When you’re in a country that has the best bananas in the world, and you just got an oven, it only makes sense to bake banana bread. In fact, that was the first order of business when Chris and I finally got an air fryer oven. We finally gave in and bought one after a year of holding out (we weren’t sure if there was still space on our kitchen counter. ) As an inaugural dish, we opted for something easy yet spectacular, hence this dish. Banana bread is so beginner-friendly that it’s only one step above baking out of a cake mix. Naturally, our version is vegan, with Filipino flair using tablea dark chocolate and kasuy or cashews.
Tablea and Kasuy
You might think it’s so fancy that I’m using these ingredients for my banana bread. My husband says the phrase “tablea and kasuy flavor” sounds like something out of “Iron Chef.” But I wasn’t reaching for something gourmet, just something in my pantry.
The original recipe came from Chef Chloe Coscarelli’s Instagram feed. The recipe used vegan chocolate chips, almonds, and matcha powder. I don’t have those things lying around, and I don’t want to head out and buy them either. So, I took inventory of what I already had in the kitchen. I switched to tablea, which are Filipino dark chocolate tablets.
For nuts, my friend gave me a bag of roasted cashews, so cashews it is. Then I ditched the nutmeg powder because I didn’t have it and used soymilk instead of coconut milk. You might think, why not use coconut milk? I thought you Filipinos love that thing?! Well, yes and no. I think most of us want a dish to taste like coconut milk if we know it’s supposed to have one, like if the dish has the word “coconut milk” in the name. Otherwise, we would feel misled and cry foul, “lasang gata!” In other words, we don’t like surprises when it comes to coconut milk, so don’t try us.
Because I improvised, I also invite you to do the same. Besides, working with you have is the Filipino way of cooking. Find out what kind of chocolates and nuts you have in the house (vegan, I hope!) Or you can also head out and do buy tablea and cashews. It’s up to you. You can find these things at Asian grocery stores, major supermarkets, and online. Just make sure you use super ripe bananas. I mean super ripe, like the peels are almost all black, and the flesh is very soft. If you can find the Filipino variety, latundan, I highly suggest it.
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar (see notes below)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 2-3 pieces of bananas)
- 1 cup soymilk (or other plantbased milk)
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped tablea (or other vegan chocolate chips)
- ½ cup chopped cashews (or other nuts like almonds or walnuts)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius.
- Lightly grease a large loaf pan or casserole
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger powder.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together banana, soymilk, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Gently mix in the dark chocolate and cashews. Reserve some as topping on the batter.
- Pour the batter into your baking container and sprinkle some chocolate chips and nuts on top.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or fork inserted in the center of the cake comes out dry (few crumbles is okay).
- Let it cool down before unmolding.
I also recommend having this vegan banana bread with coffee or tea as breakfast, dessert, or snack. It also makes a great gift. I have made this recipe plenty of times and tried different variations. So far, my favorite is the tablea kasuy flavor. I’m looking forward to hearing about your version.
If you’ve made this recipe and/or added your own twist, please let me know. Tag me on Instagram or Facebook. I would love to hear all about it! Kain na, let’s eat!