Howdy geezers! As the title leads us to the suspect, this post will be about banana bread at some point. About vegan banana bread. But first things first: this post also is an attempt to translate my original (German) one into English. The emphasis here, folks, is on attempt. As you (should!) know, Ina, Anja and I are proper Germans so just in case you’re no Sherlock: English isn’t our mother tongue. You’re probably thinking “hey, can’t be that hard – just use google translator”! Well, yeah, but…

…you know! Translating devices might not always do their jobs right. Besides that and this whole grammar thing being not that easy, some of my absolutely brilliant jokes and puns just can’t be translated right, as they wouldn’t make sense. That sucks! But I’m not here to complain, all I’m saying is: please bear with me ;). Ah and btw, just be thankful that you can’t actually hear me speak, or more specifically, hear me pronounce words.

Okay. I almost wanted to say: back to topic, but …no. We haven’t even gotten into the topic – ooopsie. Sanny, get crackin’! So, on the off chance that you already forgot: this post is still about banana bread. I could make it easy and just tell you the recipe, but it’s not in my nature to be easy and I don’t want to deprive you of how I came up with it. Unfortunately you have to go through a little storytime.

The story of Sanny & vegan banana bread

A few weeks ago I drove “my” car over/in a nail (who put it there ?!). Somehow I didn’t notice that when it happened. The realization came when I wanted to go to school in the morning. That wasn’t gonna happen, because the tire was completely flat. Okay, tire had to be changed. Not from me … because … I have no idea how to do that. Also the broken tire had to be repaired in the garage. So I went there with “my” funny grandma (I call her “FG” for now; actually the grandmother of the children I look after). Since FG gets bored and impatient very quickly (waiting is definitely not her favorite pastime), we decided to go for a coffee during the repair. Having arrived at the café, FG was feeling a bit hungry. But instead of going for a Müller rice pudding (which in Germany they advertise for as “the small appetite”; at this point I made a very funny joke about that), she opted for a piece of banana bread. She asked me if I wanted one too, whereupon I said “nah, thanks” because of the animal products … in the product. Both of us sighed and shrugged … it’s not easy in life! But guys, what happened now – hard to believe! FG actually has gawd-like eyesight for her advanced age. Next to the conventional banana bread she spotted the vegan version of it.

What a miracle! What a dream! What bliss! We embraced each other and hopped around in circles, beaming with joy. Okay, maybe I’m drifting off into the fantasy world here, but I think my point is clear: I was very happy. I did not really feel hungry, but how high is the likelihood that I will find a vegan banana bread in a traditional café? Besides, FG paid. Of course then, I took a slice “to go”.

As you can probably imagine, I liked it a lot. It was EXCELLENT. I’ve already told my sisters: I think the vegan banana bread at this cafe is the best I’ve ever tasted in my mouth for “dessert”. If you want to call it dessert. I mean, for me it’s something sweet so it’s a dessert, right?! Like … cake/sweet baked goods/whatever. Why in the world is it called “bread”?! Same question I ask myself about ‘Leberkäse’. Literal translation: liver cheese – it is ‘beef and pork loaf’ though. Weird weir weird. And kinda not so vegan either. BTW, klick if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Eeeehm okay, where had we got to? Banana bread. Since I fell in love with the vegan banana bread, I’m a regular customer in this café, have already dragged my boyfriend along and forced him to a slice of vegan banana bread. Well, forcing is the wrong word, you never have to force him to eat haha. Anyway, he was very surprised that I hadn’t exaggerated – he thinks it’s awesome too.

OK. So far so good. By and large, I could have just said: Guys, I’ve recently tried a vegan banana bread, it was totally good and then I decided to make one myself. But blog posts need freakin preambles. I think I got that covered now so here’s the recipe:

Vegan Banana Bread

What you need:

4 ripe bananas
60g of Flora (or some vegan butter)
120 g applesauce
140 ml of vegetable milk (I used my favorite milk “Almond Vanilla” from “Califia Farms”)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
480 g of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
(some stevia / xucker / sugar)
pinch of salt
handful of chopped pecans
a bit of – how could it be otherwise – agave syrup

Here you can find a converter for the measurements if needed.

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Two bowls ready
Smash bananas in one of the two bowls
add vegan butter, applesauce, milk and vanilla extract, mix
Try and probably/maybe/definitely add sweetener of your choice
In the second bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt
Now combine wet and dry ingredients, mix
Mince and fold in the pecans
Pour the batter into margarine-coated baking dish
Depending on the oven, bake for 25-35 minutes (if in doubt, make a knife test)
Let cool down
Cover with banana and pecan pieces
Agave syrup on top
Enjoy!

The “bread” is super tender, fluffy but also nutty. Sooo delicious! I’ve oriented myself on several recipes from the internet, but modified and refined my recipe to suit my taste exactly. This implies that my version of banana bread is very, very close to that of the café. I hope you like my recipe as much as I do. But what you need to know though: if I like it sweet, I like it sweet. Like really. Whose taste is not quite as good as mine (<= look, that’s how google translated it…what I was trying to say is: “if you have a different taste”…but I kinda like what google did here), just leave out the Stevia / Sugar / Xucker / …! The bananas themselves and the applesauce give the whole thing a nice sweetness already- but as I said, too little for me.

I’m really happy with my own version of the banana bread and can’t wait to have another piece. Unfortunately, this treat is in my boyfriend’s fridge right now, so I don’t have a chance to devour one at the moment. That means waiting until I visit him again. And that’s probably only gonna be on the weekend. In plain language: there will be no more banana bread. I have to face it. This realization kinda upsets me now. Hm. But well, what can you do. Actually, I’m not in the mood to be grumpy, so I might as well be happy.

Cool. That’s it from me!

Sanny over & out

P.S.: Here’s a Müller rice pudding commercial from Germany, 1989 (the year I was born). The little guy is the personification of “the small appetite”. I find it quite funny but you probably won’t get it. I’ll post it anyway. Ah, and I don’t support the “Müller” at all, don’t buy their stuff, it’s bad for you.