Almost-vegan Banana Bread

Not intentionally almost vegan, but I wanted to play with egg substitutes, and I've found that applesauce is the best replacement. This bread could be made completely vegan by substituting soy milk for the buttermilk. This bread whips up very quickly, but takes awhile to bake, so it will take some planning ahead if you plan on serving it at breakfast or brunch. This bread is also low in sugar and high in fiber because of the natural sugars of the bananas and the wheat flour and oatmeal. Dried fruit and nuts would also be excellent additions, if desired.

Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats (I used Quaker)
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg

Wet ingredients:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 bananas, best if very brown
1/3 cup milk, buttermilk, or soy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup applesauce

cooking spray for the loaf pan

Optional Mix-ins:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup orange zest
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup currants
1 cup chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Peel the bananas and place them in a bowl. Using a fork or potato masher, mash the bananas until they are a very thick liquid consistency. Add the remainder of the wet ingredients to the bowl, and stir until they are well mixed.

In a larger bowl, mix all dry ingredients together. Once they are mixed, slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. The batter will be very thick.

Spray a loaf pan with the cooking spray, and pour in the batter. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes, then pop it out and let it cool another 15 minutes.

Slice and serve with butter, if desired.