Healthier Banana Bread

Over the past few years, my mother has started frequently making banana bread. So, for a party one day, I decided that it would be the perfect treat to contribute, and I asked her for the recipe. I’m not sure why, but I was surprised when she told me that she uses the Martha Stewart recipe, but at least that was super easy to find online.

Here’s the thing though… I don’t really like to follow recipes. Sometimes I just don’t have all of the right ingredients, or an alternative ingredient sounds more appealing (pun intended). This is part of the reason for the food section of my blog. I think it can be encouraging for others to test new recipes in their kitchen when they see a fellow amateur doing just that.

Anyway… I found Martha Stewart’s recipe, and I adjusted the ingredients to make it a little healthier. For example, instead of butter, which is high in fat, I chose to use coconut oil, which although still fatty, is better for your heart, cholesterol, and overall health. Sometimes when making this substitution, you have to keep in mind that the melting point of coconut oil is lower, so refrigeration may be necessary.

Another great example of a recipe change I made is using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Sour cream is used in baking to supply moisture. However, similar to switching from butter to coconut oil, even though sour cream is admittingly not the most unhealthy of ingredients, Greek yogurt simply has better nutrients. Greek yogurt has more protein for the cost of fewer calories.

Finally, the last few changes I made to the recipe were in the realm of sugar and flour. These are areas that are really up to the baker. For instance, if you are not sensitive to white flour/ gluten, it may not be worth changing this part of the recipe because the texture of the banana bread won’t be exactly the same. However, I am very curious, so I simply tried an alternative I already had in my pantry, and I loved the outcome – oat flour. I found that it also enhanced the moisture, in a sticky way like that of everyday oatmeal. However, you can see by the image below, that there may be less of a rise due to the lack of gluten production.

I also swapped ordinary, granulated sugar with coconut sugar. This could also fall under making the recipe healthier because coconut sugar has more minerals and is richer in fiber, yielding a lower glycemic index (a rating of how quickly a food will raise your blood sugar) than normal sugar. However, there are so many healthy alternatives that I think it is more about preference and what kind of texture you are looking for in your baked good.

Once you’re all done combining your ingredients, pour it in a loaf pan, pop it in the oven, wait a little while, and enjoy!

RECIPE

• • ½ cup coconut oil
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • 2 large eggs (also could swap these out with flax eggs, apple sauce, etc.)
  • 1 ½ cups oat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup bananas
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ cup dark chocolate chips (or nuts)

Note: the above measurements are merely suggestions.

DIRECTIONS

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C)
     1. Prepare a 9x5x3 in loaf pan, or use a silicone one
  2. In a bowl, mix coconut oil and sugar into an even consistency
     1. Add eggs to wet ingredients
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together
  4. Combine the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly
  5. Add chocolate chips
  6. Pour into the loaf pan
  7. Bake for 1 hour
  8. Let cool, and then dig in!

SHARE!

Try this at home and let me know how it turned out! Did you use a different sweetener or swap something else out? Comment below and share on Instagram with #coleBhappy so I can see your yummy creations!

Source of banana photo: Unsplash artist @lenneek