Who doesn’t love banana bread? This banana bread is free of refined sugars, gluten, wheat and dairy products, but tastes so delicious. I’ve taken it to a whole new level with a natural Nutella icing. Oh yes. This icing is probably my favourite thing in the world, I could eat a whole pot full, and as a result always spend about an hour trying to scrape every morsel of it left in the blender, into my mouth!
Bananas, despite their bad rep as a high-sugar fruit, are actually full of the good sugars, the ones our body needs to function! They’re full of potassium, and electrolytes which makes them ideal for athletes. They’re also a great natural sweetener and an egg replacement for vegan baking. Another main ingredient we use is almonds, which we grind to make almond flour. Almonds are full of Vitamin E, which promotes healthy hair and glowing skin. Almonds are also an amazing protein boost with the amount in this recipe equating to roughly the same as three steaks, I kid you not! Chia seeds, the richest source of plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, helps to bind this bread and almost acts as an egg replacement, these are vital in the ingredients, so don’t leave any of these out
The smell when this bread bakes in the oven is second to none, I am always so impatient about leaving it for a whole hour, I mean seriously, what a tease. But, trust me, when it’s out the oven spread with Nutella icing the wait is so worthwhile!
The Ingredients
BANANA BREAD:
3 cups almonds
1 cups brown rice flour
6 bananas
1/3 cup pure maple syrup/raw honey/agave syrup – add more to taste!
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
4 tbsp chia seeds
NUTELLA ICING:
1 cup hazelnut
1 cup Medjool dates
1/4 cup cacao
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup water
Method
Pre-heating the oven to 150C. Grind the almonds in a food processor to make flour. Once it’s a flour consistency add it to a mixing bowl with the brown rice flour, maple syrup, chia seeds, vanilla extract, cinnamon and coconut – mixing them all together. Next, mash the bananas together until smooth, and stir them into the bread mixture. Grease your loaf tin with a little oil and line it with parchment paper before pouring the mixture in. Place in the oven and cook for around 50 minutes. Or until you can insert a knife and it comes out clean!
Meanwhile make the Nutella Frosting: Method: Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celcius. Meanwhile, De-stone the Medjool dates and add all ingredients to your blender, blend until smooth. Add the hazelnuts and blend again. When the banana bread is cooked, leave to cool before spreading with a thick layer of the frosting. Yum!
