A Healthful Approach To The Classic Banana Bread Recipe
While banana bread appears to be healthy, often the classic recipes have an abundance of sugar. In addition, those with egg or dairy allergies often must refrain from this childhood favorite. This week I scoured the internet for vegan (egg and dairy free) banana bread recipes. I found many and decided to partake in some kitchen experimentation.
Image by bmann
Let the Fun Begin! Be a “Chemist” in Your Kitchen!
Instead of sticking by the rules, I mixed and matched what I had found on the web. With about 20 ripe bananas, I had plenty of room for error….but I must say, no error was to be had.
After reading several comments by fellow bakers and then thinking about my different flavor options, I created the most delicious twist of the old classic recipe for banana bread that includes less sugar, no eggs, no dairy, and a whole lot of moisture and taste.
I am so excited to share this recipe with my friends, family, clients (especially those with dairy and egg allergies) and you!
Bingo! A New Recipe is Born!
Healthful Direction Banana Walnut Bread Recipe:
Ingredients:
6 ripe organic bananas
4 TB coconut oil
3 cups spelt flour
1 cup organic sugar
1 cup organic applesauce
2 Tsp sea salt
2 Tsp baking soda
2 cups chopped walnuts
Cinnamon to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two standard loaf pans with coconut oil. Mash bananas in a large bowl and add liquid coconut oil. Next, add flour, sugar, applesauce, salt and baking soda. Stir in mixed walnuts and cinnamon to your liking.
Pour the batter into greased loaf pans (divided evenly). Sprinkle cinnamon on top and bake for approximately one full hour.
The Key = Superior Ingredient Selection
You may have already whipped up a few loaves but before taking your first bite, let me give you a quick rundown on why I chose the above ingredients:
Organic Bananas: Why organic? Have you heard about the study where monkeys were given a choice between conventional and organic bananas? Without being given any direction, these creature chose the organic variety.
Coconut Oil: Most baking recipes call for vegetable oil or shortening. These oils can be loaded with trans-fat and/or contribute to clogged arteries. In addition, many oils are not stable at high heat BUT coconut oil is extremely stable, healthy and tastes divine.
Spelt Four: White flour is often enriched (bad news) and bleached (more bad news). Whole wheat flour can be dense…in addition, our diet has an abundance of wheat which is very difficult for our bodies to digest. Spelt is in the wheat family but a gentler grain on the digestive tract.
Organic Sugar: This will be less refined and contain fewer or no pesticides in comparison to its conventional counterpart. If I had my choice, I would choose xylitol as the sweetener since it does not impact blood sugar. I will try this next time! It is important to note that this recipe contains far less sugar than anything you will ever find in a bake shop. If your bananas are extra ripe, you could even cut back on the sugar.
Organic applesauce: I used Eden Organics because it’s a brand I trust. Did you know that conventional apples are part of the dirty dozen and may be sprayed with up to 40 different pesticides and fertilizers? Yuck!
Sea Salt: Contains a plethora of minerals and again, far less refined than your conventional salt. There is much more to this story which you will perhaps read about in a future blog entry.
Baking Soda: to help the bread rise.
Walnuts: loaded with healthy oils, will help stabilize your blood sugar since the bread does have some sugar and bananas are high on the glycemic load.
Cinnamon: Another blood sugar stabilizer!
Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing?
I beg to differ. Yes, finding healthy recipes that taste as good as, “the real thing” can be challenging. Even when someone says it tastes just like the original, it often does not.
Today I share this classic twist to show you that it can be done. Healthier options do not have to taste or look dry or bland. Have a food allergy, sensitivity or limitation? You CAN find an alternative that the whole family with LOVE.
All it takes is some experimentation in order to get it right. This recipe is perfect for an after-school snack or a dish you can take with you to any type of gathering. In fact, I’ll be attending a Halloween tea party tomorrow and will arrive to the party with this scrumptious bread in hand!
Give this recipe a try and let me know how you make out!
November 1st, 2009 at 6:28 am
Hello Dolly—Is the coconut oil okay for John with his pancreas and lack of digestion (takes enzymes as a patient with cystic fibrosis does) Love you to pieces. I can see you have been busy!!!!
November 1st, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Thanks for checking out recipe and blog Aunt Trish! The coconut oil will most likely be very beneficial to John & his digestive system. You could start by using olive oil in this recipe and transition to coconut oil the next time to see how he does. I’d actually suggest to start incorporating this beneficial oil into your everyday cooking. Here is a great description from The Weston Price Foundation:
“Coconut oil is anti-viral, and contains lauric, capric and caprylic acids–recommended to combat candida. Coconut oil is so beneficial for digestive health that years ago a person suffering from Crohn’s disease wrote to “Dear Abby” insisting that eating macaroons eliminated symptoms of the disease. The macaroons contained sugar, white flour, bad oils and guess what. . . 6 to 8 grams of fats from coconut! Even amidst the bad ingredients, the fatty acids in coconut oil helped this person with Crohn’s!”
Enjoy!
February 16th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Just as there are great dissimilarities among fats in general, there are great variations between the several coconut oils accessible to the buyer. Using nomenclature like “virgin” and “organic” isn’t at all useful because there is sadly no agreement as to just what those terms entail. This is specially baffling when it comes to coconut oil, because it is refined coconut oil that is useful to temperatures of 180 degrees C. Without processing to get rid of protein and water, coconut oil will smoke and “stink” at temperatures far short of 180 degrees C and, yes, this suggests that oxidation is occurring at a fast rate. Raw coconut oil that has never seen temperatures above ambient in the course of extraction still holds proteins, enzymes and water. These residuals are usually considered healthful, giving coconut oil its pleasing aroma among other things.