Best of Both Worlds Banana Bread
This banana bread is for everyone. Chocolate fans, vanilla lovers, and those who can't decide between the two (hey, that's me!) - we can all enjoy this one.
I make a lot of chocolate recipes on here and that probably won't be changing anytime soon. Chocolate is my JAM. But ya know what, I love vanilla too. If I'm going for ice cream and I have to pick between chocolate and vanilla ice cream, I'm going for vanilla hands down. I have a piece of chocolate basically everyday though. I really would rather not have to decide between two good things. So when I was making this banana bread I realized that one less chocolate vs. vanilla decision was needed on that day and the Best of Both Worlds Banana Bread was born. YUM.
I heard somewhere, and I can't remember where this came from, that life is all about seeing how much you can get away with. After hearing that I have been living by it. You think after hearing something that had a big impact on me that I'd remember where it came from, but NOPE. No idea.
Anyways, I've been living by that statement now and life has gotten so much more fun and exciting! I do things that I wouldn't have done before, and not in a way that harms myself or others. Just in a fun, bold way. It's made me not want to make so many decisions that I thought I had to make prior to this. Cake or ice cream; why not both? Bike ride or running; a little of each works. Vanilla or chocolate; equal amounts of both. We spend so much time thinking that we can only do things or have things be a certain way because that's how they are. But that's not the case a lot of the time. We can do things that don't even cross our minds because they're not in our routines or they're not things that we often see being done by others. That doesn't mean they're wrong to do or that we can't do them. In fact, that probably means that we should do them!
So today we're doing that with some banana bread. Starting out small just to get us prepared for the bigger things. We gotta start somewhere and if that somewhere involved chocolate, vanilla, and bread then I think it's a great place to start.
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS BANANA BREAD
2 flax eggs*
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cacao powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line loaf pan with parchment paper. Make the flax egg and set aside. Add banana, milk, maple syrup, and coconut oil to a medium bowl. Mix everything together. Add flax egg and mix. Add flour, oats, baking powder, vanilla, and salt to bowl. Mix completely until batter is formed. Divide batter in half, it doesn't have to be perfect, and add cacao powder to one of the bowls. I used about 1-2 tablespoons but I didn't measure. Once the batter looks chocolatey then it should be good. Pour a thin layer of vanilla batter into pan, add chocolate, and alternate pouring them in once more. Once all batter is in the pan take a knife and swirl it around to mix them together a bit. Bake for 35-40 minutes, testing to make sure it's done with a toothpick or fork. It should come out clean. Remove from oven. Let cool for 15 minutes. Serve, enjoy!
Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
*Flax eggs are made with water and flax seeds. One flax egg is 1 tablespoon flax seed + 3 tablespoons of water. For this recipe combine 2 tablespoon flax seed + 6 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and let sit to thicken.
