Lemony Banana Bread with Olive Oil, Vanilla and Caramelized Pears (vegan)
This incredible lemony olive oil banana bread with vanilla, almonds and caramelized pears on top is the perfect solution if you have too many lemons and over-ripe bananas to use. It’s so amazingly moist and fluffy and has such a delicate nice flavour. It goes perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee and can even be eaten for breakfast, as it’s not too sweet. This recipe is 100% vegan, can be made gluten-free and is kids-friendly.
Servings Prep Time
1loaf 15minutes
Cook Time
60minutes
Servings Prep Time
1loaf 15minutes
Cook Time
60minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180ºC
  2. Make the chia-egg by mixing the chiaseeds with 9 tbsp of water in a small bowl and set aside.
  3. Mix the flour, salt and the ground almonds in a bowl.
  4. In a deep dish or bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil and vanilla extract.
  5. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix through.
  6. Add the chia-egg and mix again.
  7. Then sprinkle the baking powder and baking soda on top and add the apple cider vinegar. Let it bubble up a bit.
  8. Carefully mix everything through until baking powder and soda is well incorporated. Try not to mix too much, just as much as necessary, otherwise the banana bread won’t raise in the oven.
  9. Transfer the dough into a loaf tin. I usually put some non-stick baking paper in the tin, so I won’t have any problems later to get it out.
  10. Peel and slice the pear lengthwise and place the slices on top of the loaf. Press them in a bit & sprinkle the coconut sugar on top.
  11. Bake at 180ºC during a total time of about 60 minutes, depending on your oven. TIP: Check the loaf after about 35-45 minutes. Depending on your oven it might be, that the caramelized pears begin to blacken a bit too much, but the loaf still needs a few minutes more. In that case I recommend covering it with some aluminium foil during the last 10-15 minutes, so the pears stay pretty and the top doesn’t get burnt.
Recipe Notes

This loaf can be frozen without any problem. Either the whole loaf, or – what I do – I cut it into slices and freeze them separately. So anytime I feel like a piece of cake, I can defrost one slice in the microwave and within 5 minutes I have something nice and sweet with my coffee.