Full disclosure: This recipe is a work in progress. I decided to try the banana bread recipe feature in the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. It's a bit different than most of the other banana bread recipes I've used in the past. It uses very little sugar (in the form on honey, in this case) and not too much fat. There are no eggs called for either. It does include two other ingredients that I'm not used to seeing in banana bread though: lemon juice and chopped dates. The dates are a nice, fruity inclusion that give it a bit more sweetness without resorting to adding more sweeteners direction. And the lemon juice is there to make the batter acidic and give the baking soda something to react with.

I made this quickbread recipe as written for my first go 'round (as I usually do). It's a nice enough bread, but the flavour isn't quite what I'd hoped. I do like that it uses whole grains though. And not too much sugar or fat. That said, I think I did miss the egg a bit. And the brown sugar, now that I think about it. And, even though it calls for a decent quantity of mashed banana, I think that it could've used even more. With a white flour, I think it would've been plenty but, against the whole wheat backdrop, I didn't feel like the banana flavour came through as much as I would've liked. It also could've used some more spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg) to complement the banana flavour.

The next time I'm making banana bread, I think I'll try combining the Laurel's Kitchen recipe with Deb's Jacked-Up Banana Bread recipe and see where that gets me. I haven't had a chance to test this out yet, of course. But I'm afraid that I'll have forgotten what changes I wanted to make by the next time I'm baking this. So I figured it doesn't hurt to write it all down now and then see how it goes.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book and Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 1 Tbsp. rum
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 egg
• 2 c. whole wheat all-purpose flour OR 1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry (soft/plain/standard) flour + 1/2 c. whole wheat bread (hard/strong/high grade) flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Combine dates, rum, lemon juice, and vanilla and set aside overnight.
2. Grease an 8x4" (20x10cm) loaf tin and place it inside another tin.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
4. Combine mashed bananas, butter, honey, and salt.
5. Beat in egg.
6. Add dates (along with any residual liquid) and mix well.
7. Add flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and sift in baking powder and baking soda. Stir until almost fully incorporated.
8. Mix in walnuts.
9. Pour batter into nested greased loaf tin and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 90 minutes. Check progress after an hour. If sides look pale, remove the outer tin and continue baking.

---

Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 1 Tbsp. rum
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. whole wheat all-purpose flour OR 1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry (soft/plain/standard) flour + 1/2 c. whole wheat bread (hard/strong/high grade) flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts