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Nature's Savvy Banana Bread
Dana Ketter

Nature's Savvy Banana Bread

Naturally Sweetened - no sugar (or it's relatives), or artificial sweeteners added! Just the bananas.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 12 people
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 268
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Bananas medium sized
  • 6 tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 Free Range Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Organic Flaxseed, Ground
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1.25 cup Almond Flour
  • 1.5 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
  • 3 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup Raw Cacao Powder
  • 4 tbsp Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips *optional
  • 4 tbsp *Organic Hemp Protein Powder *optional, increases cost
Vegan Alternate for Eggs
  • 9 tbsp water Only in Vegan alternate: to make "FLAX eggs"
  • 6 tbsp Organic Flaxseed, Ground *Vegan eggs substitute only*

Method
 

Early Banana Prep -- the sweet way!
  1. Purchase browning bananas or allow bananas to brown until there are several brown spots (more brown than yellow). A brown paper bag in a warm area (over a fridge) can help speed up the browning process.
  2. Freeze them **in the skin**! Once they're mostly "brown" - place them in the freezer. Allow 48 hours to completely freeze. Bananas that remain in the freezer for more than a few days will tend to be sweeter when thawed than those only frozen for a short time. I don't recommend waiting more than 3 months to use frozen bananas.
  3. Thawing: Either thaw the bananas in the fridge (48 hours or so), or rapidly in the microwave -- but be prepared to cook them right away if you go this route. After thawing - you will remove them from their skin (yes, pretty gross looking but trust me - so good when baked!).
Making The Dough
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Remove the bananas from the skin and mash until fairly smooth. Blend the bananas with melted coconut oil and olive oil.
  3. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl until you reach a fairly even consistency and then blend with the banana mixture. Add vanilla extract.
  4. Sift in your dry ingredients, blending but not over mixing with banana mixture.
  5. *optional: add chocolate chips (delicious with out them too!) or consider adding 100% organic cacao powder.
  6. OPTION 1: Pour mixture into a 9x13 or 8x11 pan. This will make banana bread bars or squares and also make cooking easier.
  7. OPTION 2: Pour into a lightly greased bread-loaf pan. You can also make muffins with this recipe! Feel free to use a muffin tin instead if you prefer (fill them about 3/4 full, check them around 35 minutes of baking).
Baking!
  1. Option 1: bars/squares: Bake for 30-33 minutes; insert a clean fork - comes out clean. If you added extra bananas or larger bananas, might take 35 minutes. This method freezes really well & works well for large parties.
    Option 2: loaf pan: Bake 15 minutes covered, then uncover for another 30-45 minutes. Check the banana bread after 45 minutes of total bake time. The edges of the bread will begin to separate from the walls of the pan and the center will be firm.
  2. When done, remove from oven and place on a drying rack to cool.

Notes

WHOLE RECIPE:
Total Calories (see "Savvy Alternates" Table for all possible variations):
(with chocolate + hemp): 2,890 kcal . Total Cost - $4.40  .  Grade - A  . *Monthly Cost - $183
Programming Notes:
  • YES! This recipe is Paleo, Wheat & Gluten Free, lactose/dairy free, vegan, peanut free.
  • Consider adding a half cup of grated zucchini to your mixture for an extra veggie boost!
A tip on baking this special banana bread:
"Hold-over Time" -- as with most oven-cooked items, the bread will continue to cook in the pan once removed from the oven.
A few "is it done yet??" scenarios:
1) If you insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean, the bread is definitely done. If you're nervous that you over baked it -- let it cool for like 2 to 3 minutes and then slice it and plate it to cool it faster and decrease possibility of even more cook time from the hot pan and loaf.
2) If you press down on the center of the loaf and it gives and you have a dirty tooth pick, keep baking it.
3) If you press down on the center and it is firm, but your tooth pick is slightly dirty - the bread is most likely done! Remove it and let it cool.
4) In case you have a slighty under-cooked loaf after it is cooled and cut, zap it in the microwave on a low power level (3 or 4) for just a couple minutes. Use short time segments to avoid over cooking it.