This banana bread recipe is a fantastic way to use very ripe bananas. If you, like me, let your bananas go too ripe too often, “save” them by making this moist and naturally sweet bread! It’s a recipe from my cousin Silvia who’s an enthusiastic baker. She made this for me when she was visiting Amsterdam and we’ve been exploring some gluten-free recipes since she has to eat that way.
I like the natural sweetness of the fruit – we’ve also added some dried figs to enhance it – but if you want it a little sweeter you can of course add some agave syrup or honey. And for a completely gluten-free result use g-f- oats.
Banana bread
6 medium-small very ripe bananas (keep 1 for garnishing, so it’s 360-400 gr. for the dough)
2 medium-sized eggs
110 gr. almond meal
70 gr. oat flour
20 gr. whole rolled oats
10 gr. baking powder (use the special one for sweets)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 a vanilla pod, scraped)
1 tablespoon olive oil or other vegetable oil
5-6 dried figs
2 handfuls pecans
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 -2 fresh figs for garnishing
Pre-heat the oven at 180° C.
Mash 5 bananas in a bowl, and add 2 eggs, the olive oil and the vanilla extract. Stir well to create a homogenous mixture.
Add the two flours with the baking powder and mix everything well.
Chop the pecans and the figs in chunks and keep a few whole nuts for garnishing later. Add the chopped ones to the dough, then add the salt and mix well.
Line a loaf tin with baking parchment and pour the mixture inside of it.
Cut in half the remaining banana and use it to garnish the bread together the left-over pecans and the fresh figs, sliced.
Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until nicely golden.
After about 40-45 minutes check the inside with a skewer to see if the banana bread is ready: if the skewer comes out still very wet or sticky, the bread will need to bake longer.
Remove from the oven and let the bread cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely before cutting it.
NicolettaTavella