What do you do with a bunch of brown bananas? Make (paleo) banana bread of course!
My friend was about to toss a whole bunch of bananas that were well beyond ripe. I hate watching food to waste. I simply said those would be perfect for banana bread.
My friend paused and held them up – “Well do you want these for banana bread then?”
Take those Brown Bananas and Bake that Paleo (ish) Banana Bread
It hadn’t initially been a serious comment on my part, being dead summer in Miami and not exactly prime baking weather.
But I obviously took the bananas, quite happily thinking of the prospect of warm banana bread despite the heat.
Banana bread brings me back to childhood. Banana bread was the one thing my mom would bake on random occasions not associated with a holiday or birthday. Probably just because the bananas were going bad!
I remember salivating at the smell and devouring her banana bread, but of course it was a typical recipe with sugar, refined flour, and butter. As were all baked goods back in the day.
Ingredient Swaps and Variations: How to Make Banana Bread Both Healthy and Delicious
As delicious as it was, I steer clear of those things these days. But making a paleo-ish, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free version of banana bread didn’t seem like it would be too tricky.
Sure enough, it’s a win in my book! And according to my friends 🙂 It’s obviously never going to be a perfect swap taste-wise, but that’s not really the point. It’s still full-on banana-bready indulgence that your body will actually thank you for – as well as your taste buds of course!
We were having people over so I decided to make three different variations – plain paleo banana bread, walnut banana bread, and chocolate chip banana bread. They were all fab. Since I was making muffins out of the batter, it was also pretty easy to separate the batter! Just filled in a few with the plain batter, then took a small amount and blended with walnuts, then added the chocolate chips to the rest. Voila 3 in 1.
Why it is Paleoish and not Paleo Banana Bread, and why I don’t care so much about Labels
And if any of you are thinking this basically sounds like paleo banana bread why doesn’t she just call it that? (Or maybe that’s just me! 😉 Well I had a gluten-free flour mix in the freezer that I’ve been wanting to use up. And because it contains garbanzo bean flour, I’m pretty sure it’s not quite paleo. But a mix of fine-ground almond flour, coconut flour, and arrowroot flour would do the trick.
While I eat on the average pretty much paleo, I’m not super strict and I don’t really label my diet. I eat very plant-heavy, but I do eat some organic, responsibly raised and sourced animal protein. I eat what my body wants. And labeling my diet can be too restricting, slash too confusing, slash plain old annoying! I stick to some general healthy parameters – aka whole, real food, unprocessed, unrefined, organic as much as possible but I just do what I can, and obviously a little room for chocolate (even though I’m not really supposed to have it these days!).
And sometimes what my body wants is a warm chocolate chip banana bread muffin slathered in peanut butter and chocolate ghee!! Seriously can’t stop won’t stop with this combo.
So without further ado, here’s the recipe – you can make regular bread or muffins, whatever you prefer or have in your pantry. I’ll adjust the time for both.
Paleoish Banana Bread – Vegan, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Sugar-Free Recipe
A cleaned up version of a classic favorite – banana bread!
Ingredients
- 2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 small, 3 medium) the riper and the browner the skins the better!
- 4 tbsp ground flax seed
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar optional
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 2 cups gluten free flour I used Bob's Red Mill
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp monk fruit sweetener all natural ground stevia leaf or lucuma could work
Instructions
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Make the flax eggs by combining the water and flax in a small bowl and let sit for 5 minutes.
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While the 'eggs' are setting, preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x5 pan or muffin tin with coconut oil.
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Combine all the wet ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
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Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
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Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until there are no dry clumps – do not overmix.
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Mix in your optional add-ins (walnuts, dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, pecans, or any combination you like!).
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Scoop the batter into your pan. If you're making muffins, fill them to about 3/4 full. It'll make around 18 muffins.
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Bake the bread for about 50-60 minutes (I'd check at about 45), and the muffins for 18-20 minutes.
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Store in the fridge for up to a week.
Recipe Notes
**can sub regular eggs if not vegan
Hope you love and let me know what you think!
And if you’re looking for some other yummy treats, check these out:
- Key Lime Avocado Mousse
- Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Bites
- Paleo Flourless Chocolate Cake
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