WHOLE GRAIN BANANA COCONUT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Grease 2 8x4” loaf pans or 1 9x5” loaf pan; I use cooking spray with no sticking problems; I used 2 8x4” loaf pans, and the resulting loaves were on the short side.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, oat bran, soy powder, flax seeds, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the pecans (and optional coconut) to the dry mixture and stir to incorporate; set aside.
• In the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel blade, place the Splenda, brown sugar, honey or barley malt syrup, butter, both kinds of lecithin, and xanthan gum; Puree together for about 2 minutes (this will help the lecithin and xanthan bind it all together).
• Add the banana, coconut milk, egg whites, and vanilla and coconut extracts to the food processor bowl, and puree again until well-blended; shake the can of coconut milk prior to opening it up so that the contents won’t be separated when you measure.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and use a rubber spatula to fold it all together; be careful not to overmix the batter or the finished product will be tough as a result of activating the gluten.
• Pour even amounts of batter into the loaf pan (s), and place in the preheated moderate oven.
• Bake until internal temperature reaches 185 degrees Fahrenheit; this took 36 minutes for 2 8x4” loaves in my oven today but will take longer in a 9x5" pan; look for a firm, lightly brown top and look for the sides to pull away from the pan (s).
• Chef notes: If you want to use your whole 14-oz can of coconut milk, triple this recipe (that's a lot o' banana bread--yay!); Also, if you want to eliminate the 1/4 cup of butter, just add an extra 1/4 cup of banana; the coconut milk, soy powder, lecithin, and flax seeds all have significant amounts of healthy fats in them so you should still end up with a moist tender bread; I haven’t tried that yet, so if you do, please inform us of the outcome in your review!