Healthy Banana Bread

Oh banana bread, I don’t think you can ever go wrong with choosing a slice of banana bread to accompany a nice cup of tea, right? It’s not quite as decadent as chocolate  and although I love carrot cake, it’s best with a nice dollop of cream cheese therefore banana bread, you can be that little bit healthier, or so I like to tell myself.

You can go a step better with this recipe as you don’t use sugar rather you can use honey/agave/maple syrup, which ever one you fancy and it also uses wheat flour instead of plain. I have made this recipe several times and it is really easy to make and delicious.

I first came across this recipe when a friend directed me to Cookie and Kate’s blog and just fell in love and since then I can’t get enough. With baking it’s a good idea to follow the recipe however I’ve made this so many times I find myself just guessing the amounts and it’s still worked. I did worry this time as I put a bit extra banana in and didn’t chop up my nuts very well but thankfully the taste was still fab!

It’s definitely a strange time at the moment with a lot of uncertainty in the air but when I’ve caught up with friends and family one thing they’ve said that they’ve really enjoyed getting back into is cooking and baking which I whole heartedly agree with. It’s that time to carve out for yourself, experiment and have fun with baking. The only danger I find is how quickly we eat it! I made this Friday night and by Saturday night it was gone. Luckily I’ve still got enough ingredients left to make another one. 

Ingredients 

• 3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
• 125 ml honey, agave or maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2  ripe bananas (mashed up)
• 60ml milk
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 220g white wholewheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 100g walnuts and pecans 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius) and use a little coconut oil to grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. 
2. Mash your bananas and leave in a bowl on the side. Melt the coconut oil, then in a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together with a whisk. 
3. Add the eggs and beat well, then whisk in the mashed bananas and milk. 
4. Add the bicarbonate of soda, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon, and whisk to blend. Lastly, add the nuts, then fold in the flour using a wooden spoon to combine all the ingredients together. 
5. Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle with a little cinnamon. 
6. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. The bread should be a lovely dark tone but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s fully cooked! Insert a thin skewer or a knife into the bread, if it comes out clean, its ready, if not, leave to bake for a further five minutes. 
7. Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for at least 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for a further 20 minutes before digging into. This bread is lovely warm but I do find eating it the next day even more delicious. 

Cookie and Kate gives some wonderful alternative ingredients to use to make this recipe gluten free, dairy free, vegan and many more. 

It’s a great recipe as I find I almost always have 90 percent of the ingredients in the house but if not you can experiment. Give it a go and let me know how you get on. Happy baking!