Healthy Banana Bread with Sultana and Amaretto
Healthy banana bread lovers, this one is for you. This is YOUR moment.
Well. It’s mostly your moment- but in truth, you don’t even need to be into healthy desserts to enjoy this incredible banana bread. It’s for everyone.
…How do I know? I took it into work a couple of weeks ago -into an office full of sugar lovers- and they gobbled this up faster than you can say ‘refined sugar free’. There were some very surprised looks when I told people it contained oat flour and maple syrup instead of white flour and sugar.
You know what that means?
1) You’d never be able to tell this was a healthier dessert
and most importantly,
2) Healthier ingredient swaps still make extremely tasty desserts! See my Vanilla and Matcha Green Tea Bread or my Easter Hot Cross Bun Bread for further proof 😉
I can’t help feeling a little smug when people enjoy my desserts without realising that they’re healthy. I feel so very stealthy and sly, like a kick-ass female James Bond.
As with most of my bakes these days, this banana bread was born from an evening of carefree experimentation. Poking about in the cupboards, grabbing ingredients and throwing them into the mixing bowl. Again I got lucky and this turned out beautifully. Soon, one might even deem me a proficient baker! Not to blow my own trumpet, but if you’ve tried my most recent recipe for this Chocolate Brownie Cake with Yogurt Berry Buttercream you’d quite possibly think so too. Damn, it’s good.
Anyway, we’re not here for the chocolate brownie cake. Today is, as I mentioned earlier, banana bread lovers day.
AKA: best day of the year.
Apart from Christmas.
…Or possibly pancake day. Or Easter. (both of which are coming up soon! EEK, who’s excited?!).
But back on topic: this recipe can also be made into MUFFINS. YES! An even more transportable snack. I discovered this just a couple of evenings ago when I realised we had two extremely ripe bananas that needed to be whipped into something delicious, pronto. Don’t cha just love re-purposing things? So much fun. (yes- I am in fact middle aged.)
For banana bread muffins:
If you do choose to make this banana bread mix into muffins, you’ll need to pour the mix into a (greased) deep 12 hole muffin tin and bake them for about 20-25 minutes at 150 degrees celsius fan oven. YUM.
So now there’s no excuse not to whip up a healthy, portable snack to take to work or university! This banana bread uses a ton of store cupboard ingredients, most of which you’re likely to have in your cupboards already. Maple syrup can be a little expensive and hard to find, so if you don’t have any, feel free to use honey as an alternative.
PS: A quick note about sugars
I like to use maple syrup in my sweet bakes because it has been shown to have one of the highest concentrations of nutrients and antioxidants of any other liquid or solid form of sugar, with higher quantities of zinc and manganese in particular. Additionally, it has a lower GI than regular sugar and will therefore spike your blood glucose levels in a more controlled manner.
Now, I’m certainly not advocating that you get the bulk of your dietary intake of vitamins and minerals from maple syrup! 😉 WHOLE FOODS FIRST, FRIENDS! However, research indicates that maple syrup is one of the more beneficial forms of sugar for our bodies, so for this reason it gets my vote as a treat to be enjoyed in moderation.
Top tip: If you’re going to buy maple syrup, make sure to buy the real 100% maple syrup variety- not the maple flavoured type, which can be loaded with weird syrups and refined ingredients. Always read the label!
We all know that bananas are a fab source of fibre and potassium. What you may not know is that oats are a great prebiotic food- perfect for feeding your friendly gut bacteria! Those lil guys just love it when we do nice things for them.
So now that you know this bread contains the delicious AND nutritious factors… what are you waiting for?! Get that apron on my friend, it’s time to bake!
- 200g oat flour (gluten free if required-to make, simply whizz oats in a blender)
- 50g almond flour
- 1.5tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100g sultanas
- 200g ripe banana
- 80ml maple syrup
- 2 medium eggs
- 60ml melted coconut oil
- 1tsp vanilla bean paste or essence
- 50ml amaretto
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius fan.
- To make the oat flour, simply whizz the oats in a blender until finely ground. Pour into a mixing bowl along with the almond flour and bicarbonate of soda.
- Pop the melted coconut oil into a blender cup along with the remaining wet ingredients and blend until fully combined.
- Pour the wet mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients and stir until everything is combined. Lastly, stir through the sultanas.
- Transfer the mixture to a lined and greased loaf tin and bake for 50-55mins, or until a knife inserted into the loaf comes out almost completely dry.
- Once out of the oven, remove the loaf from the tin and leave to cool for 20-30 minutes before cutting. This loaf makes roughly 14 medium sized slices.
- Serve as it is or with your favourite toppings. I recommend cashew butter!
- Protein: 3g
- Carbohydrate: 21g
- Fat: 7.5g
- DISCLAIMER: All macronutrient totals are accurately calculated based on the specific products I used. These totals may vary slightly depending on what brand supplier you use in the case of packaged goods. Therefore, all macronutrients given here are provided as a guideline only.
Comments
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Cynthia
18th February 2017
This looks bloody incredible! :O I will definitely be trying this out!
fuellingthefork
19th February 2017
Thanks girl! It is 10/10 delish, you’ll love it!!