Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.  I am soooooo excited to share this recipe with you all!  Is it weird to be this pumped over banana bread?

If it was your average, run of the mill, standard banana bread, then I’d say yes, it probably is a bit weird.  But this is no ordinary loaf of b and b.

This banana bread is special.  And addictive.  I know people throw this word around a lot these days, but I’m going to say it.  This banana bread is EPIC.

I’m moderately to severely obsessed with this banana bread!  Not only is it dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, and lower in sugar and oil than most banana breads, but it is also bursting with flavor!  Warm out of the oven, it has a sweet, slightly crisp crust and each slice is moist, hearty, and delicious.  My whole house smelled amazing while this was baking!  Oh and the lime-infused whipped coconut oil spread… can we talk about that for a sec?  You think butter is good?  Nah, butter ain’t got nothin’ over this spread!  It’s sweet, creamy, melty, and coconut-ty, with a mouth-watering juicy lime flavor. Spread it over a warm slice of this coconut-buckwheat-oat banana bread and… KA-POWZA!  That was the sound of my taste buds exploding.

This is like banana bread on a Caribbean vacation. It has all the homey-ness of your familiar, beloved banana-y quick bread, with a few exotic twists.  I can’t wait for you to try it!  This recipe has been a long time coming.  I first started playing around with this recipe over a year ago.  It is inspired by a recipe from one of my first ever vegan cook books The 30 Minute Vegan (highly recommend, lots of favorites from this book!).  I decided one day last year to make the recipe gluten free, using a combination of freshly ground gluten free grains and gluten free flour.  I also cut back the sugar and oil.  The loaf miraculously turned out perfect, and I jotted down my adaptions and notes.  Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, when I was hoping to make it again, take pictures, and post the recipe here.  Easy right? Because I had already re-worked the recipe and it was good to go.  The only problem?  I lost my notes.  All I could remember was that I used sorghum, oat, and buckwheat flour.  So, it was back to square one.  This time, I pared down the flour to just oat and buckwheat. Instead of using dairy-free yogurt, as called for, I used a ground flax seed  “egg.”  I simplified wherever I could.  This gluten free loaf is perfect without the use of any gums or starches.  Nothing crazy. Just simple, whole ingredients.

As I was sampling the banana bread, I decided it would be a good idea (obviously) to spread a layer of coconut oil over my slice.  And since I’m currently squeezing lime over everything right now, I thought “hmph, squeeze a lil limey-lime over this too,” it couldn’t hurt.  Well, it was delightful!  And it spurred me to create this awesome lime-coconut spread, which is optional, but highly, HIGHLY, recommended it if you wanna take this bread to the next level.  It transforms it into a coconut banana cake with sweet coconut lime ICING.  Ohhhh yeeeaaahh.  The thing about coconut oil, is that it can be a bit persnickety, due to its ever changing state of matter. Coconut oil is solid when it’s cooled, and thin, runny liquid when warmed.  The trick for this spread is to get it right in middle.  You want a soft, whipped, creamy texture, perfect for gliding over sliced bread (or spooning directly into your mouth. I’m kidding!  Maybe.)  Don’t be too surprised if you start singing out of nowhere, “Put da lime in dee coconut, and mix it all up”… this spread will do that to you.  I think I managed to find a relatively easy, straight forward way to get the perfect consistency.  Just don’t be mad at me if the coconut oil doesn’t cooperate.  It’s not me, it’s the coconut oil!  Either way, it still tastes great, whether it’s a bit solid or runny like syrup, you really can’t go wrong.

Ok, enough of my incessant jabbering, you have some banana bread to bake!  I hope you love this one as much as I do!

Coconut-Buckwheat-Oat Banana Bread and Whipped Lime Coconut Spread

Adapted from The 30 Minute Vegan

Serves 10-12

Prep: 15 min  Bake: 35-45 min

Ingredients:

Dry

1 cup raw hulled whole grain buckwheat groats (l use these) blended into flour

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, blended into flour

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

scant 1/2 tsp Himalayan Pink salt or sea salt

Wet

3 large, very ripe bananas – mashed very well (1.5 cups mashed)

1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or 2 tbsp non-dairy milk

1 Tbsp ground flax seed combined with 3 Tbsp non-dairy milk

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp lime juice or 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a bread loaf pan by greasing it with a little coconut oil and dusting with flour.

2. Blend or process the oats and buckwheat into a fine flour.

3.  Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine all of the wet ingredients in a medium bowl.  Pour wet into dry and stir until combined.  Scoop batter into prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.

4. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, checking after 35 minutes.  Bread is done when the it’s golden brown, the edges have pulled away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes or so before taking out of the pan.

Notes/Variations:

• For extra lime flavor, add a teaspoon of lime zest to the wet ingredients.
• I haven’t tried it, but it’s entirely possible that using 2 cups of oat flour might work, if you don’t have buckwheat groats.  I can’t promise it will turn out, but feel free to experiment.  That, and any other flour substitutions should be tried at your own risk.

Whipped Lime Coconut Spread

1/3 cup unrefined virgin coconut oil

1 Tbsp Pure maple syrup (or honey)

2 tsp lime juice

1 – 1 1/2  tsp lime zest

1. Place a glass bowl in the freezer about a half hour to an hour before making the spread.  Have a second, room temperature dish ready.

2. Gently heat the coconut oil and maple syrup over low heat until the oil is just melted. Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice and lime zest.  Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes, until it’s no longer hot to the touch, but still runny.

3. Take your bowl out of the freezer and carefully pour the oil mixture into the freezing cold bowl.  Use a whisk to stir it a few times, then pop back into the freezer for about 3-5 minutes.  It should be slightly firm, with a thin, solid, top layer (but not too hard).

4.  Take the bowl out the freezer and, using a fork, stir it vigorously until a soft, whipped texture is achieved, then immediately scoop it into a room temperature dish.  I kept mine out at room temp for a couple of days and it was fine, but then you may want to store it in the fridge.  It will harden up a bit in the refrigerator.