Banana Miso Bread

While it does often feel like my kids are whining about not having anything special to eat for breakfast (because… I don’t make pancakes and waffles every day?), they are usually happy with some kind of loaf bread. I really didn’t like this low-carb pumpkin bread made with almond flour because it completely fell apart and wasn’t even much good. The pumpkin and pear bread from Weelicious was good, but nothing to write home about. 

Then when I saw the recipe for miso banana bread, well… I was like a moth to a flame. Of course I had to make it! But I had to do it my way: I don’t like having a banana sliced lengthwise on top of baked goods, because while it looks great when it comes out of the oven, it won’t look appetizing at all when you’re finishing it up a few days later. Also, the baking time seemed outrageous even for a loaf bread (90 minutes!), so I brought it down to a more reasonable 60 minutes – and if your oven runs hot, I’d even check before then. And I used a standard-size loaf pan. This was really good! The miso is very subtle, and no one would guess there’s anything unusual about the ingredients. 

4 medium overripe bananas (I cleared out my freezer for this, hence their ragtag appearance) 

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour) 

1 tsp. baking soda 

½ tsp. baking powder 

¼ tsp. kosher salt 

1 stick lactose-free butter, softened 

1 cup sugar 

¼ cup white miso 

½ cup lactose-free buttermilk substitute 

2 large eggs 

Preheat the oven to 350 F°. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch metal loaf pan. 

In a bowl, using a fork, mash the bananas until chunky. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream the butter, sugar and miso at medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. At low speed, slowly add the buttermilk, then beat in the eggs 1 at a time until incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas; the batter will look curdled. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Scrape into the prepared pan. 

Bake for 60 minutes (see note above), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool on a rack for 30 minutes before turning out to cool completely.