banana cupcakes with peanut butter icing

It’s November and even though MoFo is over, I’m finding more excuses to post. Currently, it’s for Vegan Ventures, which is hosted by Tasty Palettes. In honor of November, which is the National Vegan Month for those living in the UK (and really, I’m there in my heart), Suganya is encouraging people to post vegan entries on their blog this month, and she’s compiling a list of all the entries (I can’t wait to see what else people come up with)! Here’s to more vegan posting!

When I come home for the weekend, it always feels like the holidays. I wake up early and the first thing I do (after getting dressed, fixing a bowl of millet porridge, and brushing my teeth), is go to the grocery store with my mom. Around the holidays, grocery shopping is always a big event; in the past, we took the “divide and conquer” method: dividing the giant list between my mother, my sisters, and myself, each of us taking a cart and going separate directions throughout the store. But since we’ve moved farther out of town and our trips to the bigger grocery stores have become less frequent, we’ve started to spend more time in the store, walking slowly down each aisle, looking at all of the different produce and all the new products lining the shelf walls. Pomegranate and acai gumdrops? Don’t mind if I do. Peppermint marshmallows? They look lovely. I’ll be making a vegan version soon…

Our trips to the grocery store may have calmed down, but the kitchen is still full of an excited energy. I’m always thrilled about my purchases; I’m supposed to be making lunch, but I can’t help myself from doing a little baking too. Angela is asking for something sweet, and she gives me a suggested ingredient list that would horrify any diabetic: chocolate, caramel, marshmallows, bananas, peanut butter…oh yes, and sugar. Lots of it, she said.

I didn’t want to go dessert overload, so I decided to make something that would appease her sweet tooth, but not without some nutritional value. I decided on banana cupcakes with some healthier flours, using the sweetness of the bananas to really make the cake (that’s a pun, dear). Not one to follow recipes well, I looked at these (1, 2, 3) recipes for inspiration, but then decided to throw caution to the wind and do my own thing. I topped them off with some deliciously rich peanut butter icing and a bit of shaved dark chocolate. The result: an Angela-approved dessert. Oh yes, and they’re completely soy free.

If you aren’t a sugar fiend like Angela, you may find that you prefer to reduce the sugar a bit. Especially since these cupcakes will be covered in the icing, they really don’t need to be that sweet. They’re also very banana-y, and even though I used half pastry flour, they’re still a bit dense (not nearly as much as a banana bread, but perhaps more than a cupcake should be). They did however rise very nicely, as you can see from the picture, and for a banana-dessert, they’re surprisingly light. The peanut butter icing adds a really nice touch to these cupcakes. I’m trying to not use as much vegan margarine, because it just makes more sense to products that are more natural and less processed. In this recipe, I used coconut oil, which becomes solid at room temperature, and tapioca flour to thicken it. As the icing sits, it will harden, so if you aren’t using it right away, blend it again before using. If you are topping iced cupcakes with chocolate shavings or other toppings, top quickly after icing before the icing hardens.

oven-ready

Banana Cupcakes:
makes 12
4 ripe bananas
115 grams (1 cup) whole wheat flour
100 grams (1 cup) pastry flour
55 grams (1/2 cup) whole spelt flour
1/2 cup turbinado (raw sugar)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F and line a cupcake tin with baking cups.

Mix together bananas, oil, sugar, and vinegar. Really cream these together well, as this step is one of the most important in creating air pockets that will help give your cake a light, airy texture. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined.

Divide the batter between the 12 cups. The cups should be almost full, but not quite. The cupcakes hold their peaks well and will rise nicely, so don’t worry if the cups seem a little more full than usual.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from tin and allow to cool on a wire rack. Top with peanut butter icing (below) and fresh shavings of a good dark chocolate.

rising action

Peanut Butter Icing:
makes enough for 12 liberally-iced cupcakes
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup organic peanut butter, unsalted and unsweetened
1/4 cup nondairy milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil, brought to liquid form
1/2 tablespoon tapioca starch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Make sure coconut oil is at liquid form (place jar in a bowl of hot water) before beginning. With an electric mixer, blend everything together for a couple of minutes until completely smooth.

spiced orange banana bread with pistachios

When I was in Oxford several years ago, I used to bake banana bread at least once a week. The delicious smells of banana and cinnamon would float through the hall and down the stairs, summoning the boys on the floor below and the girls on my floor to gather in our third-floor kitchen. There we would talk and enjoy each other’s company as we satisfied ourselves with warm slices of the sweet, moist bread on those chilly autumn afternoons.

Since one of those housemates is in town this week from NYC, she asked me to make some banana bread for her. I know she’s up for trying new things, so I decided to play with this recipe and make this banana bread extra special for her. I used a combination of spelt and whole wheat flours for all their healthy goodness, and I mixed in a little bit of teff and blackstrap molasses to add a mild earthy flavor with a subtly nuttiness. I balanced those flavors with a zing of orange zest and warming spices, and then I sweetened the whole thing with agave nectar and brown rice syrup. I divided the batter between four mini-loaf pans and topped each one with a different flavor that I thought would compliment the other flavors nicely. The result was a delicious, moist bread, packed with nutrition and flavor.

toppings (clockwise from top left): ground pistachios,

Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredient list; you probably have most of the spices in your pantry, and if not, you can substitute with extra cinnamon or add some allspice. The teff flour may be more difficult to find, and although you can substitute whole wheat, spelt, or some other flour in its place, it really is worth the extra effort to get your hands on some teff. I was able to find it at Whole Foods, or you can order online here. Teff gives a unique sweet fragrance and nutty flavor, and it is one of the most nutrient-dense grains, so give it a try!

an inside view

Spiced Orange Banana Bread:
makes 4 mini (5.5″ x 3″) loaves

105 g (1 cup) whole spelt flour
85 g (1/2 cup) whole wheat flour
40 g (1/4 cup) whole teff flour
3/4 cup agave
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil (gently warmed, if necessary, until in liquid form)
1/4 cup nondairy milk, if necessary
4 bananas*
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
crushed pistachios, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, sliced almonds to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 4 mini (5.5″ x 3″) or 2 regular (8″ x 4″) loaf pans.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together wet ingredients (except for milk). Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. The consistency should be like a smoothie. If it is too dry, add some of the nondairy milk until it is wet enough.

3. Pour batter into pans and sprinkle with desired toppings. I used crushed pistachios, chocolate chips, shredded coconut and sliced almonds. I think crystalized ginger would also be delicious.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. They may appear a little darker in color than typical banana bread because of the teff and molasses, so don’t take them out too soon.

about to go into the oven

About the nutrition of this recipe:

• Teff has a very high calcium content, and contains high levels of phosphorous, iron, copper, aluminum, barium, and thiamin. It is considered to have an excellent amino acid composition, with lysine levels higher than wheat or barley. Teff is high in protein, carbohydrates, and fiber.
• Spelt Flour is made from the spelt grain, which is a good source of protein, fiber and vitamin B3. Although some of these nutrients are lost as the grain is processed into a flour, using whole spelt flour ensures that you are still retaining much more of those nutrients than if you were using a more refined flour.
  
• Blackstrap Molasses is the most nutrient-dense (and also the least sweet) type of molasses. Just 2 teaspoons contains about 18% the RDA of manganese, 15% the RDA of iron, plus copper, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B6)
• Virgin Coconut Oil has received a lot of press in the past decade. Make sure to select one that is free from trans fats. Coconut oil does contain saturated fat (in fact, it is mostly saturated fat), but studies have shown that plant-based saturated fats are an important part of our health and they may reduce the risk of certain cancers, strengthen the immune system, increase metabolism, and actually lower cholesterol. For more information, start here.
  
• Agave is an all-natural sweetener that is low on the glycemic index, so it won’t make your blood sugar spike as easily.
  
• Brown Rice Syrup contains complex carbohydrates from brown rice and sprouted brown rice or barley, which also help inhibit dramatic shifts in blood sugar levels, and is much better than using refined sugar.

all wrapped up

Nutrition Information:
per mini loaf
calories: 704, fat: 15.5 g, carbs: 137 g, sugar: 85 g, fiber: 11 g, protein: 8 g, iron: 19%

per 1/4 of a mini loaf
calories: 176, fat: 4 g, carbs: 34 g, sugar: 21 g, fiber: 3 g, protein: 2 g, iron: 5%

Nutrition information is based on information provided by Bob’s Red Mill Whole Spelt Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Teff Flour, Almond Dream Unriched Unsweetened Enriched Almond Milk, Plantation Unsulphered Blackstrap Molasses, Madhava Organic Amber Agave Nectar, Lundberg Sweet Dreams Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Spectrum Organic Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil.