Banana breads: One of the most common vegan recipes out there, due to the fact that bananas provide not only excellent flavor, but are also one of the best house hold egg-replacers in a variety of baked goods. With so many dull, repetitive recipes out there, I was a bit hesitant to try one – So cliched, so over done! However, it was from a nontraditional recipe that I revamped from a generic berry / fruit muffin submitted on the Post Punk Kitchen.
As all recipes that I have experimented with coming from PPK, these were drool worthy. Crunch pecans sprinkled throughout and on the top, with a moist center, containing chewy chunks of solid banana. The secret to this unique texture?
…Dehydrated banana chips! Quite hard and even difficult to chew on their own, they take on a whole new identity when rehydrated and dropped into this muffin batter. I had been holding onto these for a while now, trying to figure out how they could be best used… and it seemed there would be no opportunity more perfect. Be warned: Do no make the mistake of using fried banana chips – your results would be and oily and less-than-appetizing mess.
I had almost entirely changed the whole recipe, so I unfortunately was not able to take accurate measurements in my haste. Somehow everything still came together for me, but I’ll have to revisit this one in order to write up a reliable recipe. Stay posted!
As you can probably see from the photos, the nuts on top can burn very easily, so keep a close eye on them in the oven! Mine didn’t even taste burnt, but be aware that nuts can go from raw to charcoal within a matter of seconds sometimes.
This made about 10 relatively smallish – medium muffins for me. I had originally made these for a little luncheon my mom was holding for her friends over the weekend, but I don’t think anyone else ended up eating any… Nonethless, these were gone very quickly with only her help. If you don’t want to take my word for how fantastic these muffins are, just ask her! She ate four in one day!
If you’re after a more healthy breakfast (or treat), I would try substituting apple sauce for the oil, but other than that, these really aren’t too indulgent.
Banana breads: Not just for hippies anymore.