As the track season and academic year come to a close, there’s a truism that pervades my thoughts. Much like baking, the number of times you get it perfectly right are totally overcast by the catastrophic, batter slinging failures that stick in your mind.
Hence the number of practices that I made it to perfectly on time are washed out by the 2.5 hour...err..delayed arrival because my car was towed. But C'est la vie. There is definitely some psychological truth that I can’t remember about meditating upon failures rather than celebrating successes; I’m about a third of the way through my morning coffee so I just don’t have the mental traction to think of it right now.
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| 5k Studs and I Post ECAC Meet |
When days start to trend towards a higher percentage of batter slinging moments, it is clear to me that I have taken on too much, most likely am sleeping too little or something is weighing too heavily on my mind. When an athlete has a subpar performance, I now have the sage wisdom to ask them what ELSE is going on in their lives that is undoubtedly affecting their running. So friends, what am I to do when I’m looking for a quick victory to settle my life down?
Turn to something I can definitively control. My kitchen.
And thus you have, and the Wellesley College Track and field team receives, a glorious heart warming loaf of banana bread. With bursting blueberries and oozy banana, this was sure to fuel the athletes and the coaches for a long day at our season ending meet. Hours later, an athlete asked “Fiona how come you were able to eat the banana bread? Didn’t it have flour in it?” I knew I had a winning recipe.
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| But Actually, How good does this look |
Blueberry Banana Bread With Chocolate Shards
Makes One Large Loaf Pan Size
Dry Ingredients
1.5 Cups of My GF All Purpose Flour Mix (I use Shauna's Ratios)
1.5 tsp Baking soda
1.5 tsp Baking powder
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 tsp of sea salt
2 tsp of Freshly grated Cinnamon Hill Cinnamon or 1 tablespoon of conventional cinnamon
Wet Ingredients
1/3 C Grapeseed or other neutral oil
2/3 cup of Raw Honey or Agave Nectar
1/2 Cup of Almond Milk
1 tbs of vanilla bean paste or 2 tablespoons of Vanilla Extract
Folded Ingredients
1.5 Cups of Mashed Banana
1/2 to 3/4 cup of blueberries
3/4 Cup of Dark Chocolate Chopped
Directions
1. Preheat Oven to 325.
2. Chop Dark Chocolate or food process to break into small shards
3. Add dries to a medium sized bowl and whisk.
4. Add wet ingredients and whisk until incorporated. That means you make sure there are NO HIDDEN POCKETS OF DRY STUFF hidden at the bottom of the bowl.
5. Fold In Bananas, Blueberries and Chocolate
6. Pour into greased loaf pan and Bake for 45-50 Minutes. Use Toothpick test to check for doneness!
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| This is what done looks like! |
