Beautifully spiced banana bread

Beautifully spiced banana bread. Photo / Lottie Hedley

Plant-based, gluten-free and refined sugar-free, the modern, family-friendly recipes from Sophie Steevens' cookbook Simple Wholefoods, all use ingredients as close to their natural state as possible. "I love the soft, springy texture of this delightfully sweet bread," says Sophie. "It has the perfect amount of aromatic spices to enhance the flavours, and a finishing touch of caramelised maple banana that really makes it sing."

Ingredients

1½ cups	buckwheat flour
1 tsp	baking powder
1 tsp	baking soda
½ cup	coconut sugar
1 Tbsp	ground cinnamon
1 tsp	ground ginger
½ tsp	ground cardamom
¼ tsp	ground nutmeg
1 cup	rice milk (or other plant milk)
¼ cup	melted coconut oil
1 tsp	pure vanilla extract
2 cups	very ripe bananas (about 4 bananas), mashed (see tip)
1 cup	walnuts, roughly chopped
½ cup	sultanas

Topping

1	small banana, sliced lengthways
1 Tbsp	pure maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C fan-bake. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Sift the buckwheat flour into a large bowl. Add the baking powder, baking soda, coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg. Mix to combine.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the rice milk, coconut oil and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the banana, walnuts and sultanas and mix again.
4. Tip the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and spread out evenly. Arrange the sliced banana on top and drizzle over the maple syrup.
5. Bake for 60–70 minutes, or until golden. To test if it's cooked through, insert a knife into the centre of the loaf. It should come out clean if the loaf is ready.
6. Remove from the tin and let cool before slicing and serving. Store in a sealed container for 3–5 days.

Tip: Ensure you use very ripe, spotty bananas in this recipe as they will really boost the natural flavour, texture and sweetness of the loaf.

Edited extract from Simple Wholefoods by Sophie Steevens published by Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP: $49.99. Photography by Lottie Hedley