Healthy Banana Bread
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We eat eggs or oatmeal most mornings, but sometimes it’s nice to have something baked. I especially love warm sweet banana bread with my coffee.
Unfortunately, most banana bread recipes are not very healthy. Unsoaked/unleavened whole wheat flour isn’t good for you due to the phytic acid which blocks mineral absorption. (Read more about how phytic acid causes tooth decay here.) Refined white flour has almost no nutrition.
To make a truly healthy banana bread, I recommend using sprouted flour. For this recipe, I used whole wheat sprouted flour. This is flour that is made from sprouted whole wheat (the sprouting helps to reduce the phytic acid), and freshly ground. (Check my resources page for where to buy sprouted flour.)
Also, most banana bread recipes are way too sweet. When I want to eat banana bread, I don’t want an overly sugary dessert. I want something in between bread and a pastry. I like to be able to taste the banana in banana bread — not a wall of sugar.
I based this recipe on the one from Simply Recipes, but I modified it to use 75% less sugar. I also used maple syrup instead of refined sugar. Maple syrup is a low-glycemic sweetener and it’s much more nutritious than refined sugar.
This banana bread is also healthy because I used real grass-fed butter and a pastured egg — farm-fresh foods that are much more nutritious than butter and eggs from factory farms. A pastured egg has 5 times more vitamin D than battery eggs. Read more about how to buy pastured eggs.
Lastly, banana bread is a wonderful way to use up overripe bananas. Instead of throwing away bananas that become brown and overripe, just toss them in the freezer. When you have 3 or 4 bananas, just pull them out of the freezer and you’re ready to make banana bread. It’s actually best to do it this way because after the bananas have been frozen, they just pop right out of the peels (after you let them defrost on the counter for an hour or so) and you don’t even have to mash them.
This banana bread is much healthier but you will never know it. It tastes just like regular banana bread — only not as cloyingly sweet. And you can feel confident that you are feeding your family something not only delicious, but also super healthy.
Healthy Banana Bread
Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas, mashed (or just defrosted from the freezer)
1/3 cup grass-fed butter or ghee
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 pastured egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (preferably organic)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of sea salt
1 1/2 cups sprouted flour (For sprouted flour sources, check my resources page)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter on low heat in a saucepan. You also use ghee, and/or you can substitute coconut oil for half of the butter.
3. Take the ripe bananas out of the freezer and let them defrost for an hour or so. Then peel and place in a bowl. If you are not using frozen bananas, you will need to mash them a bit.
4. Mix the butter in with the bananas, then beat in the egg.
5. Add the vanilla, maple syrup, baking soda, and sea salt.
6. Finally, mix in the sprouted flour. You don’t need a mixer for this — you can just use a wooden spoon. Also, I don’t sift — I just dump it in.
7. Butter a loaf pan (preferably enamelware) and spoon the banana bread mixture in.
8. Bake for about an hour.
9. Remove from oven. Let it cool for about 15 minutes before serving.
This post is part of A Nourished Start, a carnival of healthy breakfast ideas at The Nourishing Gourmet. Please visit The Nourishing Gourmet for more healthy breakfast ideas.
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16/04/2009 at 2:03 am Permalink
Yum, I love Banana Bread….I made a couple recently and used Rapadura instead of sugar….it worked a treat and the kids loved it. Your photo looks much prettier than mine did…definitely need a new camera
16/04/2009 at 5:02 am Permalink
Thanks so much for the recipe! I want to figure out ways to bake healthy & also try sprouted flour. I’m on a no sugar / no wheat diet right now, but in a month or so, I’ll be able to put this back in my rotation. (I try to follow a rotational diet due to food allergies right now).
On another note – I’ve really loved your website & others I’ve found through yours. I’m a WAPF member, but there are no chapter meetings & sometimes leaders don’t even respond to my emails for help / questions. So it’s very encouraging to find like-minded folks online.
16/04/2009 at 5:24 am Permalink
Can this recipe be changed to a Pumpkin Bread recipe? My daughter Loooooves pumpkin bread.
16/04/2009 at 5:25 am Permalink
This looks great!
Meredith’s last blog post..Movenpick Inspired Yogurt Muesli
16/04/2009 at 5:44 am Permalink
Hi, Pam,
Here’s a recipe for pumpkin bread that looks pretty good:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pumpkinbread
Just sub the sprouted flour for regular flour, make sure you use “crispy” (soaked and dried) nuts, and use maple syrup or rapadura instead of brown sugar.
16/04/2009 at 5:51 am Permalink
Hi, Jessie!
Where do you live? Maybe you could start a chapter…
I’m going to post soon about how to use Meetup to start a local chapter. We started ours last month and already got over 80 members. It really helps to use Meetup because they advertise for you online and help you find like-minded people in your area.
Here’s our LA meetup group:
http://www.meetup.com/Los-Angeles-Whole-Food-Nutrition-Meetup-Group/
16/04/2009 at 7:19 am Permalink
Thank you for the recipe, and all of the other wonderful information that I have been reading at your site. I am so new to this, but am so interested. I am very encouraged to see so many young people trying to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their children.
peg’s last blog post..Passion: The Beach
16/04/2009 at 7:44 am Permalink
looks yummy thanks for sharing
16/04/2009 at 7:49 am Permalink
OMG!
I swear, last night, I was browsing the internet for hours looking for a remotely healthy banana bread recipe because I’ve been craving it for ages!!
What lovely synchronicity.
Thank you so much Ann Marie!
-Rebecca
Rebecca’s last blog post..before dawn.
16/04/2009 at 8:33 am Permalink
Ha! Rebecca – that is amazing!
16/04/2009 at 9:51 am Permalink
OMG your banana bread looks amazing! I just found your site and can’t wait to explore all your recipes.
thank you
16/04/2009 at 10:46 am Permalink
Thank you for the recipe. I have been wanting to make something with my newly purchased sprouted ww flour and maple suryp. I also have five nice ripe bananas begging to be used. Now I can go and enjoy!
16/04/2009 at 11:09 am Permalink
Hi, Evelyn, thank you.
I have not been posting as many recipes as I would like because I’ve been so busy launching Real Food Media. But I plan on slowing down some this spring/summer and doing more recipe testing and blogging!
I just put up this recipe index:
http://www.cheeseslave.com/recipes/
I will be adding to it a lot more soon!
16/04/2009 at 11:32 am Permalink
Since I am now wheat free, I made my grandmothers banana bread recipe, using freshly ground brown rice. I of course subbed in butter, cream and raw honey.
It was almost identical to the original recipe!!!
Paula’s last blog post..Where life leads us
16/04/2009 at 12:59 pm Permalink
Thank God for healthy banana bread!!! It’s one of those recipes that is classic, and mostly everyone loves. I will be sure to try this!!! Thanks for adding it to the carnival – that’s how I found you!
16/04/2009 at 1:45 pm Permalink
I’m curious, did you mean baking powder? Since when did aluminum in baking soda become an issue?
16/04/2009 at 4:36 pm Permalink
Alisse – my mistake! I was thinking of baking powder when I wrote that. But no, this recipe does call for baking soda.
16/04/2009 at 6:02 pm Permalink
Love the recipe link! Great idea!
18/04/2009 at 8:28 am Permalink
My son has a milk allergy and I have been able to use coconut oil rather than butter when baking….just a thought for anyone who might have that issue. We love banana bread so I will definitely try your recipe. Thanks!
20/04/2009 at 8:48 am Permalink
This is a great recipe. You said that the sprouted flour was freshly ground, do you know that the source grinds recently, or do you grind it yourself? I am just curious as I am trying to get my baking streamlined with these new techniques. I just wrote a post about baking sourdough breads and trying out the soaking methods from NS. Have you ever let “quick bread” recipes that use sourdough for flavor actually proof and let the starter to its fermenting? Does anyone do this?
Thanks!
Sage’s last blog post..Fermented Breads
09/05/2009 at 5:48 pm Permalink
This recipe looks great–but wondering if there is a way to adapt it using regular organic flour you soak the night before as the dry sprouted flour is a bit pricey. Would pre-soaking it in say a cup of kefir just make the recipe too mushy?
03/07/2009 at 12:43 pm Permalink
Hey Annmarie,
I’m a new convert to whole foods, and I’m loving your blog! I have a couple of questions: What is the difference between yogurt, kefir, and buttermilk when you’re using them in recipes? I see them used, but I’m not sure why one is better to use than others for different recipes (like in breads, muffins, etc.).
And, the only source of raw milk I can find around here is goat milk…is there a particular reason you always call for raw cow’s milk…does goat milk work just as well?
Thanks!
Jennifer in Mississippi
Jennifer’s last blog post..Goooood advice!
10/07/2009 at 4:02 am Permalink
oh i love to eat bananas raw. i also love foods and recipes with banana in it. they taste very very good
24/07/2009 at 7:06 pm Permalink
when is the maple syrup added? am I supposed to drizzle it on top once its done baking or mix it in with the batter?…Im baking this in the oven right now but it doesnt say when to use the maple syrup in the directions so I kinda forgot it was one of the ingredients…will my banana bread taste bad because of this?
24/07/2009 at 7:34 pm Permalink
Add the maple syrup with everything else before baking. Sorry about that – I will fix the post.
12/04/2010 at 8:39 pm Permalink
Hi,
I love your blog!!!! And I thank you for taking the time to share all your knowledge with us newbies to NT.. I do have a question: we all love banana bread, however I have a 2 yr old that is allergic to eggs. I have been making regular banana bread without the egg that the recipe calls for and it turns out a little too moist but still tastes good. What NT friendly ingredient would you recommend in this recipe to substitute the egg? Sour cream? Applesauce? I am thinking the egg is used for moisture? Thanks!
13/04/2010 at 11:06 am Permalink
Ines,
I am not sure but I think the egg helps to bind. Sorry but I have no idea how to bake without eggs.
If it were me and my child was allergic, I would probably stop feeding him all grains and put him on the GAPS diet to heal his gut. Many food allergies can be reversed with this diet.
Ann Marie
14/04/2010 at 4:09 pm Permalink
Thank you Ann Marie. I will have to look into the GAPS diet. I did not even know you could reverse allergies… just the thought of her being able to eat the same things we do makes me smile!!!!
Thanks so much!
16/04/2010 at 3:06 pm Permalink
This is really delicious! I always love trying new banana bread recipes and I love the sprouted flour in this!