Instead I have formulate my own set of recipes that avoid the ingredients that give me rashes like peanuts & margarine as well as those ingredients that are often listed as unhealthy, namely white sugar and white wheat flower. Over the years I have tried out a lot of different types of flour, from coconut to whole wheat and ultimately decided that the best banana bread is made with rice flour or a combination of rice and coconut flour. Neither my partner nor I are strictly gluten free but we have both felt many health benefits now that we have been avoiding overly processed ingredients - so for this reason this recipe is wheat & white sugar free!
The Ingredients ~
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of brown rice flour (white rice flour also works)
- 3/4 cup of raw, blonde, or evaporated cane sugar
- 1 heaping tablespoon of maca powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 2 teaspoons of butter (or coconut oil)
- chocolate chips or baker's chocolate
- (optional) grated coconut
From time to time I have tweaked this general recipe and invite you to do the same. For example I may add 1/2 cup of brown rice flower and the other half coconut flour. Other times I simply add the pulp from almond or coconut milk as one portion of the flour and about 3/4 cup of rice flour for the rest. This recipe is meant to be a basic guide, so go a head an experiment with ingredients and proportions.
For the most part I use a blender to mix the ingredients starting with the bananas and the eggs then adding the sugar, baking powder and maca. I let this batter blend until fulling incorporated and looking creamy. Then I pour the liquid into a bowl and slowly mix in the cup of flour with a spoon.
At first the batter will be very liquid as the flour takes a bit of time to soak up the juices of egg & banana. It is best to let the batter "rest" for about 30 minutes to an hour before baking. During this time I started pre-heating the oven and the baking recipient.
Once a half an hour passed I buttered the baking tray and poured in the batter which had thickened a bit though is meant to be rather runny.
With my food allergies I am pretty picky about what chocolates I can add to my snacks. I won't die if I eat the wrong chocolate but, I would really like to avoid getting rashes and acne all over my face! I have found that most chocolate includes hydrogenated oils as a preservative and that is on my to-avoid list. Fortunately not all chocolates include this irritating ingredient!
If only I had know this in my 20's I could have avoided a lot of discomfort, oh well. I say all this to explain why I don't use chocolate chips and instead chop up baker's chocolate that is devoid of hydrogenated oil.
Just before baking I like to add a little layer of shredded coconut on top. This isn't at all necessary but it is a nice decoration and very tasty!
The banana bread takes between 15 and 18 minutes to bake. I have a semi-broken toaster oven that requires an 18 minute cook time but a more solid gas over could do the job in 15 minutes. The key is to make sure the bread has thoroughly baked by sticking a fork in the middle. If the fork comes out clean, your good!
Once baked the b-bread should cool for about a half an hour. It can be hard to wait that long but, worth it! We tend to eat one half for an afternoon snack and save the rest, in a closed container, for breakfast with coffee!