[ Coconut Quinoa Banana Bread ]

I'm always looking for SMART snacks to add to my kid's lunches.  This recipe promised to hide the quinoa taste completely ... so I thought I'd give it a go *grin*.  If it's up here - then it WORKED.  Special thanks to Pinterest yet again ... and let me mention that this is NOT my photo, and the recipe originally comes from http://www.coffeeandquinoa.com .

Yields: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)

Coconut Quinoa Banana Bread

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (about 1 1/2 cups cooked)

3 very ripe bananas

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour ** I used Cloud 9 cup-for-cup flour replacement.  gluten-free

1 cup old-fashioned oats + another small handful for topping

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

*1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut + another small handful for topping

1 tsp cinnamon ** my addition

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

1/4 cup coconut milk

Directions 

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. (I bring it to a boil with 3/4 cup of water, then simmer for 15 minutes and fluff with a fork, but I know some people prefer to use more water, probably depending on the stove.) Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a loaf pan.                                                                    

3. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Stir in the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.

4. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, shredded coconut, flaxseed, and cooked quinoa. Dump into the large bowl of wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. 

5. Stir in the coconut milk.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until top of loaf is golden brown and sides are pulled away from the pan, 45-50 minutes.  Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before serving. Keeps wrapped in tin foil in the fridge for several days.

* I LOVE the flavour of coconut, but not the texture of wet coconut.  In my opinion, the added coconut makes the texture less smooth - and I won't add it next time.  Maybe next time I'll add a tsp of coconut extract for some added coconut flavour. 

** when it comes to white flour, I am doing my BEST to try and avoid it at all costs.  I am just learning how to use coconut flour as a replacement - and could've substituted it for the flour in this recipe.  But.  I opted for Cloud 9 because ... well.  It was an easier learning curve *grin*.