Vegan Banana Bread

Whenever I have some sad, old bananas lying around, I seize the opportunity to make banana bread. It's fairly quick and easy, and I always have the rest of the ingredients on hand. If you're not in the mood, don't toss those gems. Peel the bananas, put them in a freezer bag, and save them for another day. This recipe is vegan, low fat, and uses whole wheat pastry flour (I've made it with white flour and no one knew the difference in my house, so I'll always make it whole wheat from now on), and yet it's still super yummy. I always double the recipe and make two, because the first one doesn't even have time to cool completely before it's gobbled up. Feel free to fold in some blueberries, chocolate chips, or flax seeds in place of (or in addition to) the walnuts: it would be hard to mess this up. Makes a great hostess gift or treat for a friend who needs you to make her day.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 overripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup canola oil

1/3 cup agave nectar

1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly oil an ~8x4" loaf pan. Line with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the bananas, oil, agave nectar, soy milk and vanilla. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Stir in the nuts. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a bit, then out on a rack for a while before slicing...if you can wait.