Created by Slowly We Gather
Banana bread makes my soul sing. So, as you can imagine, I was very happy when the weather finally cooled down enough for me to make some. I just can’t bring myself to bake in the heat, it doesn’t make sense to my cook brain! The sun is back with a vengeance today, but luckily I made a double batch of this awesome banana bread so we’ve got some for snacking over the next few days.
This version of banana bread is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, uses chia eggs to bind it and water to moisten so it’s also vegan. It would be very easy to sub a gluten free flour mix and make this recipe gluten free as well.
I’ve used a fantastic native Australian ingredient in this recipe – wattleseed. If you ask me it make the banana bread have that little extra sumthin’ sumthin’, but if you can’t get your hands on it just leave it out and use plain water or a plant-based milk instead. The wattleseed does add a beautifully nutty, coffee flavour to this bread though, making it PERFECT with a ice cold coffee. I do have a bit of a cold brew addiction so practically anything is good with a iced coffee for me! Wattleseed can be a great addition to both sweet and savoury recipes.
A super simple caramel sauce completes this ‘nana bread. The bread itself is not very sweet and a drizzle of caramel turns it from breakfast into dessert. I love this caramel sauce because it’s so easy to make and if you can remember the number 2, you can remember this recipe. It takes 2 minutes and uses 2 tablespoons of each ingredient. And there’s only three ingredients, if you don’t count the salt. Which you probably should, caramel without salt is like banana bread without banana!
Speaking of simplicity, I watched a great doco on Netflix whilst Evie napped the other day. It’s called Minimalism, you can view the trailer here. My life has been leaning towards becoming less cluttered lately anyway, but watching Minimalism was the kick in the butt I needed! As soon as Evie woke from that nap, we went through all her books, toys and clothes and culled what we don’t need or use. Then we went through my wardrobe and I filled three huge bags of my excess clothes.
A great start, but to really commit I needed to sort through my kitchen wares and the large amount of food props I have been collecting. I made the decision to keep just the basics. I feel very excited to reduce the amount of stuff in my space and my life! I tend to feel very overwhelmed by clutter and get a bit stuck with where to start in the tidying process. It’s a full time job just cleaning up after a two year old, let alone completely re-organise my space. So, I’ll make my job easy and get rid of the things that need re-organising! Do you live a minimalist lifestyle or hope to in the future? Share with me in the comments!
I hope you love this Wattleseed Banana Bread as much as Evie and I do! This recipe is adapted from the wonderful Cookie & Kate.
Love, light & simplicity,
Rosie x
Wattleseed Banana Bread with Two Minute Vegan Caramel Sauce
Easy to make, even easier to eat - vegan | refined sugar free | can be made gluten free
Ingredients
Wattleseed Banana Bread
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1 1/2 tbsp ground wattleseed
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or sunflower oil
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 chia eggs see notes
- 2 medium bananas, mashed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 3/4 cup self-raising wholemeal flour
Two Minute Vegan Caramel Sauce
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp tahini or almond butter
- pinch sea salt flakes
Instructions
Wattleseed Banana Bread
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Prepare your chia eggs according to notes. Add the wattleseed to the boiling water and let sit to soak.
Preheat oven to 165 degrees. Line your loaf pan with baking paper or lightly grease with coconut oil.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut oil and maple syrup . Whisk together until well combined.
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Add the chia eggs and whisk again until well combined and no lumps remain. Stir in the mashed banana and the wattleseed, along with the water it has been soaking in.
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Next add in the baking soda, salt and cinnamon and whisk until just combined.
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Now add the flour, and using a wooden spoon, fold into the mixture until just combined - lumps are okay. If you want to add any nuts or dried fruit, gently fold them in now.
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Pour banana bread mixture into your prepared loaf pan. Bake your bread for 55 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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Once your bread is cooked, let it sit in the loaf pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. This bread is delicious warm, however it may fall apart a little if you cut it warm - can be worth it!
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Keep banana bread covered on the counter if it will be eaten within the day, otherwise slice and keep in the fridge or freezer. You can toast the slices to warm them if you wish. I recommend that you do. Enjoy!
2 Minute Vegan Caramel Sauce
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Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and heat gently until liquid. Whisk until well combined.
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Transfer to a jar or container to keep. Before eating banana bread, drizzle caramel sauce over the top. It will soak in fairly quickly, so you may need to add more to individual slices.
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If the caramel sauce mixture hardens, because it's too cold, simply heat gently over the stove top again.
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Keep in the fridge for 2 weeks, can be drizzled over anything you like.. porridge is my favourite!
Recipe Notes
- To make chia eggs, combine 2 tbsp chia seeds with 1/2 cup of cold water and let sit for 10 minutes to become gelatinous. If you don't like to have the occasional chia seed in your bread, you can grind the seeds before mixing with water. Just be aware that they will soak up the water much faster.
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