Incredible Grain Free Spiced Banana Bread
Ok friend, I hope you make this. I hope you give it a try and fall in LOVE like I have.
It’s packed with protein, fiber and healthy fats. It’s INCREDIBLY easy to whip up and it doesn’t require any fancy or hard to find ingredients. Best of all, it tastes like REAL banana bread baked in a roadside oven in the backwoods of Mexico in the 80s… almost.
If you aren’t eating grains, are avoiding refined sugar, dairy, and gluten — this loaf is a dream come true.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a regular loaf pan with parchment paper, using enough to go up the sides for easy removal.
Ingredients
3- 4 Ripe bananas.
6 Eggs
1/3 Cup coconut oil
Blend these together in a high speed blender until light and fluffy, then add:
1/2 Cup coconut flour*
1/4 Cup tapioca flour*
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp pure vanilla extract, optional
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp freshly zested nutmeg
Pinch of salt
A few grinds of freshly cracked pepper
Blend these together until nice and smooth and mixed in, then add;
1/2 Cup roughly chopped walnuts
1/4 Cup roughly chopped dates
Add to blender and blend on LOW until mixed in and maybe chopped a little more.
Pour into prepared loaf pan and if you want, add a few slices of banana to the top along with some flaked coconut.
Bake for a 60 - 80 minutes. It might even take a little longer, but I do suggest to start testing at around 60 minutes, then just keep an eye on it and test it every 10 minutes or so. You want a tester stick to come out clean.
Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes and then using the long parchment paper sides, gently remove it from the pan and place on a cooling rack, allowing the sides of the parchment paper to fall flat. If you really want to let the moisture release (I recommend it) then carefully slip the parchment paper out from under the loaf and let it cool.
Let cool, slice and ENJOY!
*Both coconut and tapioca flour can be found in the flour section at our local grocery store. Closer to the gluten free flours than the gluten flour. They’re both common and affordable.
If you don’t live locally you can easily source both options at most grocery stores, even Walmart has coconut flour! Or Amazon will work too, even if it’s just to get a visual of what to look for.
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Nutrition And Tips
This loaf is INCREDIBLE!
It’s low in sugar, and high in both FIBER and PROTEIN, plus it has some healthy fats added in as well, making it an excellent quick breakfast or after school snack.
Speaking of which, feel free to leave the walnuts out if you want to send it to school, or swap the add-ins around!
Try adding 3 or 4 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder and some unsweetened and dairy free chocolate chips to make a decadent snack or healthy dessert.
Or, add in extra nuts and seeds for a more nutrient diverse option. Some sunflower and pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top would be delicious!
This is so good served with some almond butter and sliced bananas, or with a cup of tea and a quiet moment to sink into some gratitude about the glory or simple and gut healthy baking.
I really hope you give this a try, my family and I are really loving it! We have it around almost ALL the time, and I feel ok about that.
If you love banana bread but want something truly healthy this might be just the thing for you.
Even if you’re not gluten and/or grain free, sugar free, and dairy free; this is a worthy recipe to test out just to experiment with new ideas.
The ingredients are affordable and generally easy to find, and yes 6 eggs is a lot but if you think of it in context of how many servings you will get from a whole loaf — it’s not so bad!
Let me know how it goes for you and what you think.
Did you make any tweeks? You know I love it when you make recipes your own!
Xox,
Gwen
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A Story From Life.
When I was a child we spent a good amount of time in a tiny town in Mexico called San Blas.
it was the biggest town I had ever lived in, and I was in LOVE with it all.
The massive outdoor markets, the tortilla factory, bus stop corn on the cob, the lady who pushed her sopa cart past our house, fresh ceviche with limes picked from the backyard, and the roadside banana loaf we would yell at the bus driver to PARADA! as we wrestled our way past the chickens and goats to get that warm, melt in your mouth loaf.
The smell so intoxicating I could live inside of it, the taste like nothing I had ever experienced before… in all of my 6 years of life.
You know a food was truly spectacular when you remember it 34 years later.
That time in Mexico was such a gift to my family.
We had been through a lot over the short years I had been alive, and Mexico was like oxygen.
The laughter, the swimming, the adventures. The togetherness.
The three of us.
While I can’t say for sure, my impression was that my mom got laughter and lightness back. She got a bit of wild freedom, dancing under the stars, making new friends that didn’t know our story, and bringing us on truly crazy adventures.
Also, we had electricity for the first time in my life.
We could walk to school, we could leave her be and run around wild with the neighbours… we HAD NEIGHBOURS!
My brother seemed to get a deeper love and connection to the ocean. Something truly unique and special. Like it became part of him. He became excited and happy and free.
Surfing.
Me? I was in my element. I was living my very best life.
I made friends with EVERYONE.
If it was the man who sold me live chickens at the market, the ladies in line at the tortilla factory, or the kids who were EVERYWHERE. (Remember, I grew up with ZERO neighbours and no roads to get to anyone’s house. San Blas had school in 2 shifts; hundreds of kids in the morning, and hundreds of kids in the afternoon. Wow! said my 6 year old mind.)
I made friends with strangers on the bus, as I walked through the market in Guadalajara, and while sitting on the beach helping fishermen mend their nets… I was an experienced fisher person after all.
But what I really remember is what we ate, how things smelled and tasted, and the smiles that went with it.
Everywhere.
Do you remember your childhood through food?
