My mother was the OG of crunchy health food. Before a little supermarket chain out of Austin made niche ingredients like millet mainstream, she was feeding me bowls of it in place of Easy Mac. Like all good daughters, I spent most of my childhood rebelling against her moratorium on the cottonseed oil in generic packaged foods. And I did this by going over to friends’ houses and having a Fruit-By-The-Foot free-for-all.
If my current vocation is any indication, all that quinoa I begrudgingly ate as a kid eventually caught up with me. But at the time, the only homemade baked good that I would have hands down preferred over the Oreos in my friends’ pantries, was mom’s banana bread.
Dotted with a healthy ratio of organic chocolate chips to batter, her loaf was always dense, moist and cake-y. I remember waiting with anticipation as the bunch of bananas on our kitchen countertop would slowly darken and prune with each passing day, until, eventually, it was bespeckled and ready for baking.
Playdates were always best scheduled on banana bread day. (Otherwise, the only snack on offer would be fruit leather that was just a touch too leathery.) And when my friends arrived to the scent of buttery banana filling the whole house, their eyes would widen with envy.
I learned the technique for making this quick bread at an early age, but it took a while for me to catch up to my mother’s savory game, and to see first hand how satisfying home cooking could be, even when what you’re cooking is millet, and you’re eating it alone.
My senior year of high school, I spent the summer living parent-free while doing an unpaid internship. There were no rent checks to be written or electricity payments that needed to be sent on time. The roof over my head was already paid for, and it came with the luxury of my mother’s over-stocked pantry. But it was the first time in my privileged life that I didn’t have her around to make sure my meals were taken care of. And to ensure I had enough of my allowance saved for the important things, like lip gloss and NSYNC paraphernalia, I was forced to turn to the random grains and petit-diced tomatoes in her cabinets.
I remember very vividly standing in the kitchen with the cordless phone in one hand, spatula in the other, asking my mother how long I was supposed to cook a piece of salmon for, and was it bad that the fillet was frozen solid when I put it in the pan? These early experiments yielded unpleasant results, many of which required a thick layer of Dijon mustard to make palatable. But by the end of the summer, after I had blown through all the frozen fish and was down to my last can of chickpeas, I had gained a special appreciation for the unglamorous yet satisfying art of throwing together a meal from cans, jars, and freezer bags.
That summer certainly set me on the right path for all the cooking I do today. But it was also just the beginning of my new life as a pantry hoarder.
On Monday, I shared how my recent move opened my eyes to the dire state of affairs in my kitchen cabinets. Perhaps without all the lipgloss and NSYNC paraphernalia on my shopping list, I’ve gotten less proactive about actively working my way through some of the niche ingredients hiding in the back row of my shelves. But been telling myself that accumulating five types of chutneys and chili powders is just an occupational hazard.
So in the spirit of spring cleaning and capitalizing on all those Marie Kondo vibes, I thought I would gather the interwebs for a Virtual Pantry Purge.
While everyone else is fawning over Spring greens, I’m dedicating April to working my way through some of the random overlooked ingredients that managed to make their way to my new apartment. And today I’m joined by some of my favorite bloggers who are taking this opportunity to dehoard/revisit a long forgotten jar, or celebrate a favorite from their weekly rotation. Scroll down to read all about everyone’s pantry heroes and see the creative things they made with them! (You can also follow along on social with the hashtag #SpringPantryPurge.)
As for my contribution, I decided to take a page out of my favorite pantry hoarder’s book with a gluten-free banana bread recipe. Not only is it as dense and delicious as my mother’s original version, but it packs a big pantry punch. The batter allowed me to use up some oat and almond flour, take a few inches off one of my many bottles of maple syrup, and plow through the last of my pecans.
My nut shelf makes me look like a chipmunk storing up for winter. And these pecans in particular had been sitting around for a few too many seasons. But more importantly, I love how they add some crunch to this loaf, and, together with the maple syrup, give it the flair of a gooey Southern pie.
Finally, it doesn’t escape me how lucky I am to have five types of chutneys and chili powders, when so many people struggle to scrape together the makings of a meal. So to give back to other peoples’ pantries in the process of purging mine, I’m going to be donating a $1 for every comment on this post to Feeding America. It’s an amazing organization, and the biggest network of food banks in the country.
If in the process of your own #SpringPantryPurge you come across some extra unopened items, I highly encourage you to donate them to a food bank near you by using their directory. Even if this virtual party is a bust, and only a few of you leave some love below, $1 means 11 meals given to people facing hunger. So like that jalapeno chutney, a little goes a long way.
Thank you SO much to everyone who joined me for this wacky little food party. Read on for the full list and their recipes below!
Xoxo
KonPhoebi
Maple-Pecan Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/3 cup almond meal
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup mashed over-ripe mashed banana (from about 2 ½ bananas)
- 1 cup coconut, canola or olive oil
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, baking powder, xanthan gum and sea salt. Whisk together with a fork until incorporated.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the banana, oil, sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, mixing after each addition until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl in two additions, mixing until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes.
- Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan. Cut into slices and eat warm, or store in an airtight container for later.
Notes
If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe - I'd love to see it!
YUM! Love the idea of the pantry purge btw, something we should all do when Spring rolls around. You’ve inspired me to clean things out and start anew! : )
that warms my little hoarder heart Janel!! Just what I was hoping for with this weird little party. You’ll have to join in next year!
YUM. Banana bread is one of my faves and this one looks soooo good. I cannot wait to try it. Thanks for this fun pantry purge project Phoebe. So happy to be here with you. Love H xx
you are such a DELIGHT. seriously. i cannot wait to try your kale kimchi and eat ALL of your salads one day soon.
I can’t wait to keep the pantry purge going with all these great recipes! Thanks for hosting, Phoebe! <3
woohooo!!! SAME! Thank you for joining! xo
Ahh cannot wait to make this – looks amazing! x
thanks gurl!! cauli salad is on the agenda for all my clean cooking when I return East! xo
Thanks so much for putting this Virtual Pantry Purge together, Phoebe! I love this idea, and I love that you’re contributing to a good cause for it, as well!
I’m sadly allergic to bananas… but I hear the best banana bread is dense, moist and cake-y. Exactly like this. And I’m really, REALLY excited to make this bread for my husband and daughter because both of them are crazy for bananas! Thanks for sharing this and inviting me to be a part!
that is such a shame erin! but luckily lots of other amazing southern desserts to enjoy those pecans in at least. thank you for all your enthusiasm and for joining in on this wacky little food party! it was so amazing to see all your creations today. xo
I love that story! And your banana bread is perfection. I can’t wait to make it. This virtual pantry purge was a stroke of genius and I was delighted to be included (and rid myself of a few items in the process.) xoxo
you are WAY too kind miss Pamela!! I’m so excited to make drunken beans. On the cinco menu for sure. xoxox
I thought oat flour has gluten. But you’re using a gluten-free baking powder? I didn’t know there was gluten in ordinary baking powder, since there’s no wheat in it. Please clear this up, dear Phoebe!
So long as both are made in a gluten-free facility you are good to go!
Commenting for the $1 mainly, but also because you just can’t beat a good banana bread! I make one pretty much every Sunday and the smell of it baking in the oven never ceases to make me happy.
that smell!! am i right? thank you for supporting the cause through me!
Excellent idea, I think I am going to make one large one for my sons birthday.
We like banana!!
yay! let me know how it turns out!
So yummy looking! I too am cleaning out my pantry. I have bags and bags and bags of dried chickpeas.
pantry gold!! what are you going to make? You should check out the honey chipotle chickpea recipe below from Feast + West 🙂
the bread looks great! thanks for donating to a good cause.
I hope you’ll try it and thank you for supporting FA through your comment!
I love the playdate story! I had a friend whose mom used to make pesto whenever friends came over. It made me so obsessed with basil to this day–there’s something about associating scents with memories that make them so vivid! I love these photos, and I can’t wait to try the banana bread. Thanks for organizing such an amazing blogger party, and for raising awareness for a great cause. xoxo
oh my goodness – that’s such a fun food memory! Would she serve it with pasta or as a dip? I would have been very into that afterschool activity. Thank YOU so much for joining! It was really fun to read all the stories, and I’m just glad to have fellow food geeks out there to nerd out over my pantry with. xo
I cant wait to try this banana bread, I have celiacs so I love that you incorporate so many gluten free recipes. Also, I wanted to comment for the Feed America cause. That is so generous of you!
Oh, I’ve got you covered Mary! There are some non-GF recipes way back in the archives, but everything 2012 on is GF 🙂 And thank you for commenting!! I’m even going to count my reply. It’s nice to have a platform to be able to raise awareness, and the least I can do is pony up myself once a year.
Girl #SpringPantryPurge was the ultimate success!! (We should probably do this every few months to stay honest. #SeasonalPurge?) xoxox
p.s. This banana bread looks extra gooey, which is pretty much my only requirement for good b bread. SOLD.
so gooey!!! and dare I say…*moist*. I am so in on the seasonal purge! though I’m trying to just do a one in one out policy. But that initiative will likely die the minute I get back home. Thank you for all your moral support with the purge!! Lord, did I need it!
This looks absolutely delicious Phoebe! I love a good slice of banana bread and I love the fact that yours is gluten free (the crumb looks so gorgeously moist!). It’s actually autumn/fall here in Australia so I guess for me it’d be an ‘opposite season pantry purge’, but I’m loving this series and seeing what everyone is creating with their pantry staples! Lovely post (can’t wait to try this yummy bread)
-Laura x
yay! pantry purging can happen year round–ideally it does!! xoxox
Love your recipes Phoebe! Thanks for helping me enjoy healthy hedonism!
high fives Christina!!! YAY!
What can I use in place of xanthan gum?
Hey Lindsay! Here’s a little article on gums and replacements. I’m not a proficient enough baker to be able to give you a definite swap, but ground flax seed is great as a binder. http://www.glutenfreeclub.com/substitutes-xanthan-guar-gum/
This is AMAZING! I love banana bread and this recipe looks incredible! Will definitely make some once my bananas turn spotty 🙂
YUM!!!
sit tight!! worth the wait!
Banana bread made with maple syrup? Yummm!!
oh man, they are besties. can’t get enough QT with each other.
We only tried to use ripe bananas this way in peanut butter-banana muffins, about 2 months ago and they turned out amazing! Banana bread isn’t something you find in a Greek household, so it’s one of those things we’ve only read about on the Internet.
The ingredients are a bit tough to find, but we’ll definitely see if we can get them because we really want our first banana bread to be made with this recipe:) Please forgive us if we’re saying stuff like that from time to time (about ingredients we can’t find), we do hope you understand:)
Thank you for the amazing recipe and the wonderful story!
xoxoxo
I love this idea!! I’m moving to a different city in a couple months so this gives me a nudge to start clearing out my pantry. And of course, a loaf of banana bread never goes astray!
yay Rebecca! I’m so glad you’re inspired by the pantry purge 🙂
I made this with my own modifications (part pumpkin puree in place of the oil because 1 cup of oil was just not going to happen in my kitchen) and a couple flax eggs in place of the hen fruit. It’s in the oven … we’ll see what happens! Thanks for the recipe and the spring cleaning inspiration.
Reporting back … saying it’s moist is an understatement. It did not get done all the way through even with extra baking time. I will toast or nuke it slice by slice in order to get something solid. Having said that, it’s delicious once it’s done. I will try this again, maybe in a shallower pan rather than a loaf pan. It would probably be okay as “banana bars.”
Hey Chessie!! So fun that you played around with the recipe. I can’t vouch for what the pumpkin and egg replacements will do for the bake time and hold. The pumpkin is probably what made it a little too wet–more similar to the banana than the oil. I would maybe just cut down slightly on the oil if you’re not comfortable with that much. I use olive or coconut, which I’m happy to intake in large quantities 🙂 Thank you for trying and reporting back! I’ll have to make it again myself with a flax egg and less oil!
Your childhood sounds a lot like mine! I definitely appreciate my parent’s eating style and influence on my eating a lot more now than I did when I was eating buckwheat for school lunch while my friends had lunchables. You’ve inspired me to clean out my own pantry too 🙂
haha I’m glad you feel me Liora! But eventually we caught on, eh? So glad you got the pantry purge bug 🙂 I feel so much lighter after the move, even if I’ve managed to pack my shelves all over again in the new apartment.
I almost tossed the too ripe to eat bananas in my fridge, thank goodness I read you email first and found this yummy looking new recipe to test out! Also in dire need of a pantry clean so I can actually find the ingredients that have piled up over the last 12 months – thanks for the ideas and inspo!
yay!! the best use for them and hooray for a pantry purge! see last week’s post on hidden sugars 🙂
Looks great. Another comment for another dollar to the food pantry!
I will be using your recipe for mothers day brunch tomorrow. I’m not very reliable about getting back to leave relative comments and I’m not much of a baker either! Super liked your story.
Thanks,
Jacque
I just tried this recipe and it’s great consistency, especially for GF! However the instructions forgot to mention adding the salt (it’s on the ingredient list so I should have figured it out) and I didn’t realize until the bread was in the oven and I saw the unused salt on the counter. You might want to update the recipe so others don’t make the same mistake… otherwise this recipe is a winner! P.S. I didn’t have nuts so swapped with chocolate chips… yummmmmm
thanks so much! it’s fixed now!
Looks delicious!
I have a big chilli cook up to use stored cans every once in a while. Any beans or tomato products are candidates, even soup sometimes.
Soup is another dish to make using up several different cans. I have childhood memories of a harvest do at a tennis club, where the soup from whatever cans people brought was the highlight!
Truly appreciate the way you made this wonderful gluten free banana bread. Everything is so nicely described that really helped me. Looking forward for more such recipes in future too.
My daughter has a nut allergy. Any suggestions on replacing the almond meal ?
Thanks
oat flour!