Banana bread is a classic what to do with overripe bananas recipe. Banana bread makes a versatile any time of day snack. To make this delicious bread all you have to do is process the oats, flax seeds and dehydrated plantains into a flour. You can do this separately or all together if you have a powerful blender. Once all the whole ingredients are processed shape into a loaf and pop it in the dehydrator. You could also use an oven but the result vary. When done it should be dense, soft and chewy with a slight crust on the outside. The mix of complete carbs from the oats, healthy fats from the almond butter and the naturally sweet, fruity flavor from the bananas and figs, a dash of nutmeg, another of cinnamon and a small splash of vanilla extract really bumps up a flavor and all together combines to make one amazing bread. Oh, I almost forgot the aromatherapy you will enjoy while dehydrating the bread.
Activated oat is recommended for both nutrition and taste reasons. You can order sprouted dry oats or flour online as well. However, if short on time, you may also simply use flour ground from rolled oats. I like the addition of oat flour as it gives a great texture and a semblance of regular bread without being too heavy. Oats absorb moisture and also have an emulsify quality, this need to keep the bread together. Since I try to limit the use of high-fat nut flours, you probably notice lots of oats or buckwheat groats in my recipes. If you don’t like to use oats, you could perhaps use all low-fat nut flour instead which is a bit moister than oat flour so you might have to adjust the wet/dry ratio. For some ideas you can replace the oats with buckwheat flour but it will give a strong flavor. Also you can replace plantain flour with dehydrated leftover nut milk pulp. So as you experiment with substitutions, remember they are what they sound like – substitutions. Generally, they are not going to behave, taste or have the same texture as the suggested ingredients.
How to make a sprouted oat flour
Place oat groats into a jar. Fill with water, cover with a sprouting screen and allow to soak overnight. After 8 – 12 hours drain and rinse. Repeat rinsing and draining 2 to 3 times a daily for 2 to 3 days. Once little tails begin to form from the seed, sprouting is complete. Drain all of the water off the oats. To make the oat flour, dry the oats in a dehydrator and grind into flour.
How to make plantain flour
Peel green plantains and slice them into ¼ inch thick slices. Lay them on dehydrator trays. Dry at 115 for about 6- 8 hours, until very dry and crunchy. Drying time will be depend on the moisture content in the plantains. Once are dry, take out of dehydrator and let they cool completely before grinding. Using a high-speed blender or food processor, grind until powered. It may take some time.
You can usually find plantains in any Asian grocery store.
Nutrition in Plantain Flour read more
- Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup plantain flour (2 green plantains dehydrated and made into flour)
- ⅓ cup flax seeds made into flour
- 1 + ½ cup sprouted, dehydrated oats made into flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup + 1 tbsp cacao powder
- Wet Ingredients
- 4 very ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup soft dates
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp filtered water
- 1 heaped tbsp almond butter, homemade preffered
- few drops vanilla extract
- Add-ins
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 8 dried soft figs
- ⅓ cup raw chocolate drops
- ¼ cup pecans, optional
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Blend all the wet ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.
- In your food processor mix dry and wet ingredients and process until well combined. Remove mixture from food processor and transfer to a large bowl.
- Place figs, chocolate drops and pecans into a food processor and pulse a few times. No need for too long, so make sure you don’t over process.
- Add fig, chocolate, pecan pieces to a bowl of bread mixture, also add the ¾ cup rolled oats and with your hands gently mix together.
- Remove dough and form into a loaf or your preferred shape. Add banana slices and gently press down.
- Dehydrate at 140°F for 2 hours, this will create a crust on the inside. Decrease heat to 115°F and continue to dehydrate about 3 hours. Remove from dehydrator and slice carefully with a sharp knife. I did mine about ½ inch. Return the bread and continue to dehydrate about 1 hour.
Triple Chocolate Banana Bread deliciousness, topped with almond butter & date paste, bananas, cacao nibs and figs. Enjoy with a glass of nut milk!
