Banana Bread with Coconut Flour

Banana bread is one of my favorite baked goods since I was young. Now that I get to make it myself with wholesome ingredients, I am more in love with it. It’s so versatile that I can create a variety of flavors. I can have it as breakfast, toasted and topped with yoghurt and fresh fruit slices, spread with nut butter or as a snack on its own. It’s also great as a dessert! I prepared banana bread as a dessert for a dinner party recently. I toasted the bread and topped it with a scoop of light vanilla ice-cream, then sprinkled it with cacao nibs and cacao powder. Warm and cold, yum!

The bread is gluten, dairy and refined sugar free. It has such a lovely texture and flavor, because of the coconut flour and almond meal in the recipe. Coconut flour is high in good fats, fiber and protein. 30g of coconut flour contains 10g of fiber and 4g of protein. Because of its high content of fiber, coconut flour absorbs a lot of water while cooking with it. So it’s best to use it with other types of flour and add extra eggs in the recipe.

Another exciting ingredient that I use is hemp seed. It is considered a complete protein, which means it provides essential amino acid, which makes it a great plant-based protein source for vegans or vegetarians. Also, it is rich in healthy fats and essential fatty acids, Iron, and other trace minerals.

You can find coconut flour and hemp seed in health stores.

Ingredients

5 eggs

3 large bananas

20g pitted dates

65g coconut flour

65g almond meal

1 ½ teaspoons mixed spices (e.g. cinnamon, dried ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves)

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

pinch of salt

Method

1. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Tear dates into pieces.
3. Mix all of the ingredients into a food processor and mix until smooth.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 180°C.
5. Cool on a wire rack.

Written by Lismi Wong