dates and apricots with about 1/4 cup of the soaking water
- Peel and cut the apple and puree in a blender (or use apple sauce)
- Peel and mash the ripe bananas
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and use a hand mixer to mix thoroughly
- Mix in the walnuts
- Scoop in to the prepared loaf pans and shake to even the surface
- Cut off the stems of the figs and cut them vertically in to halves
- Press in to the batter, cut side facing up
- Bake in oven for around 45 mins to an hour until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean
- Optional step: About 5 minutes before the end of the baking cycle, sprinkle about a tablespoon of brown sugar or turbinado on top of the figs in each loaf pan and continue to bake
- Place on a cooling rack to cool, slice and enjoy
Since it is sweetened entirely with fruit we have it for breakfast or an afternoon pick me snack.
Do you have other recipes to satisfy my fig cravings? Do share!