High Protein Banana Bread Seitan

If you haven’t tried using vital wheat gluten to make a dessert or bread-y food, hopefully this High Protein Banana Bread Seitan recipe will change your mind! It takes only 5 minutes of effort and you have a big loaf of delicious banana bread to eat for breakfast or as a protein snack throughout the week.

Most recipe creators will use protein powder for their protein baked goods, but I rarely do that if I can help it, for a few reasons. The first is that I don’t want you to have to buy some very specific protein powder that I’m using in order to be able to get the same results. Vital Wheat Gluten is one of those ingredients that doesn’t really change no matter who’s name is on the bag, so I know that yours should turn out really similar to mine regardless of which brand you buy. Secondly, I don’t believe in shilling for corporations and just throwing their products in my recipes to sell more of their crap for them, unless it actually makes the food taste better. Most things taste worse and have a worse texture when you add protein powder. That’s just my opinion. And lastly, protein powders bake very, very differently depending on which kind you’re using because they’re made of different ingredients. Pea protein is going to bake very differently than soy protein or a protein blend. This just takes out the guess work of how it’s going to turn out. This is not to say that I will never use protein powders in my recipes, but I will only do it when it makes sense.

If I convinced you to try dessert seitan, you should also check out my high protein pumpkin spice donut holes and pumpkin spice seitan! I also have a recipe for making this recipe into cookie form, so it’s easier to travel with!

Stuff You’ll Need

• Bananas – I used three medium bananas, around 135 grams each, for reference. They were also very ripe, which I highly recommend because you will end up with sweeter, softer and less chunky banana bread seitan cookies.
• Vital Wheat Gluten – this is the main protein source for these cookies. It’s typically used to make meat replacements, but damn dude, I really love using it in desserts, despite how weird it sounds. As long as you couple it with the right ingredients, and don’t over-mix, it comes out soft and pillowy – and a little chewy, but not like your typical seitan level chew. You can find vital wheat gluten at most grocery stores, and since it’s shelf-stable, you can also buy it online.
  • Side note, please weigh the vital wheat gluten when you make this. It’s a very dense powder, and if you’re only using measuring cups, it’s very easy to add more than you think you are.
• Light Brown Sugar – if you’re on a cut or really watching your calories, you can definitely sub this out with any zero/low calorie sweeteners that are suitable for 1:1 replacement, like monk fruit.
• Vanilla Extract – good luck trying to stop me from adding vanilla to baked goods.
• Baking Powder, Baking Soda – don’t skip these; they help push this High Protein Banana Bread Seitan away from your typical, very chewy, seitan texture and more into a soft dessert.
• Salt – adjust to taste.
• Cinnamon, Nutmeg – I think both of these add some nice warmth to the cookies, but if you really hate one of these ingredients, feel free to leave it out.
• Mini Vegan Chocolate Chips – these are an optional ingredient, but I really think chocolate makes everything better.

How to Make This & Pictures

• Pre-heat the oven to 325 F (163 C).
• Mash the bananas really well; they’re should be any chunks left – just mushy goodness. I just used a fork but you could also use a food processor. I would recommend using very ripe bananas, because they’re easier to mush and they are also sweeter.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, light brown sugar, vanilla, water, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips. Do this before adding the vital wheat gluten, so that all of the ingredients are well combined beforehand. You want to mix the dough as minimally as possible once the vital wheat gluten is added to avoid a chewy texture.

• Next, add the vital wheat gluten. It’s important that you mix this as little as possible now that the vital wheat gluten has been added. Mixing is very similar to kneading, so the more you mix, the chewier your banana bread will be. We want to keep the texture light and soft!
  • Side note – please weigh the vital wheat gluten out. It’s a very dense flour and if you’re just using measuring cups, it’s very easy to add more than you think you are.
• The dough should look similar to this – still moist, but not wet, and all of the vital wheat gluten should be worked in.
  • If your dough is too wet, add a small amount vital wheat gluten until it looks like this.
  • If your dough is too dry (and you can’t get the vital wheat gluten to incorporate), add a tiny amount of water and try again.

• Flop the dough into a parchment paper-lined 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
• Smooth it out as much as your can so that it cooks evenly.
• Bake for 45 – 50 minutes. Check it at the 45 minute mark and see if it passes the toothpick test (where you stick a toothpick in the middle and make sure it comes out clean – ensures it’s all the way cooked and not raw in the middle).
• Allow to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Silly Little Haiku

Best breakfast ever

Banana bread seitan rocks

Vital wheat gluten