Yeast Banana Bread is a recipe I originally made thinking it would be a fun partner to my morning peanut butter toast. It's a lightly sweet bread with honey, coconut oil, and egg for structure and protein. Below is a picture of the first loaf I ever made using a tall Pullman pan.
Adding Protein Powder
The first time I made this I had some hemp protein powder I needed to use, so I swapped ½ cup of the whole wheat flour for ½ cup of hemp powder. Feel free to skip that step and use whole wheat flour. However, if you do happen to have some hemp protein powder lying around, it works really well here. I haven't tried with whey or any of the other protein powders.
King Arthur Keto Wheat Flour Banana Bagels
Ands speaking of protein, King Arthur's keto wheat flour, which is high in protein, also works well with this recipe -- or at least if you make it as bagels. The flour is so strong, you get an easy to shape dough that bakes up into chewy bagels. The banana adds softness, flavor and better browning without making the bagels cakey. Since hydration with keto flour can vary, I'm sharing this (see second recipe card below) as a baking project for experienced yeast/bagel bakers. I'll keep refining it as I go, but if you like experimenting with King Arthur's keto flour, give it a try.
Recipe
Yeast Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups bread flour (8.5 oz)
- 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour**
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoons quick rising yeast
- ½ cup mashed ripe bananas
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 3 to 5 tablespoons hot water
- ⅓ cup chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flours, salt, and yeast. Stir well.
- Add the mashed bananas, honey, eggs, and coconut oil and stir until blended.
- Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until you have a very soft dough. It should be sticky and not at all dry. It would be impossible to knead this by hand.
- Attach dough hook to the mixer and knead for about 8 minutes, scraping bowl once or twice, until dough is smooth and elastic. It should be sticky and won't clear the sides as it is kneaded, but it should still snap and have some elasticity when you scrape it off the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the bowl and let rise right in the mixing bowl for 45 minutes to an hour or until doubled in bulk.
- When dough has risen, stir walnuts into dough, punching it down as you stir.
- Scrape the sticky dough into a well-greased (or foil lined) 9x5 inch pan and press down flat. Let the dough rise for another 45 minutes or until a dome forms over the top of the loaf pan. It will rise even more in the oven.
- Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (shield with foil after first 35 minutes) or until loaf sounds hollow and internal temperature registers 205 degrees F. Let cool completely.
Notes
Keto Flour Banana Bagels
And here's the Small Batch Keto Flour Banana Bagel's recipe. I'm pretty sure this would work with a good strong regular bread flour as well, or perhaps bread flour with a couple of tablespoons replaced with protein powder. But these banana bagels are very tasty and have about 10 grams of protein each. The dough looks something like this.
If you have trouble shaping it, do the best you can, put the shaped dough in the refrigerator for an hour (it will rise somewhat even in the cold), then shape it gently while cold. Let rise at room temperature for while you prepare the water.
Recipe
Keto Flour Banana Bagels
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups King Arthur Keto Flour, use the weight if possible (180 grams)
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoons quick rising yeast
- ¼- cup mashed ripe bananas (60-70 grams)
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey (30 grams)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil, generous (15 grams)
- 1-3 tablespoons hot water or as needed
- 2 tablespoons chopped toasted walnuts, optional
Bagel Boiling Water
- 6 cups water
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the keto flour, salt and yeast. Add the mashed banana, egg, coconut oil and honey. Stir briefly to combine.
- Using the dough hook, begin mixing on low speed while gradually adding hot water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until a thick dough forms. The dough should look somewhat rough at first but should come together into a cohesive mass after a few minutes of kneading.
- Continue kneading with the dough hook for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. It should feel firmer than regular bagel dough but not dry or crumbly. If needed, add a tiny bit more water.
- Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes. The dough may not double, but it should look slightly puffed.
- Shape the Bagels. Turn the dough onto a clean surface and divide into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion into a smooth ball, then poke a hole through the center and gently stretch into a bagel shape. With the King Arthur keto flour, it sometimes helps to do this with slightly wet hands.
- Place the shaped bagels on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover loosely and let rise for about 30 minutes or just until slightly puffy. Avoid over-proofing, which can cause the bagels to deflate during boiling. If you'd like to boil and bake later, you can put the shaped dough rounds on a tray, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 3 or 4 hours. The dough will rise slowly in the refrigerator, but will probably need 20 more minutes at room temperature (if you decide to chill).
- While the bagels rise, preheat the oven to 375°F. Bring the water and honey to a gentle boil in a wide saucepan.
- Boil the bagels one or two at a time for about 20 seconds per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and return to the baking sheet.
- If desired, brush with egg wash or diluted honey for sheen.
- Bake at 375°F for about 20 to 24 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.
Notes
If you try the Yeast Banana Bread, let me know!
I'll post any updates to the recipe as they come.
Sonya says
Sounds very yummy and healthy!