Gluten-free vegan banana bread

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Combine the flaxseed with 5 tablespoons of water and let stand for 5 minutes to make flax ‘egg’.

2. Combine the chickpea flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda and xylitol in a large bowl and mix. Add the flax egg, vanilla essence, apple-cider vinegar and coconut oil to the bowl of mashed banana and mix. Now combine all the ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon until completely blended.

3. Prepare a bread pan with cooking spray. The mixture fills a 21 cm x 11 cm x 6 cm pan completely, so don’t go for anything smaller; or you’ll have to split the mixture into two pans and bake it for less time. Pour the mix-ture into the bread pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

4. Using a knife or toothpick, test to see whether it comes out dry. (See Note below.)

NOTE: that using a knife or toothpick to test doesn’t always work straight away with banana bread — the  banana can remain quite wet until the bread has completely cooled down. If you find that your banana bread needs to go in longer after it has cooled, simply put it back into the oven at the same temperature for about  5 minutes.

This is an extract from The South African Vegan Cookbook by Leozette Roode, published by Human and Rousseau and retailing for R315.