Nutritious banana bread

If you’re a sweet tooth like me there’s one thing in particular that you miss immensely, when switching to a plant based, gluten free & maybe even sugar free diet, namely baked goods.

Baking without gluten, eggs, dairy & processed sugar or sweeteners is not the same. You need to think differently. But it doesn’t mean you can’t eat things that satisfy your sweet tooth, without your body going bananas.

How To Replace Your Old Ingredients?

Stick together

Gluten Free flours don’t work the same way as regular flours since they’re missing the “gluing” component gluten. Instead you have to find other ways to get the ingredients to stick together. 

Flaxseeds/linseeds, psyllium husk, & chia seeds all bind fluid in different ways. You can use both the whole seeds & a ground version usually called meal or flour. Note that the finer the ground, the stronger the “gluing” action, since it becomes more concentrated.

A chia egg is basically a tablespoon of chia seeds & 3 tablespoons of liquid. If you leave it for 10-15 min it becomes gelatinous. 

Other ways to bind the ingredients is using mashed bananas or applesauce.

Aquafaba, or the liquid that canned chickpeas lie in, can be used as egg replacement, especially when making vegan meringue. Note it needs to be whipped longer than an egg white. 

Sweetener

How do you sweeten your baked goods if you don’t use processed sugar or sweeteners?

My body reacts to all types of sugar; white, brown, date, syrups, honey & artificial sweeteners. It doesn’t matter if it’s considered processed or not, my muscles & connective tissue can feel like they are on fire, I can get nausea & stomach cramps. Especially when they are combined with fat, like butter or cream, & gluten.  

According to studies artificial sweeteners can also affect your stomach & gut flora. So instead I use dried/fresh fruits & spices to sweeten my baked goods, & gluten free & plant based ingredients. 

Spices like cinnamon, vanilla bean & cardamom can make the bread sweeter. Experiment when baking to find what works for you.

 How Do You Make A Healthy Version Of Banana Bread? 

This banana bread is a healthy snack filled with nutrients & it’s really good too. I always experiment with the flavors using different fresh & dried fruits, spices, seeds & nuts. For Christmas I used gingerbread spice in one & saffron in another & they both came out really well. See full recipe in the blog. 

Make it easy for yourself

This bread is best kept in the fridge for a few days, or even better, cut it & put it in the freezer.

Cut the loaf into the size of pieces you want.

Put a piece of parchment paper in-between every 2 slices & put in the freezer.

Eat as is, with ice cream or whipped cream cheese.