C&C in the Kitchen

When I saw this recipe on Making Thyme for Health for Flourless Vegan Gluten-free Double Chocolate Banana Bread I knew I had to try it.

Here's what her bread looked like.

And here's mine!

Truth be told, in the chaos of baking with two first graders, we completely forgot the coconut oil, but it turned out totally fine. I did add slightly more almond milk to the blender which was likely to compensate for less liquid.

And there is also a recipe for a plain version that is next on my list (here). Try them both! You won't be sorry!

Flourless Vegan Gluten-free Double Chocolate Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS:
2 medium-size ripe bananas
1/4 cup Almond milk
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 + 1/2 cup rolled oats, divided
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Grease or line a loaf pan then preheat the oven to 350°F.

Starting with the bananas and working down to the list to the melted coconut oil, place all of the ingredients (except for 1/2 cup rolled oats and dark chocolate chips) in a blender. Blend on high for about 10 seconds, until a smooth batter forms. It’s okay if it’s not perfectly smooth. You don’t want to over blend the batter or it could become gummy.

Add the remaining oats and the chocolate chips to the blender and stir everything together with a spoon. (I didn't add the extra oats and layered in the chocolate chips once I poured it into the pan). Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. A knife should come out clean when you stick it into the center of the loaf.

Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Life Lately

Life has been good lately. On Saturday we drove out into the Columbia Gorge for some hiking at Catherine Creek. It's on the Washington Side of the Columbia River about 10 minutes past Hood River. We went for a 3 mile hike with fantastic views of the Gorge and Mt. Hood. 

Afterwards we stopped at our favorite spot in Hood River, Solstice, for lunch. If you are in Hood River, you should definitely try it. Their pizza is especially delicious, and next door (during the warmer seasons) is the most amazing little gelato stand, Cicci.  

Saturday night we joined some of our French friends for a raclette dinner....raclette is a cow's milk cheese that you melt and eat with meat, potatoes, etc. This was my second raclette dinner, and it was just as tasty as the first. The electric grill makes it interactive and fun! 

Sunday was a wet and rainy day and after a long and very wet walk in the rain, I decided to make (and eat) banana bread. I used this recipe from Oh She Glows, and it turned out super well. It has a little more sweetener than I usually put into my bread, but that made it extra tasty.

C&C in the Kitchen

Early sunday morning the Mini Fashionista and I were enjoying some time together when we realized that our bananas were looking pretty tired. So I asked her what she wanted to bake with them, and her response was "banana bread."

I've made this Paleo Banana Bread recipe a few times before and have since altered it slightly into my own recipe (below). This bread is spongy and moist and totally delicious. And what I love most about it is the complete absence of any sweetener besides the bananas! In the words of the Kix commercial, this bread is "kid tested, mother approved".

Happy Baking!

Spongy Banana Bread
Ingredients
4 ripe bananas
4 eggs
1/2 cup almond butter (or other kind of butter such as coconut, sunflower, peanut, etc)
4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of sea salt
chocolate chips, walnuts etc. (optional)

Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Combine bananas, eggs, nut butter and coconut oil into a mixing bowl and mix well. I used a Kitchen Aid mixer and suggest that or a handheld mixer.
- Add in coconut flour, almond meal, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sea salt and mix well.
- Pour into a week greased loaf pan (I used coconut oil spray to grease my pan)
- Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
- Remove from oven and flip your bread out onto a cooling rack

C&C in the Kitchen

After months of friends telling me that almond milk is so easy to make, I finally decided to try it. I used this recipe from Oh She Glows as my starting point, but made some slight modifications because I didn't have any dates or a vanilla bean. Next time I will try it with the dates.

Let me begin by saying that making almond milk really is as easy as everyone says it is, especially if you have a Vitamix and a nut milk bag (insert giggles). I purchased this one from Amazon.

Almond Milk
Ingredients:
1 cup raw almonds, soaked in water
3.5 cups filtered water
2-4 pitted Medjool dates (or you can leave these out like I did)
1 whole vanilla bean or 1/2-1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of fine grain sea salt, to enhance the flavor

Directions:
- Place almonds in a bowl and cover with water. Soak overnight (for 8-12 hours) in the water. You can get away with soaking for 1-2 hours in a pinch.
- Rinse and drain the almonds (I used the nut milk bag) and place into a blender along with filtered water, pitted dates, and chopped vanilla bean.
- Blend on highest speed for approximately 1 minute
- Place a nut milk bag over a large bowl and slowly pour the almond milk mixture into the bag.
- Gently squeeze the bottom of the bag to release the milk.
- Rinse out blender and pour the milk back in. Add the cinnamon and pinch of sea salt and blend on low to combine.
- Pour into a glass jar to store in the fridge for up to 3-5 days. Shake jar very well before using as the mixture separates when sitting.

Here is what the steps of the process looked like in my kitchen. 

And at the end you get this fresh, additive free bottle of almond milk. The taste is stronger and slightly different from the store bought almond milk I use (Almond Breeze or 365 from Whole Foods), but I think eventually I will get use to the taste.

At the end you will be left with what is referred to as "almond pulp." It can be dried out and made into almond meal or used for baking.

I decided to use the almond pulp immediately and make some banana bread with it. I pretty much created my own recipe. Next time I might also try adding some zucchini.

Almond Pulp Banana Bread 
INGREDIENTS
1 cup flour (I happened to use gluten free for a friend)
1 cup almond pulp (I put it right from the bag into the mixer)
1½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
6-7 tablespoons coconut oil (you can use less oil if you use more bananas. You can also use butter)
¾ cup sugar (I used coconut sugar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
3/4 cup walnuts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan with cooking spray or butter. Whisk together flour, almond pulp, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Whisk on medium speed, with an electric mixer, butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs for about 2 minutes. Add mashed banana and mix for another minute.
Stir dry ingredients into wet with a spatula until just combined.
Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean from center of loaf.

I made it into mini loafs, which only required about 30 minutes of baking.

And in the end, a tasty and healthy treat! And, nothing went to waste!

Do you have a favorite almond milk recipe? And what do you do with the almond pulp? I'd love to hear!