Banana Walnut Bread

Name: Banana Walnut Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: ¼ cup plant-based milk (preferably organic soy, unsweetened, see Chef’s Notes); 1 tsp organic apple cider vinegar; 2 cups organic oat flour (or almond flour, see Chef’s Notes); 1 tsp baking soda; ¾ tsp baking powder; ¾ tsp cinnamon; ½ tsp salt (optional, see Chef’s Notes); 1 ½ cups mashed banana (about 3 medium ripe bananas); ¼ cup maple syrup (or date paste, link in Chef’s Notes); 2 tsp vanilla extract; ¾ cup walnuts (chopped)

Nichole Dandrea-Russert, MS, RDN

4 years ago

Yields4 ServingsPrep Time10 minsCook Time45 minsTotal Time55 mins

Ingredients

Plant-based Buttermilk

¼ cup plant-based milk (preferably organic soy, unsweetened, see Chef’s Notes)

1 tsp organic apple cider vinegar

Dry Ingredients

2 cups organic oat flour (or almond flour, see Chef’s Notes)

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt (optional, see Chef’s Notes)

Wet Ingredients

1 ½ cups mashed banana (about 3 medium ripe bananas)

¼ cup maple syrup (or date paste, link in Chef’s Notes)

2 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup walnuts (chopped)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x5” loaf pan (or similar size) by lining it with parchment paper.

Make the buttermilk: In a small bowl, add the milk and the apple cider vinegar. Stir then set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir. Set aside.

Mix the wet ingredients (mashed banana through to the vanilla extract) together in a medium bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk. Stir. The consistency should be like a pancake batter and may have some lumpiness. That’s okay — you don’t want to overmix it!

Stir in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake for 45 minutes (baking time may vary depending on your oven).

Chef's Notes

Substitutions
In place of walnuts, use other nuts or seeds of choice like pecans or sunflower seeds.

You can substitute almond flour for the oat flour, but know that the bread will turn out with more of a mealy texture and you may need to cook it longer since almond flour has more moisture than oat flour.

Salt-free
The salt helps the bread rise (along with using the right plant-based milk). Just know that if you omit the salt your bread may not rise.

Plant-based milk
We tried this three ways — by making the buttermilk with hemp milk, almond milk or soy milk. Soy milk was the only milk that helped the bread to rise (and it did a great job!). The hemp and almond milk still made the bread taste good with a nice texture, but did not result in a rise. They will work as substitutes for soy milk, however, just know that the bread may not rise.

Sugar-free
Make it sugar-free by replacing maple syrup with date paste.

Add natural sweetness
Add ¼–½ cup dried fruit pieces to the batter before baking.

Storage
Store the bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To store in the freezer, slice the bread into individual pieces and wrap them separately in parchment paper before adding the slices to an airtight container. Store in the freezer for up to 30 days.