Right now that we’re all spending more time at home, we need home activities that are fun, healthy and easy. And baking banana bread fits that description perfectly.
While there are tons of banana bread recipes out there, most contain regular flour, vegetable oil and dairy. My healthy Banana Bread is gluten-free and dairy-free (option to make it grain-free), has no processed sugar, and makes for the perfect snack to enjoy. I even have a slice for breakfast, with some of my homemade almond butter, and I pair with a green juice and/or matcha latte.
My recipe is super moist, delicious (full of flavor) and easy to make. It just takes 2 bowls (and honestly you can just use 1 bowl and it works fine, too!)
Plus it’s the perfect activity to involve your kids, if that’s relevant to you.
My Healthy Banana Bread
Makes 1 full size loaf
Ingredients:
Moist:
4 large or 5 small very ripe bananas (aprox 1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups mashed)
2 organic eggs
½ cup organic honey or maple syrup or coconut nectar
3 tablespoons organic coconut oil
1 teaspoon organic pure vanilla extract (skip if don’t have)
Dry:
1 ¼ cup organic oat flour (ground oats) or use organic coconut flour for grain-free version
1 cup almond flour or almond meal (option to just grind almonds)
½ teaspoon baking soda + ½ tsp baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg + ¼ teaspoon cardamom + pinch allspice (or just use ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice)
½ teaspoon sea salt
Optional: ½ - ¾ cup chopped walnuts (or nuts of choice) OR dark chocolate chips
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F degrees and grease your loaf pan (or line with parchment paper).
2. In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas then add remaining wet ingredients. Option to blend.
In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, then pour wet ingredients in with the dry. Mix until fully combined. Add any nuts (pecans or walnuts work great) or chocolate chips at this point.
3. Pour the batter into your greased/lined loaf pan and bake the banana bread for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then slice and enjoy warm. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week (or up to 2 months aprox. in the freezer).
NOTES + TIPS for the perfect healthy banana bread:
*Want it even healthier and less sweet? Use only ¼ cup sweetener (vs. ½ cup). It’s still delicious. And definitely add in walnuts!
*Want to make it vegan? Swap 2 eggs for “vegan flax eggs” mixing 1 tablespoon flaxseed in 2.5 tablespoons water. Use maple syrup or coconut nectar (vs. honey). I’d also add ½ teaspoon extra baking powder.
*Want to make it oil-free? Swap coconut oil for ¼ cup applesauce
*Want to make it even easier? Just use one large bowl. First mash bananas then add wet then add dry ingredients, all in the same bowl. Also, if you don’t have organic ingredients, just use regular!
*Don’t want to buy expensive flours? Just grind oats for your oat flour and grind almonds for your almond flour. It’ll have a bit more texture and be super delicious
*Want to make it totally grain-free & Paleo? Use coconut flour instead of oat flour. I’ve tried both and both are delicious.
Give this yummy. healthy, simple recipe a shot and let me know how it goes.
Love and Home Cooking,
Mariana