A Taste of Summer in Hawaii
my Maui banana bread recipe
Perhaps because I was born around summer solstice (in the northern hemisphere), summer is my favorite season. I’d eagerly await the months when the hot sun warmed my body into the present moment, melting away all thought. As a child I used to look forward to these longer days of leisure which often included weeks of visiting my grandmother at the beach.
Now I live in summer year-round! No, I don’t miss the seasons: the turning of leaves, snow at Christmas, or the atmospheric fog of the Bay Area. On a day I have a migraine, I may yearn for a day of grey, cool weather but that disappears with the pain. I love being able to sun and swim year-round. I love the languorous and mild climate where our temperature rarely ever deviates from between seventy-five to eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
As the infamous Hawaiian trade winds keep a gentle breeze circulating almost all year, even when the barometer pushes 90 f. you typically don’t feel too hot. One month does become unbearable for me in Oahu and that’s October, when the Kona winds arrive. The southwesterly Konas travel opposite from the trades and don’t feel like winds at all. Imagine warm puffs of wet air.
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Summer is not a bummer in Hawaii. It is blissful and abundant. In our yard we have the following trees: a ginormous mango, a meyer lemon, a papaya, a baby banana, and several coconut palms. We also have numerous pineapple plants. All are currently bearing fruit.
One of my fun activities this month has been strategizing, with my gardener, about how to get the coconuts and mangos down from great heights. A ninety-six inch mango picker is too short. I joked that John needs to get out his Texan boot spurs and scale the coconut palms by climbing right up, but I have since learned of a very large tool resembling a giant’s pair of scissors.
Once gotten, what to do with all this fruit? Lemons are for my lemon-garlicky salad dressing (Here’s my recipe: 1/3 lemon juice to 2/3 organic olive oil and 3-5 cloves minced garlic. It complements all salads). Green mangos are for pickling; ripe mangos are for greedily consuming right away. Papayas are commonly breakfasted with yogurt and granola. Bananas are for bread.
In case you do not know this, banana bread is a thing in Hawaii! Bananas of so many varieties grow here: ice cream bananas (kinda taste like ice cream), blue bananas (yes, blue), apple bananas (petite), etc. Prior to Hawaii I’d eaten banana bread BUT the bread on the road to Hana, Maui felt like my very first.
Have you traversed the road to Hana on the island of Maui? It is a day-long drive full of spectacular waterfalls, a black sand beach, leisurely stops for Hawaiian mythology lessons, ocean blowholes (don’t get too close. true story: visitors fall in, never to be seen again) and visiting banana bread stands. Why is bread a thing? Bananas grow well here; everyone’s Aunty seems to make it, so moist it’s almost creamy, resembling ambrosia from the Hawaiian Gods.
I remember the first time I had Maui banana bread and I remember the last: Regretfully I had allowed John to eat the majority of said bread. I returned home on a mission: To recreate it (yes, I had a little help).
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Banana lovers, being grain and sugar-free does not make baking a cinch BUT I found a deliciously moist recipe that translates well to my modifications.
You may recall I use freshly ground buckwheat flour as it’s grain & gluten-free (buckwheat is a seed). It’s so versatile. I predict buckwheat will be the next grain and gluten-free food trend! I grind seed to flour in my Vitamix.
I also use a monk fruit sugar blend called Lakanto. Monk fruit sugar won’t spike insulin, feed candidiasis (a persistent issue for me), cause tooth decay and more. From Google AI: Lakanto Monk fruit is a zero-calorie sugar substitute that is also zero-glycemic and has zero net carbs. It shares the texture of granulated sugar and can be substituted in equal proportions.
When I recently made a birthday cake with the above, my testers enjoyed it while noting the sweetener tastes “cool”, “bright.” You’ll see. It’s different from sugar. Is it worth trying something a little different in order to not experience the negative health effects of sugar? You decide. It definitely is for me.
Finally, I love the taste of olive oil in this recipe. Many banana breads call for canola or vegetable oil but that is not a health-conscious choice.
Jessica’s Maui Banana Bread Recipe
1 3/4 cups buckwheat flour (or your choice of flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup Lakanto monk fruit sugar (or your choice of sugar)
1 cup mashed ripe banana
3/4 cup organic olive oil
Preheat oven to 350.
Line bread pan with parchment paper.
Whisk flour and dry ingredients together in one bowl.
Add wet ingredients to mixing bowl.
Slowly pour in dry while mixing.
Bake 50-70 minutes. Adjust timing to your oven (I did 50). I set my initial timer for 40 mins. then tested with a toothpick every 5-10 mins or so.
Eat warm with butter, or cool with cream cheese *substitute: I like Violife
Once cool, cut into single servings, freeze, so you can consume at leisure.
*adapted from a recipe via kristabennett.com
Enjoy!
Consider adding 💗SAFFRON💗 to your recipe! 🧐