With these foggy mornings, I’ve been craving a big mug of hot coffee with a thick slice of banana bread. One recent afternoon, as I was strolling around the farm, I stopped at a forgotten rhubarb patch and grabbed a few stems. At the time I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, but when overcast skies appeared the next morning, I decided to whip up a batch of banana bread and toss in some roasted rhubarb. The result was a wonderful balance of sweet and tangy.

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (you can sub. coconut oil if you prefer)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
2 cups mashed banana (from about 4 very ripe bananas)
2 large eggs (I have also used chia as well as flax eggs as a substitute)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 medium stalks of rhubarb- you can add more if you really like things sour

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Grease and flour loaf pan.
  3. Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together butter, maple syrup, bananas, eggs, and vanilla.
  5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
  6. Fold in roasted rhubarb*
  7. Bake loaf for 50-55 minutes

*To roast the rhubarb, chop into small, quarter inch size pieces. Coat with melted coconut oil or other flavorless oil and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake at 350°F about 20-25 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft.

Recipe adapted from http://dishingupthedirt.com/recipes/brown-butter-cardamom-banana-bread/

 

photos from https://www.kimscravings.com/healthy-rhubarb-banana-bread/ and http://www.marthastewart.com/275393/rhubarb-recipes#1078311