Something I really hate to do is to waste food. One of the reasons I plan out a week of meals is that I can shop accordingly and only buy what I know I will use. But what about that leftover almond pulp? Despite my best efforts to use up the almond byproduct that results every time I make almond milk, it just doesn’t always happen. And raw almonds are so expensive that it actually pains me to throw the pulp in the trash. It’s perfectly good food, especially since the almonds were previously soaked, making them much more digestible and nutritious!
So what do I do with it? Of course, there’s the obvious — add it to anyone’s smoothie or stir it into a warm porridge or muesli. And almond pulp freezes well, so I can save it for another time. But I am just way too lazy to get out my dehydrator and dry out the pulp to use as almond meal. And then I thought to myself, what if I just tried the almond pulp in a quick bread in place of some of the wheat flour? Well, guess what? It worked! Although apparently, a million other people already knew this and I am extremely late to the almond pulp party!
I decided to take one of my banana bread recipes and tweak it a bit with almond pulp that was leftover from 1 cup of whole, soaked raw almonds. Remember, almonds have a lot more fat than grain flours, so we can cut back on some of the added fat. But almonds have no gluten, so I was reluctant to make an all-almond pulp bread this first time. I know this will be neither Paleo nor gluten-free (although I am confident you can swap the gluten flour for a good GF all purpose mix + a little xanthan gum), but I think we can fix that with a few more tweaks. Using half whole wheat flour and half almond pulp, this bread came out to be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! Moist but hearty, not crumbly, and not too sweet. It’s perfect banana bread, in my book. My life changed instantly!! Let’s all imagine the possibilities of subbing some almond pulp for flour in different recipes! Is this exciting or what??
Most of the recipes on my site have been made in my cooking classes and at home about 20 times, but this one I just did once so I haven’t tested all the permutations, e.g. all almond pulp, no bananas, butter for coconut oil, and so on. But you can bet I will! I am planning on making my Millet Blondies today with almond pulp. Check my Instagram for updates! And please share your experiences with subbing in almond pulp in any recipes — I’ll try anything!
One last favor — I love Saveur Magazine and they’re conducting their annual food blog awards right now. If you like my blog, would you kindly take 15 seconds out of your busy day and nominate me for a Saveur Food Blog Award? I think the category of Best Special Interest Blog (healthy cooking) would be great. Thank you so much! Here’s the link (and I promise it takes 15 seconds!) http://www.saveur.com/article/
Whole Grain Banana Bread with Almond Pulp
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour, whole spelt or sprouted spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup packed almond pulp, leftover from 1 cup of almonds to make almond milk
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter or unrefined coconut oil, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2-3 very ripe bananas, mashed (2 large or 3 small-medium)
- ½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pan with butter or coconut oil and line with unbleached parchment paper, if desired.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Place the almond pulp, maple syrup, melted butter or coconut oil, eggs and vanilla in a blender and process until combined. Or whisk well in a medium bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until just blended. Fold in the mashed bananas and nuts.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes and then remove the bread and transfer to a rack.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Hi Pamela – I made this last night and it was a huge hit with my friends and at work! I love it! I used real eggs and butter, but want to try it with coconut oil as well. Do you have a taste preference? Also, you forgot to add in the instructions when you add the eggs but I referenced your other recipe. Just a note that you may want to include that/add it in. Thanks for sharing – would love more suggestions on how to use almond pulp as I made my own almond milk a couple of times a week as well. This bread goes GREAT with English Breakfast Tea & Almond Date Milk 🙂
Ahhhhh! Thank you so much for catching that. I have been transitioning each recipe to a new plug-in and it must have been edited out, inadvertently. Thank you! I love butter or coconut oil here. I am not sensitive to the taste of coconut oil, but some people are. If that’s you, I would stick with butter. 🙂
Hi, Pamela. Could I substitute white whole wheat flour for the whole wheat pastry flour?
Yes! They are interchangeable as far as I’m concerned.:)
This is a great recipe and results in a really moist bread. Could I use coconut sugar instead of maple syrup? If so, how much should I use and would I need to adjust any of the other ingredients?
Thanks!You could use coconut sugar instead and you would use the same amount. 🙂
Thank you, Pamela!
This bread has become a staple in our house. We make almond milk twice a week so of course, we get banana bread every week! Thanks for such a great tasting (guilt free) recipe!
Great! I hope to post a pancake recipe soon. 🙂
Hi, can u tell me how many calories are in a serving of this cake? Many thank.
I have no idea!
Just made with my leftover almond pulp and its delicious!!
Yesterday, I made your multigrain waffle recipe. I didn’t have buttermilk so I subbed in plain Kefir and they were yummy! Thanks!
How great! Yes, kefir for buttermilk works perfectly. Thanks for the comment, Kathleen!
So good, thank you! And very happy not to waste the almond leftovers as well! Voted. We probably cook from your recipes 85% of the time! Keep it up:)
Yay! Thank you! More almond pulp recipes to come!
I have been literally wondering the same thing and feeling guilty about throwing away the almond pulp so I’m super super excited about this
I make almond milk 3 times a week so this might bey new favorite thing
So excited
Voted! You are my go to for recipes – always delicious! Good luck! 🙂
Thank you, Jen. SO kind of you!
Could I make this vegan and gluten free?
Sure! Do you know how to make a flax egg? (For this recipe you need 2.) 2 Tbs. ground flax meal mixed with 6 Tbs. warm water. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. use that in place of the eggs. I would just use a good GF flour mix like King Arthur plus 1 tsp. xanthan gum or this mix:
½ cup sorghum flour
½ cup millet flour
½ cup sweet rice flour
¼ cup GF oat flour
3 Tablespoons potato starch
1 Tablespoon tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
Thank you!!!
Hi Pamela,
Just wondering how critical the xanthan gum is. I’m thinking you now are a fan of jovial gf and maybe TJs gf flours?
Thanks so much!
It’s what gives the batter structure. You can try making this without, but I think it will be dense and wet. I love Jovial GF flour as well as King Arthur multipurpose GF flour. Check Jovial Foods website for their GF recipes. Jovial flour already contains xanthin gum FYI.
You’re the best Pamela!
Hooray! I’ve been looking for a way to use the pulp from making almond milk. Do you think this would work with flax eggs to make it vegan? If I wanted to make it into muffins, 18 minutes at 350? Thanks in advance (and I just voted at Saveur!)
Thank you, Caryn! I think it would definitely work with flax eggs as a binder since bananas also help bind. For muffins, you might need 20-25 depending on how you fill the cups. 🙂
The muffins (w/flax eggs) came out great! We are enjoying them for breakfast this week.
Awesome! I felt pretty confident the flax eggs would work out well, but I’m glad to know for sure. Thanks for reporting back!