One of my passions is taking comfort food and up-leveling it’s healthy-ness. Simply put, I like to swap out more conventional ingredients for those that actually serve to nourish our bodies rather than harm them. My Nana was known for being the queen of banana bread in our family and it’s always been one of my favorite sweet treats.
A few years ago I looked for a simple banana bread recipe and found the foundation of this one…on the Internet! Over the years I have tweaked the recipe and experimented with different combos. This recipe has been the one that stuck and never lasts more than two days in our house!
Ingredients
- 3-4 ripe organic bananas
- 1/3 cup avocado oil or refined (cooking grade) coconut oil
- 3/4 cup organic sugar
- 1 egg beaten (I use organic, free range when possible)
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla (this can also be organic if available)
- pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt
- 1 cup of unbleached organic flour
- 1/2 cup of almond meal (this is a the secret ingredient that always catches people by surprise. You can find almond meal or flour in most baking sections of the grocery)
- 1/2 cup of shredded organic unsweetened coconut
- 1/3 cup of organic dark chocolate chips (mini chips also work great)
Optional superfood additions: hemp hearts, chia seeds
Make
All you need for this recipe is a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mash the bananas. Add the oil and sugar. Mix in the beaten egg. Add the baking soda, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and almond meal and mix well. Add the coconut and chocolate chips and stir once or twice. Pour into lightly greased bread pan (Coconut or avocado oil spray is my go-to baking spray). Set timer for 40 minutes. Test the center after 40 min passes. Depending on the oven, you may need to bake up to an hour. Remove when fork or toothpick is clean after testing the center of the bread. Cool for 20-30 minutes.
For another combo, try the banana bread with walnuts. You can also make these as mini muffins – which serve as a great snack for home or lunches or after school on the way to activities. Follow the same steps as above, but coat two mini muffin trays with avocado or coconut oil spray. Fill to just below the top and bake 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes, remove and store in airtight container up to 4-5 days (but they usually don’t last that long 😉
ENJOY!