Just when you thought you had enough banana bread recipes, here's a new and interesting version: a roasted walnut oil banana bread from La Tourangelle. In addition to the rich and nutty flavor of the roasted walnut oil, the banana bread calls for ground flax, a mixture of white and whole wheat flour, and maple syrup in place of sugar.
I suppose it falls into the relatively healthier category of banana breads. It's not as rich and dense as the stalwart Betty Crocker recipe, but slightly crumblier and with a different palette of flavors. In my opinion it could have used a fourth banana, but the family liked it with three.
La Tourangelle Roasted Walnut Oil
As for the roasted walnut oil, I first tried it years ago when making a yeasted walnut bread. I also used it in vinaigrette and a few different cookie recipes, but I really didn't take advantage of all its uses before the tin of oil was gone. It's always been kind of a luxury ingredient around here, but with its health properties, flavor and versatility, I should buy it more often. If you have any great uses for walnut oil (or any other fancy oils), let me know.
Recipe
Roasted Walnut Oil Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup roasted walnut oil
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¾ cup ground flaxseed
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Topping:
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350°. Grease an 8-½" x 4-½" loaf pan and set aside.
- Mash the bananas and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together eggs, oil and maple syrup and set aside.
- In a large bowl mix together flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add egg mixture and mashed bananas alternately to dry ingredients, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix. Pour into prepared pan.
- Combine cinnamon and brown sugar and toss with walnuts. Sprinkle over batter.
- Bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Let cool before slicing. This bread is slightly crumblier than some others.
Anna says
Sonya, thanks for the recipes! I'll delete the one without the walnut oil.
I've been using the recipe on the can of walnut oil which is just a mixture of walnut oil, Dijon mustard, balsamic, salt and pepper. It's great tossed with spring mix.
Sonya says
Ok, I feel like a dork - just realized that the middle recipe doesn't have walnut oil in it - sorry!
Sonya says
And last one! BTW, I think that you can never have too many variations on banana bread - I've loved every loaf I've ever eaten - lol. I have three favorite recipes at the moment - Orange-Spice Banana Bread (ATK Family Cookbook), Banana Walnut Bread (the Mixer Bible), and Ultimate Banana Bread (Cook's Illustrated).
Sonya says
Linguine with Walnuts, Garlic, and Oil -- Published March 1, 1999
Sonya says
I can only think of salad dressing... here's a recipe from Cook's Illustrated that I found:
Orange-Port Dressing with Walnut Oil --Published May 1, 2005.
Carolyn says
I love this - healthier and tastes great. My daughter has decided that a conventional lunch doesn't cut it, so being able to offer her a heart-healthy, fibre rich food, with no refined sugar banana bread is a wonderful alternative. Thank you!