Chocolate and Banana Bread (Egg and Dairy free, Vegan) and very LOW FAT!

So here is my very favourite banana bread.  Why dairy and egg free?  My littlest person's diet is both of these as she has had allergies from birth.  It makes baking interesting, but I've found lots of alternatives and I challenge you to find anyone who can guess this is dairy and egg free when you feed it to them!

Thanks to HCampbell Photography for taking the pretty photo for me!

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup soya milk (or cows milk works fine too if you don't need to worry about dairy)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp cocoa powder
6 tbsp boiling water

Method


Preheat the oven to 180°C

1. Mash the banana in a classic batter bowl.
2. Beat in the sugar, milk, oil, and vanilla.
3. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and gently mix.
4. Mix the cocoa powder with the boiling water in a small prep bowl and stir well until the chocolate is dissolved.
5. Add the chocolate to the mix in the batter bowl and mix gently.
6. Bake in the stoneware loaf pan for 55mins.
7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before tipping out onto a cooling rack to cool.

Wait to cut into it as the warmer it is, the squishier it is! Bet you can't wait long!

TIP:  If you would like it to look nice and swirly like in my picture then divide the mix into two bowls after stage 3. Then add 4 tbsps of hot water to the chocolate and mix it into one of the bowls.  Add 2 tbsps water to the other bowl and mix.  Then add the mixture to the tin or loaf pan alternating between the chocolate mix and the banana mix and swirl with a knife before cooking as above.

The Stoneware Loaf Pan is the same size as a 2lb loaf tin.

Based on Isa Chandra's recipe for banana bread from Post Punk Kitchen (AMAZING Vegan food!)
http://www.theppk.com/

1st August 2012 Update

Inspired by Jo Wheatley on her facebook page yesterday I tried a zebra cake with the above recipe.  It turned out pretty well don't you think?  I used an 8inch (20cm) springform cake tin and simply followed the recipe above, splitting the mix into the two colours.  I then put three spoonfuls of each mix alternating in the middle of the tin.  The mix spreads out as you add the next layer and when its cooked it then looks like this:

I'm off to try it with a whole load of other recipes....

There is a great tutorial on how to do this here from Melissa at My cake school, if you want it.