Make Your Banana Bread Taste Extra Toasty With A Flour Swap

Whether you're a professional pastry chef or an amateur baker, odds are you've got the ingredients to make banana bread somewhere in your cabinet. It's one of the simplest baked goods out there, hinging on a few basic ingredients, including a couple of browning bananas. Traditional banana bread uses all-purpose flour, which is perhaps the most versatile for home bakers, but there's always an opportunity to change things up. If you're feeling stuck and in a banana bread rut, we suggest you try using einkorn flour, an ancient grain that will give your banana bread a warm and toasty flavor that's just perfect for the cold weather.

Einkorn flour isn't the most widely available flour isn't the most widely available flour, and it can be expensive too, which is why a lot of people might not know what it is and how to eat it. However, it can be found online and in certain grocery stores in the flour aisle if you keep your eye out for it. Simply put, einkorn flour is an ancient grain that's been around for around 12,000 years. It's an undomesticated wheat, which means it's remained relatively the same over the centuries. This is the main reason it differs from modern wheat, which has undergone lots of changes and hybridizations that have stripped much of its nutritional value. Einkorn wheat, on the other hand, is full of protein, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamin B6. It's easier to digest too; some people with wheat sensitivities witch to einkorn and have no trouble at all.

Banana bread tastes perfectly delicious with all-purpose flour, so why mess with a good thing? Beyond einkorn's nutritional benefit and impressive history as an ancient grain, it also tastes fantastic. Its flavor is deeper, more complex, and nuttier than most types of flour, and its warming essence goes great with the already comforting flavors present in banana bread: Think caramelized bananas, sweet and crispy nuts, and perhaps a bit of chocolate too. Each of these flavors pairs wonderfully with einkorn's toastiness, making it a delectable combination. Plus, einkorn's flavor isn't as strong as whole wheat, but it's distinct enough for it to slightly alter the overall flavor of your banana bread.

While einkorn's gluten structure is vastly different from much of the modern flour we have in our pantries today, making the swap is actually fairly simple. You can substitute your all-purpose flour for einkorn at a 1:1 ratio, which makes things a breeze. Sometimes, you'll need to decrease the amount of liquids in the recipe by around 15-20%, because the wheat absorbs liquid much slower than modern wheats do, and you don't want your banana bread to end up gummy or dense. Once you've nailed the intricacies of this special grain, you'll never be caught using all-purpose flour again.