Vegan Blueberry Banana Bread

Adapted from The Post Punk Kitchen

Makes one loaf

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

3 very ripe bananas, mashed well

1-1/3 cups flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup vanilla soy milk, mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Couple small dashes of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup blueberries (preferably fresh, but frozen will work just fine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat an 8x4 loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add wheat germ and gently whisk it in [note: The wheat germ doesn't have to be blended thoroughly. Just mix it enough that it isn't sitting in a pile on top of the dry ingredients.]

In a large bowl, cream together the applesauce and sugars, then add the bananas, soy milk/vinegar blend and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour batter into pan and bake for 60-70 minutes.

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Don't let the fact that this is a vegan recipe scare you away. It's one of the most delicious banana breads I've ever had. It's hearty, dense, tasty goodness and a great way to use up both bananas and blueberries that are nearing the end of their days. If you don't like blueberries (who are you?) or don't have any on hand (that's more acceptable), just leave them out and the bread should be fine. You can add any kind of nuts you like, as well as chocolate chips (a favorite of mine), instead. I chose blueberries because A) I had some that needed to be used and B) blueberries+the Biggest Girl=BFFs, while nuts aren't yet on the guest list.

For the soy milk, you can either mix it with some Oregon Chai and enjoy your tasty beverage with your tasty bread or you can buy Soy Dream in juice boxes and not have as much left over. There's even a 75-cents off coupon at the bottom of the first page of the Soy Dream site (for now) to offer a little more encouragement.

Don't be afraid...and don't let the vegan-ness stop you from slathering this stuff with butter before you eat it. I didn't, though. It didn't seem to scream for butter the way regular banana bread does. Strange, eh?