Creating a signature

i think i’ll always be striving to find that signature dish i can memorize and create whenever, wherever. i’ll certainly never lose my curiosity of new recipes. but for now, i’ve been trying to come up with one, just one, that i feel confident with. a recipe that, if someone asked me what my favorite dish to make was, this would definitely be the answer.

you may have noticed a slight obsession with banana bread here at the particular kitchen. i’ve hunted down all the allergy-friendly recipes i could find (as well as the normal ones, just tweaked slightly) – and i think we’ve found a winner. this is essentially the same banana coconut bread recipe as last time, just with a few alterations, and it seems to be holding up well. i’ve made it a couple of times since then, adjusting it each time, so the recipe you find below is 100% tried and true!

i’m bringing the loaf you’ll find pictured below to a friend’s house tomorrow as dessert. the brits aren’t too familiar with banana bread in general – i suppose the closest thing would be tea loaf – so the americans reading will know that this dish goes far beyond dessert. consider it for brunch, an afternoon snack, warmed up with butter (or vegan margarine, naturally!), and almost certainly as a dinner party gift. when wrapped up in cling film and foil, it will last for the better part of a week.

one more point i’d like to add is that the coconut is my “something special” for this particular loaf. there are many other options as far as the extra ingredient is concerned. walnuts are always a popular choice, as are dark chocolate chips (or just broken bits of a dark chocolate bar), pecans, raisins, or toasted hazelnuts. i was going to call this monkey bread until i found out that it is already a thing (and it looks AMAZING).

the particular banana bread

serves 2-?? as many as you want, provided no one is too greedy!

the particulars:

1 tbsp coconut oil (to grease tin)
8 tbsp vegan margarine (i used pure)
2 cups spelt flour, sifted
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 heaped tsp egg replacement powder (i used orgran no-egg)
4 tbsp rice milk (or other milk substitute)
3/4 cup shredded coconut


preheat the oven to 350F / gas mark 5. grease your loaf tin with the solid coconut oil.
in a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder. in a small bowl, whisk the egg replacement powder and rice milk and set aside.
in a medium bowl, cream the margarine using a whisk or electric mixer. then beat in the agave nectar, mashed bananas, and thickened egg replacement mixture.
stir this into the flour mixture using a wooden spoon until well combined.
fold in the vanilla and coconut and pour into the greased loaf tin.
bake for 45-60 minutes, or until golden brown on top. the toothpick test really doesn’t work with banana bread as it stays very gloopy (for lack of a better term, and i certainly don’t want to use the m word)!

if anyone makes this, please let me know! i’d love to hear your thoughts on my recipe!