Banana Bread with added quinoa for extra protein, fiber and nutrients. This delicious banana bread is moist and full of flavor.
This is a perfect recipe for using up those ripe bananas we always seem to have.
Thank goodness for banana bread! Otherwise I would have a whole lot of wasted bananas. For me, bananas have a perfect ripeness window of about two days max. Before then, they are too green.
After, they are too ripe. I end up making a lot of banana bread, banana muffins and other banana recipes with all those ripe bananas. This time I decided to amp up my regular banana bread by adding quinoa!
How to cook quinoa
When cooking quinoa, you want to first rinse it thoroughly in water. There is an outer coating that can taste bitter if you don't rinse it off first.
Measure desired amount of quinoa and pour it into a bowl. Fill the bowl with water and rub the grains with fingers. Then pour it into a fine sieve and rinse under the water again.
Follow directions for cooking on your package. Most usually have 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Boil water, add quinoa, simmer with lid for 10-15 minutes until all water is absorbed. Quinoa can be eaten hot or cold and takes on the flavor of whatever dish it's in.
You can also check out this recipe on how to cook quinoa.
Can you taste the quinoa in this bread?
The quinoa is almost unrecognizable in this bread. You really can't taste it at all. It does add a bit of a crunch on the outer edges.
My husband says he doesn't like quinoa, so he didn't believe me when I told him it was in the banana bread! Nothing like sneaking extra nutrition into something everyone is going to eat anyway!
Steps to make banana bread
- Use really ripe bananas - the browner the better
- Mash bananas before adding to mixture
- Mix dry ingredients together and set aside
- Mix eggs, sugar and butter together
- Fold in mashed bananas
- Add dry ingredients
- Fold in cooked quinoa
- Bake
Full sized or mini loaves?
I used mini loaf pans for this bread. I like the small size and the slices are just a perfect size!
To make mini loaves bake in 4 mini loaf pans for 45 minutes. To make full sized loaves use 2 full size loaf pans and bake for 55-60 minutes.
Other Great Recipes Using Quinoa:
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Check out all my bread recipes!
Quinoa Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 whole eggs (lightly beaten)
- 3 bananas (mashed)
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup butter (melted)
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (cooked and cooled)
Instructions
- Measure dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together
- In another bowl, mix eggs, sugar and butter together
- Fold in bananas
- Mix in dry ingredients
- Mix in quinoa
- Spray loaf pans and divide batter between 4 mini loaf pans
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
Notes
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in March of 2015. The photos and post have been updated.
Mary says
Hi Kathy,
Greetings from Ireland.
Have just come across your site and this recipe. I love the sound of it and can't wait to make.
Just one question though before I do. Can you please tell me how much uncooked quinoa yields one cup of cooked?
Thank you and I would like to wish you a very Happy and Healthy New Year.
Mary (Dublin)
Kathy says
Hi Mary,
One cup of uncooked quinoa yields approximately 3 cups of cooked quinoa. I'd use 1/3 cup of uncooked to get the amount you need for this recipe. Here's a post on everything you need to know about cooking quinoa. Let me know how the bread turns out!
Happy New Year to you too!!!
Kathy 🙂
Viviere says
Hi.. I'm vegan so wondered what to use instead of butter? Many thanks..
Kathy says
Hi Viviere,
You could use a light tasting oil instead of the butter.
Kathy