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!
Delicious recipe! So happy to have use for almond pulp. Thank you so much!
Glad you loved it!
Delicious! Made into muffins….
Terrific!
Amazing recipe! My new staple for using up my Nut Pulp from making Homemade Nut Mylk! Do you think Buckwheat Flour would work????
I made mine into a Chocolate Swirled Banana Bread. I took half the batter and mixed in melted chocolate. (: I also have tried using a chia or flaxseed egg and no problem! Turned out amazing still! So hearty and delicious and not too sweet! I also used dark chocolate without sugar cause this recipe was sweet enough for me.
Another thang, when I made this recently the batter was so incredibly thick and I thought I messed it up! Still turned out FANTASTIC and delicious! This recipe is so durable and flexible!
Thank you!!!
Woohoo! Great tips, thanks! I think you can use buckwheat for maybe a 1/4 of the flour. Worth a try. I love buckwheat!
thank you will try it this week
This recipe worked perfectly. I followed it exactly and it was so tasty and just the right consistency when you cut it. Will 100% be making again.
Awesome! Isn’t is nice to be able to use up the almond pulp in such a tasty way?? 🙂
This is a staple recipe in my home. I make an almond-cashew-hemp milk blend for my toddlers, and the pulp works great. I make these as muffins as is with 1/2 the maple syrup, and the recipe works well. I use coconut oil and add some spices. Thank you for a healthy snack where I can use the pulp right away.
Can I use all purpose flour?
In place of the whole grain flour, yes.
This turned out delicious. I was nervous because my batter didn’t look as moist as your photos. I added a little extra maple syrup (tablespoon). Used mixture of almond and coconut flour, left out the nuts because didn’t have them in pantry and with the San Francisco shelter in not worth going out for.
SO glad to hear that! Your batter wasn’t as moist because you added coconut flour which is VERY absorbent. Glad it still worked though. 🙂
Love this recipe! Always looking for easy ways to use up my almond pulp (that don’t also call for the almond milk just made!) Do you happen to have the nutrition facts for it or for any of your other almond pulp recipes?
I don’t, sorry!
I love how easy you’ve made it to just directly use the almond pulp straight from making the almond milk!
For the fall season, could you replace the bananas with pumpkin purée? If so, would you need to adjust liquid content at all?
I think you could, but I haven’t tried it. I might do 3/4 cup pumpkin puree + an additional 1/4 c maple syrup + pumpkin spices. Or just take your favorite pumpkin bread recipe which calls for 2 cups of flour and replace 3/4 cup of the flour with almond pulp. That could work too!
I replaced the banana with about 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin and added 1tsp of pumpkin pie spices. They turned out absolutely beautifuly. I only use 1/3 cup of maple syrup and always add in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips.
I love these swaps! Thanks so much for sharing with everyone. 🙂
I’ve never felt the need to comment on a recipe that I’ve used before but this bread was so delicious that I thought I should this time. I made almond milk for the first time and was looking for things to do with my left over pulp. I happened upon this recipe for banana bread and I’m sure glad I did. By far, the best banana bread I’ve ever made or eaten. I used GF flour and it turned out perfectly. I will be making more almond milk just so I can make this bread after. Thank you!
Wow! That’s a great endorsement! TY 🙂