Sometime last year, my mum emailed me my grandmother’s thirty-something year old recipe for browned butter almond cookies.
I was delirious with joy; because it was not just any old cookie recipe – more precisely, it was a recipe which would create some of the most fragrant and buttery cookies that would invariable invoke deep childhood memories whenever I eat them.
That’s the thing with sharing recipes you see – it’s not simply the transfer of a list of ingredients followed by a string of instructions from one person to another. It’s also the spreading of good times and fond memories; the union of cultures as different nationalities gather at a single table to partake in home-cooked food; and the knowledge that it is a celebration of a basic joy in life – eating good food.
The Kitchn’s note on “Why I think you should tell us your kitchen secrets” got me brooding in a good way.
It reminded me of the time Juan and I spent in the Northeast of Brazil, during which we had an amazing dinner in a hidden-away restaurant called “Aqui”, where I’d innocently asked the waiter for the recipe for an incredibly flavorful tomato dip.
I like collecting souvenirs from the places I travel – it’s the nostalgic and sentimental part of me that makes me behave this way.
But apart from physical objects such as the pretty stones Juan picked up for me from the shore; or the large brown hat with a ribbon tied around it that I bought from a beach-side vendor; or the one too many bikinis I’d added to my collection; recipes are what I love to acquire.
Recipes from a distant land or a foreign country, which can later be replicated in the comfort and safety of my own kitchen – these are what I treasure most as souvenirs.
Sheila Dillon, the host of the BBC Radio 4 show which featured an interview of British cook and food writer Claudia Roden, summed up the less obvious but equally important definition of recipes.
She called them “talismans against loss and forgetting” – the continuation of crowded lunch gatherings ringing with laughter and a reminder of companionship.
And if recipes are viewed as the gift of memories from happy times passed, they are meant to be given away and received with joy and graciousness.
Sometimes it’s being the honored recipient of a hand-written recipe, complete with a “I hope you like it!” scribbled at the bottom right hand corner. Other times, it’s as simple as having the cook share their special ingredient with you – a hint of ginger, a bit of nutmeg; or a pinch of Hungarian paprika. It’s the taste that you can’t quite put your finger to; or the ingredient that somehow always makes a dish work out.
I’m not a great keeper of secret recipes – because I feel that recipes are just like the food they produce – and that they are better shared.
I suppose most people who cook have a particular ingredient that they like to use with ease and familiarity – like the signature loop when you write the letter “g”, or the distinct slant in your handwriting, or the way a photographer uses natural light to create beautiful pictures.
I don’t have a particular secret recipe, but a special ingredient? Of course! And I’d love to share it with you.
For me, it’s the humble banana.
I can think of so many amazing ways bananas can be used; and because of their natural and mild sweetness, they make the perfect sweetener and lend a non-invasive flavor in most desserts or sweet snacks.
I’ve always found bananas a welcome addition to any recipe in need of a little “oomph”.
Want to add a little creaminess to your shake? Throw in a banana! Need some fruit to garnish your crepes? Bring on sliced bananas and a drizzle of melted chocolate! Whether used in grain-free banana almond pancakes, banana chocolate-chip muffins, banana nut oatmeal crunch cookies, simple baked banana chips or a tropical fruit salad – bananas always seem to do the trick.
When Juan and I were holidaying in Pipa, Brazil, we’d rented a fully-equipped apartment – and having the kitchen for our free use, we made breakfast every day.
On most days we’d settled for scrambled eggs, sausages and a couple of slices of ham and cheese. But on the days that we craved a sweet treat to kick-start our mornings, we made two-ingredient banana pancakes that were so easy and turned out so well (that we ended up eating them three days in a row) – and I’m fully convinced that no kitchen is complete without bananas.
Today, I’m sharing another way that bananas are most commonly used – but with a twist.
This version of banana bread was a rare find I’d stumbled upon during my search for more ways to cook with quinoa, and while quinoa’s nutty taste can be hard to get accustomed to for new eaters, the taste of banana makes this bread comforting, familiar and filling.
I also love that the use of cooked quinoa helps the banana bread retain its moisture, and its moist crumb and naturally flavored banana taste made it a wonderful breakfast for Juan and I. If you’re like me and want to explore how familiar foods can be made gluten-free and wheat free, this is a great recipe to start off with.
So there I’ve spilled the beans. Bananas are my secret ingredient.
What’s yours? I’d love to hear your secret.
QUINOA BANANA BREAD (Makes 1 loaf)
Barely adapted from: 365 Days of Baking and More
Ingredients:
1) 1 3/4 cup wheat flour (or a gluten-free flour mix you can get from the natural food stores. Note: do not use coconut flour alone!)
2) 1/2 cup sugar
3) 2 teaspoons baking powder
4) 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
5) 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6) 1/8 teaspoon salt
7) 2 ripe bananas, mashed
8) 1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa (see this post on how to cook quinoa)
9) 1 egg, lightly beaten
10) 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
11) 1/4 cup low-fat milk cream or greek yoghurt
Steps:
1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F (180 deg cel). Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it with butter.
2) In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, mix well.
3) In a food processor, mix together bananas, quinoa, egg, melted butter and cream/yogurt, until well combined, then pour banana mixture into a large bowl.
4) Add the dry ingredients, a half cup at a time, to the banana mixture, mixing thoroughly.
5) Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan, and bake for 50 – 60 min or until a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean (the baking time will depend on the type of oven, so don’t worry if you find you need to bake the bread for more time before it’s done!
Note: As quinoa banana bread is very moist, it is best eaten within 1 or 2 days after it is baked.
This recipe was awful… nutmeg was overpowering, texture was dry and terrible… only reason I took another bite was because we added chocolate chips. WARNING: DO NOT MAKE.
May have been better with more banana.
Will report back
Hi Emily, thanks for your feedback. It’s weird that the recipe turned out dry for you – mine came out extremely moist (as can be seen from the pictures..). Hope your second try with more bananas works!
Looks delish! I was wondering, have you tried making muffins instead of the bread? Would the cook time decrease? Thanks so much!
Hi Jackie! I’ve never tried making muffins with this recipe, but definitely if you’re making muffins the cook time should decrease to maybe 20-25 mins at the same temperature I believe (I’m estimating here since I’ve never made them before.
The best way to determine when the muffins are done will be to poke a toothpick in the middle of the muffins and if the toothpick comes out clean means the muffins are done.
The bread is currently in the oven(added dark chocolate morsels on top<3)!! I want to bring it to my health club but would like to know the nutritional infor. Do you know that off hand? Thanks!
Hey Christina! Hmm.. unfortunately I don’t have the nutritional info, but I’m sure there are many online nutritional calculators that can give you the data just by keying in the ingredients from the recipe. Hope the bread turned out well!! And that you enjoyed it! Let me know!
Oh my goodness. It is delicious!!!
YAY!! SO HAPPY!
I did everything exactly like the recipe but after more than hour, my bread had not risen, so I took it out. The flavor was good but I wish I knew what went wrong. Maybe still under-cooked but I was afraid to burn it or dry it out. Do you thing using Greek yogurt was a possible problem? Yours looks perfect! Thank you for sharing the recipe though. I’ve bee wanting to explore with quinoa and I love banana bread!
Hey Rose, thanks for dropping by! Glad the flavor turned out good, pity the bread didn’t rise though. One question – what type of flour did you use? I used wheat flour for the bread in the photos. Could be that if you used gluten-free flour it might not rise as much.
I used everything in the recipe exactly, including ,and solely, the wheat flour. The only difference was that the bananas had been frozen because when my bananas start turning, I freeze them for cooking later. I will try making it again and let you know because it’s a delicious & healthy recipe and am determined to make it a success. The only ingredient I would like to replace is possibly is the butter for possibly some canola oil or another unsaturated replacement. Any ideas?
Hey Rose!! Not sure if the frozen bananas might have affected the final form of the bread – but it could be! How about the next time you make it try with bananas that are not frozen (just to see if that was the reason for the bread not rising?) Regarding replacing the butter, I don’t see any issue, since the butter is to be melted, you can use coconut oil or some other vegetable oil to replace it (hope that doesn’t affect the final outcome!) Do note that this quinoa banana bread will definitely be dense because of the cooked quinoa, and it will not be like normal banana breads that we are used to.
Hope your second try will turn out better!! Let me know! Crossing my fingers for you!
Is that 1 3/4 cup flour or 3/4 cup flour.
Hi Alice, its 1 3/4 cup flour (1 and 3/4 cup). Hope that helps!
DO NOT USE COCONUT FLOUR!!!
An absolute disaster! too dry and after baking literally turned to DUST!
Wish I could enjoy a piece of your loaf instead. Mine was an EPIC FAIL!
Hi Rebecca, thanks for your feedback. Unfortunately, coconut flour cannot be used as a 1:1 replacement of normal flour or other types of gluten-free mix, as coconut flour absorbs liquid like crazy. I’m sorry your load turned out to be a failure, but maybe if you were to try other types of flour (either normal wheat flour or a gluten-free mix from your supermarket or natural stores), it should work!
Thank you, this is a lesson learned the hard way!
Some feedback for you. Your recipe states, “1 3/4 cup flour (or gluten-free flour)”. It might be beneficial for you to clarify this in your recipe for folks without this information. 🙂
thanks for the tip Rebecca, will clarify in the recipe now!
Just made this banana bread but substituted sugar for honey, butter for coconut oil and cream/yoghurt for light sour cream! Tasted delicious! Except mine only took 25 minutes to bake!
Bridgette! Thanks so much for your feedback! So glad to know it worked with those other ingredients as well! Thank goodness you checked the banana bread at 25 minutes! 🙂 Glad you liked it!! Sending love, felicia
Can I substitute the yoghurt with buttermilk? Or can fage yoghurt be used instead?
Hi Lola, I would suggest substituting with something that has the same thick consistency of yoghurt – try sour cream (might have the same taste as buttermilk but a thicker consistency.) All the best! Hope it goes well! And please let me know how it turns out!
Made this… it rose beautifully, smelled amazing! I let it cool with the oven door open while I (im)patiently waited to taste it. AND…. it fell 🙁 Ended up only a inch high and very dense. Not sure what I did wrong. Even like this it was good. Sure wish I could fix my problem though.
Hey Jennifer, thanks so much for your feedback. Hmm, it’s weird that your bread fell..! The cooked quinoa should be solid enough to prop it up, and if it’s been fully cooked (i.e. a toothpick that has been inserted in the center comes out clean), then the bread shouldn’t fall! Do you think u may have removed the bread from the oven too soon? And did you use the two teaspoons of baking powder as stated in the recipe?
Regarding the texture, this was a dense bread as you can see in the photos (I attribute it to the fact that we used cooked quinoa)….but did you like the taste at least?
Hi, I just tried making this recipe and the batter seemed very dry. I was using almond milk instead of cream, and added a little more than a 1/4 cup. Still seemed a bit drier than other banana breads I’ve made in the past. It’s in the oven so we’ll see how it comes out!
Hi Isabella, hope the bread turned out well! It’s weird that you got a very dry batter – my bread turned out very moist (as you can see from the pictures). How did yours go? I’m crossing my fingers!!
The recipe is simple and the banana bread looks great – can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Let me know if you try it mummy!
Sounds delicious! Do you know if it freezes well?
Hi Lois! I haven’t tried freezing it before so I can’t say for sure if it freezes well. What I will say is that it tastes best in the first 1-2 days after baking! Hope that helps!
That looks so good I ‘m going to try it today using the GF flour. One small question is “11) 1/4 cup low-fat milk cream” same thing as yogurt in the instructions below the recipe? I have yogurt but no cream so I’m hoping so.
Hi Hannah, yes you can use yoghurt instead of cream – in fact the original recipe called for yoghurt but i didnt have it so used cream instead. Hope this helps! And, let me know how it turns out if u do make it!
The recipe reads well. The photographs look like maybe the egg was not properly beaten and has formed that unpleasantly dense layer at the bottom of the loaf. Still, looks worth a try.
Hi Pam, thanks for dropping by! It could have been a reason for the dense bottom – i’ll make sure to keep that in mind next time! Thanks for the tip!
Do you happen to have nutritional facts for this recipe? It looks so delicious.
Hi Julie! Thanks for stopping by!
Unfortunately, I don’t have any nutritional data for this recipe… However, it’s definitely not low carb (because of the quinoa and banana). I suppose there are websites that could give the nutritional and caloric info, but I don’t have any to recommend as I don’t use them! Sorry about that!
Thank you for responding so quickly! I am looking forward to trying this recipe even without nutritional info. 🙂
You’re most welcome Julie! Definitely glad to have you here! Have a great weekend!
I love that this has quinoa in to, so clever. I bet this is fantastic. Beautiful pics.
Thanks Cheri! This was a nice twist to the typical banana bread….and i’ve got a grain-free version coming up some time in the future!!