Lately, I’ve been feeling a little woo-woo. Not quite hunting-down-Bigfoot-while-wearing-tin-foil-hats, but more like, I’m into trying new things, no matter how bizarre they might seem. It’s good to be open minded, right? So, when a box of Moon Dust — the very stuff raved about on Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle site, Goop — crossed my desk, I kept it on the shelf for eight months. Then, randomly yesterday (maybe because I was wearing a rose quartz necklace, which is supposed to purify and open my heart, though I bought it just because it was cute, TBH), I decided to open up the stuff.

Moon Dust isn’t quite as mystical as it sounds, though the packaging definitely lives up to the title (as well as the slogan, “cosmic in a cup”). The supplements are basically a blend of ground roots and herbs, formulated to boost a certain area of your life, be it glowing skin (the beauty blend), your quality of sleep (that’s where dream dust comes in) or even your libido (ahem, sex dust). Its claims aren’t reviewed by the FDA, so I’m taking it with a grain of salt, but I decided what the heck.

It’s typically downed as a drink, stirred into 8 ounces of water, coffee, nut milk, or tea, or blended into a smoothie. But the blends are a little too earthy for my palate, so I decided to stir some into banana bread. After all, the “Cosmic Cooklet” that comes with the set suggests turning it into pancakes, chocolate bark, and ice cream, so why not improvise further?

I was going for a chocolate-y banana bread, so I eliminated the Beauty and Spirit Dust from testing, since they primarily contain goji berry. Dream Dust, Power Dust (alchemized to “support success and harmony,” according to the packaging), and Sex Dust complemented the banana bread’s flavor profile better. Use whatever you’re into, though — if we’re going strictly on flavor — the Sex Dust is the one to use. It’s loaded with ground cacao, giving the banana bread a richer color and a slight, dark-chocolatier flavor.

While Sex Dust is meant to “ignite and excite your sexy energy” (that’s exactly what’s written on the package, okay?), people attribute all kinds of benefits to the main ingredients. Its main ingredient, Ho Shou Wu, is often used for treating high cholesterol, kidney problems, insomnia, and dizziness, according to WebMD. The site’s quick to admit more research is needed to substantiate those claims though. (It’s worth noting that Goop distanced itself from the benefits the Brain and Action Dust supposedly gave people after the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council requested backup of that info in 2016. On the flip side, two herbalists told Racked the dusts aren’t just a mishmosh of ingredients that sound impressive; the blends reflect a “deep understanding of Chinese medicine.”)

Sex Dust is primarily a blend of ground Ho Shou Wu, cacao, maca powder, and other extracts, which give it a slightly chocolatey, somewhat mushroom-meets-earthy flavor. When used in banana bread, it balances out the sweetness of the banana (even taming the flavor of underripe bananas), but after serving a batch to a crowd, nobody turned into a randy Austin Powers. Or felt any different whatsoever. That could be because the dose in this recipe is too small, some might argue; or maybe baking the bread reduced its effects. It DID, however, add a little cocoa flavor that played up the dark chocolate chips and coconut oil quite nicely, resulting in a moist, decadent banana bread.

This recipe works just as well without Moon Dust, though people certainly got WAY more excited to try it when the dust factor was involved. You could easily substitute a teaspoon of cocoa powder for a similar chocolate-y flavor, minus the reported, um, benefits. It’s your call.

If you’re up for trying it, you can pick up a box of Moon Dust on Amazon*.

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Moon Dust Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Moon Dust (Sex Dust for chocolatey flavor)
• 1/2 c coconut oil, melted
• 1 c sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2/3 c dark chocolate (or carob) chips
• 1/3 c peanut butter chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and Moon Dust. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut oil, sugar, eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract, beating with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in bananas. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring to combine.
4. Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.
5. Pour batter into a well-greased loaf pan (9″x5″). Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, with just a few crumbs.

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Copyright: Life Between Weekends, 2024

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