I knowingly put absolutely no refined sugar in my body, but I can still enjoy a very healthy sweet treat of Blueberry Banana Nut Bread, now that I know how to sweeten the treat the healthy way.
I use a couple of different sweeteners in this creation, but the secret sweetener is of all things, overripe black bananas.
Basically, the longer you let bananas get ripe, the more they will convert themselves to sugar. You may have noticed how yellowish green bananas are not as sweet as yellow bananas that start to get dark spots because they are ripening. I am really into the power of the coconut, and I have been getting into Coconut Flour. I found a really good recipe from Tiana Organics, a web vendor of coconut products.
As bananas get ripe, they convert themselves more and more to natural sugars, a way to naturally help sweeten banana bread
I don't believe in fighting those urges, just working with them. Since I took all that refined sugar out of my diet, I really don't crave sugar anymore. I never believed that the way to get rid of sugar craving is to force yourself to lay off the sweets. I say accept the that fact that you like sweets, use natural sweeteners, and your body will naturally go into a zone over time that is not addicted to refined sugars. Over time, you will see that the sugar cravings will naturally go away, as they are not necessarily "natural" to our system. You will still have a desire for something sweet here and there, but it won't be all out of control. At least that is what happened to me.
Here is my modification of their original recipe with works very well for me, it gives me a very filling sweet snack when that urge comes up.
COCONUT FLOUR BLUEBERRY BANANA BREAD
1 to 3 ripe banana, mashed
8 to 10 free range organic eggs
½ cup coconut milk (use the fullfat kind, forget the fat free junk, healthy fats won't make you fat)
1/4 cup Birch Tree Natural Xylitol sweeter (can also use Sweet Leaf Stevia Sweetener but Xylitol has better taste to me *** if my bananas are super ripe, I don't use any sweetener at all)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt (or Celtic sea salt, careful!!! some sea salts are refined just like table salt)
¾ cup sifted Organic Coconut Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (or any other favorite nuts)
Grass fed Butter or Organic Coconut Oil grease loaf pan (Butter seems to work slightly better for me)
1 cup of blueberries
Method
Blend together mashed banana, eggs, coconut milk, sweetener, salt, vanilla and almond extracts. After washing blueberries, make sure to pat them dry with a paper towel. This prevents moisture form building in inside the bread while cooking. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk thoroughly into batter until there are no lumps. Although instead of the whisk, I prefer to use plastic cooking gloves and mix everything together Fold in nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 175C (350F) for 60 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.
I found this to be a very easy recipe, even the first time out it was incredibly good, give it a try. ~dw~
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7 Responses
That looks so good! A friend gave me some coconut flour so I've been looking for good recipes to try it on. We love banana bread! 🙂
It’s an amazingly easy recipe. And as I told one of the other commenters, I don’t necessarily need the sweetener, I just let the bananas get as ripe as possible.
Can you skip the stevia or sweetner? I can't handle any of the faux sweetners?Your Comments
Yes I have done it without the sweeteners many times. I simply let the bananas get almost black and it is sweet enough for me. Before I discovered the Xylitol, which is not faux, but is a natural healthy sweetener with a very good taste, I wasn’t using any sweetener. Definitely go for it, just let the bananas get as ripe as possible.
I know it isn't the best for you, but I put my ripe (the darker the better) in the microwave covered with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. I then drain the liquid off into a pan and reduce it by half. The banana taste is out of this world. I learned this from America's Test Kitchen.
Hello, why to many eggs?.. Can I replace the eggs with egg whites?
Hi Sandra,
I found that 8 eggs worked for a standard loaf pan for me.
I think the egg whites only would take away from the texture and flavor of the loaf, but I’m not sure. If you look through my blog, I’m a firm believer that whole quality eggs does not affect cholesterol levels or make a person fat (the culprit is often the oils that people cook eggs in). Here is my article pertaining to my perfect cholesterol scores in spite of 20+ eggs a week.
https://www.gaiahealthblog.com/2014/08/21/2014-cholesterol-scores-still-perfect/