This banana bread features an amazing banana bread mix made by Simple Mills. Simple Mills is a Chicago based brand that makes such a great and ever expanding line of cake and bread mixes, cookies, crackers, and frostings with REAL ingredients that you can actually pronounce.

When I first looked at the ingredient lists of a few different products I couldn’t believe how short and not confusing the ingredient list was. When I got my hands on the Banana Bread and Muffin Mix I was excited to spruce it up and enhance its already goodness! 

I added some of the typical seeds I would throw into my other baked goods and topped it with an additional banana and pecans for that extra flavor! I followed the baking instructions from the box. I usually don’t cover my loafs with foil halfway through the cooking process, in fact I try not to open the oven at all while something is baking, but I figured they knew what they were talking about and they sure did! The loaf came out great when baked as instructed!

This loaf did take a little longer to cook but that can be expected since it was in the oven at 325F. I typically cook my baked goods at 350F, but again, I followed what the Simple Mills’ experts directed me to do! It was well worth the wait!

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Recipe

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1 Simple Mills Banana Bread and Muffins box
• ½ c ground flax meal 
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds 
• 2 tbsp chopped pecans 

Wet Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana
• 2 eggs
• ½ c + 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk 
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Toppings (optional)

• 1 whole banana 
• Pinch of coconut sugar 
• 1 tbsp chopped pecans

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325F and line your loaf pan with parchment paper, set aside. 
2. In a large bowl, mash your spotty ripe banana and then add in wet ingredients until well combined: eggs, almond milk, vanilla, and melted coconut oil. Mix in chia seeds and let sit for a couple minutes to let the chia seeds expand a bit. 
3. In a medium size bowl, mix your dry ingredients together: Simple Mills mix, cinnamon, flax meal, cinnamon, and hemp seeds. Mix until well combined. 
4. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. Mix until just well combined and there are no clumps of dry ingredients. Gently fold in chopped pecans. The batter will be a bit thick but that’s okay!
5. Pour your batter into your prepared baking pan. I like to top mine with a sliced banana and a few more pecans. You can slice your banana lengthwise in half or into medallions – have fun with it! I also sprinkle a little bit of coconut sugar on the banana to help caramelize and deepen the flavor a bit more – completely optional! Feel free to add more chopped pecans on top. 
6. Bake for 30 minutes and then take it out of the oven and cover it with aluminum foil (you can cover your foil with nonstick spray).
7. Bake your loaf for an additional 25 minutes and then test it with a toothpick, if it comes out clean you are good to go, if it does not, bake for an additional 5 minutes. 
8. After removing from the oven, uncover your loaf and let it cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing. Enjoy on its own or slather some peanut butter on it 🙂 

Notes

1. If your almond milk is cold you may notice that your coconut oil solidifies a bit. For this recipe that should not be an issue but it can be avoided if you leave your almond milk and eggs out to reach room temperature!
2. Room temperature eggs work best when baking but don’t worry if you don’t have time to let them sit out!
3. Store in an airtight container and can keep in the fridge for 5 days (although unlikely there will be any leftovers past day two)!