It is honestly difficult to gauge what is appropriate to share right now. I had a roundup style post of pantry-friendly recipes ready to go, but it all had such strong doomsday-ish undertones to me. I know that these recipes are practical and needed for folks working through this collective unknown. I also know that as this time period of social distancing goes on, I’ll probably be sharing that content eventually, but right now I’m looking to cook for comfort as much as possible. Enjoying simple things in the moment.
There are so many messages that we’re being bombarded with on the news and social media right now, especially in the whole food and wellness community. Get daily exercise, make sure you’re eating vegetables, go outside, sleep for at least 6 hours a day, don’t eat sugar, don’t drink alcohol, take adaptogens (uuuugh), engage in daily self-care practices, the list goes on.
All of these things are fine if you can do them, but if you’re experiencing acute levels of anxiety with no access to medication/support and you also have children to look after, sufficient sleep and self-care goes out the window fast. I saw a heartbreaking photograph of a frail elderly man staring forlornly at a wall of empty shelves at a grocery shore. Is someone going to scream at him to eat vegetables? If you’re living pay check to pay check and your employer just closed up shop, adaptogens are seriously the dumbest thing to be spending your money on. People with a platform: please think about your privilege and consider perspectives outside of your immediate awareness as you share new content right now.
I always ask myself if what I’m posting is helpful or useful. This feels especially vital in times of uncertainty. I am aiming to use my platform to spread moments of calm, positive energy (that’s also locked in on the seriousness of it all), and obviously some home cooking inspiration. This is a defining moment for all of us. I am trying to be mindful, useful, and compassionate.
There will be pantry-friendly recipes to come and of course I will be much more diligent on substitution questions as they come in. We all have to take this social distancing responsibility seriously to help those most at risk and to lessen the burden on health and medical professionals. If this means cooking and attempting to remix rice and beans for weeks at a time, I think we can do that. If you need help, I’m here.
I had a bunch of deep brown bananas on the counter and while freezing them for smoothies or another future use may have been smarter, comfort and a break from this new routine just seemed necessary. Spelt banana bread for us. Other cozy loaves: pumpkin with chocolate, morning glory bread, and a vegan vegan zucchini bread too. My partner and I are learning how to work together at home and a treat felt like the right thing. All we have is each other and the present moment. Be safe out there and keep looking out for your community. See you on here soon. Sending all my love <3
Spelt Banana Bread with Pecans and Chocolate Chunks
Ingredients
- 2 cups light spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup dairy-free chocolate chunks
- ¾ cup pecan halves, chopped
- 4-5 very ripe bananas, peeled (1 ½ cups mashed banana total)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup melted coconut oil (or avocado oil, sunflower oil, melted vegan butter etc, plus extra)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Equipment
Notes
- You could easily substitute the following flours 1-to-1 for the spelt: whole wheat pastry flour, whole kamut flour, einkorn flour, whole wheat flour or whole grain spelt flour (being mindful of the fact that whole grain flours will make the loaf more dense), all purpose flour, and gluten-free all purpose flour.
- Any add-ins you like are great! Use up to 1 ½ cups of chopped nuts, seeds, chocolate chunks/chips, or chopped dried fruit. You could also add other warm spices like nutmeg, cardamom etc.
- You can mash the bananas by hand if you wish! I just like to get them thoroughly pureed in the blender.
- This recipe is inspired by both Lily Diamond’s and Sarah Britton’s banana breads.
- If you like this loaf, I bet you’ll love my zucchini bread recipe too.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×5 loaf pan and then line it with parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment as well and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the spelt flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, chocolate chunks, and chopped pecans. Stir with a spatula to evenly mix.
- In an upright blender, combine the bananas, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Blend on high until totally smooth and creamy.
- Pour the pureed banana mixture into the large bowl with the spelt flour mixture. Use your spatula to get all of the banana mixture you can out of the blender. Gently stir and fold everything together until JUST combined.
- Scrape the spelt banana bread batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top with your spatula. You can garnish the top with extra pecans and chocolate chunks if you like. Bang the filled loaf pan on the counter a couple times to evenly distribute the batter and to fill all spaces of the loaf pan.
- Bake the spelt banana bread for 50-55 minutes, or until a cake tester/paring knife inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow the banana bread to cool thoroughly before slicing and enjoying.
I’ve made this countless times and love it!
My absolute go to banana bread recipe! Thank you for sharing. I still need to figure out baking time as sometimes it comes out more dry and sometimes soooo nice and moist.
OMG so yum! To make this gluten free, I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour blend and baked as muffins (crucial for gf/v baking in my opinion) for 35 minutes – they came out perfectly with very good texture. So delicious. I also added nutmeg!
Hi Lily, how many cupcakes did come out for you? Thank you.
I have made this bread twice in one day since I discovered this recipe yesterday morning. It is soo good and soo healthy. My kids loved it. The second batch is finished and I will be making a 3rd batch tonight. Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe with the world.
Amazing! I used whole spelt flour, and still it was soft… Really really good!
Nutrition facts? Anyone have them?
This bread is delicious and we enjoyed it.
My go-to banana bread recipe, just perfect!
This is my ONLY banana bread recipe. I add a few personal things, like nutmeg in the flour mix, and cinnamon sugar on the top of the bread. Either way, this is my favorite, and only, go-to recipe for banana bread. I refuse to use another. Whenever I make it, it never lasts more than two days, especially when guests are present.
Absolutely love this recipe! We always have this bread on hand – one to eat now and one in the freezer for back up! I make them in a muffin tin for an easy snack for my husband’s work lunches.
These are insanely good. I have baked my share of banana breads over the years, but nothing like this – especially without eggs. Freaking delicious!
Love this bread recipe and the pumpkin bread recipe as well! Have made multiple times and is shot with everyone!
I didn’t have spelt flour but AP and buckwheat flour, besides my 4 bananas. I.couldn’t wait for it to cool down completely before tasting it. Heaven ! Thank you so much ! This is my first vegan bread and it turned out ABFAB !
This turned out delicious! I subbed brown sugar for maple syrup. It was just the pick-me-up I needed today!
Thank you for a great recipe! Made with 1 cup whole grain Spelt flour and 1 cup Einkorn and a cup of chopped pecans. Perfectly moist and not too sweet.
Tried this recipe and it was almost perfect except that thing that happens to me each time I make banana bread happened. I baked it for 65 min because the center did not look cooked and still it is a bit undercooked. What is the banana bread secret? I always get that wrong!
Hi Natalie,
I’m not sure why you’re getting uncooked middles with banana bread! Is your pan metal or glass? Metal tends to conduct heat a bit better, making for more golden brown edges and evenly cooked interiors. Are you letting it cool completely (at least 1-2 hours) before slicing? Sometimes I find myself baking it for well over an hour. When this happens, I just loosely tent some foil on top to prevent further browning on the surface while it continues to bake.
-L
Thank you for the suggestions. I am using a metal pan, but likely not waiting long enough for it to cool. That might be the issue…
This is the easiest and best banana bread that I have ever made.
Substitutions that I made:
Had no nuts so I used shredded coconut (omg)
A generous handful of flaxseeds
Coconut sugar instead of maple syrup
I then topped the batter with coconut sugar, shredded coconut, and more flaxseeds.
I was baking in a stainless steel loaf pan so I oiled and floured the pan (no parchment) and it came out perfectly and even had a nice crispness to the outside. Baked at 375 (because of the thicker pan) for 45 minutes and it was perfect.
I have just had this exact same issue – but also in metal pan and middle is still very wet?
ALSO – I’m interested in baking with spelt flour but still want to use butter. Can I just substitute 1/2 oil for butter or is that the mistake I made ??
Hi Carson,
Butter contains both water and butterfat, whereas oil is just pure fat. But I don’t think that would be the reason for your loaf being wet in the middle. As I mentioned to the previous commenter, sometimes I am baking this loaf for over an hour and tenting the top to avoid excessive browning. How many bananas did you use? Does your oven hold temperature reliably?
-L
I made this for my boyfriend and I. I sprinkled cane sugar on the top of it, for an added touch, and it was FANTASTIC. It was gone in two days, literally.
This was my first ever attempt at banana bread. I am not a baker at all but it turned out so well! I only had three bananas on hand but it’s still delicious. I made it in my convection oven for 50 minutes and it has a nice dark outer crust but is still soft and moist inside. It isn’t too sweet, either. I will be making it again!