Banana bread is a favourite of mine and is a great way to use up any over-ripe bananas you have lying around! There are tons of recipes out there (including a chocolate chip version which I have to say is hard to beat), but this take on banana bread is adapted from a friend’s recipe. What I love most about this particular recipe is that it’s a hearty, wholesome loaf which is full of flavour and low in sugar! It’s great as a snack with a cup of coffee, as a quick breakfast or even as a pre-workout snack! My mum loves heating it up slightly in the microwave and enjoying with a generous dollop of natural yogurt.
It is quite a dense loaf, and may not be to everyone’s taste – particularly if you’re looking for a standard sweetened banana bread – but I promise you, it’s delicious and I urge you to try it!
Wholesome Banana Bread
Course: Breakfast, Recipes, Sweets & Desserts8-10
servings15
minutes40
minutesThis banana bread is filled with beneficial ingredients that will nourish your body such as oats, nuts, seeds & dried fruit. It’s naturally sweet thanks to the bananas but feel free to add little extra to suit your personal taste (I personally love it as it!). It is a denser loaf but I love it for the chillier months as a super satisfying snack!
Ingredients
500g (4 small or 3 large) bananas – the riper the better
50g chopped nuts/seeds*
125g dried fruit**
100ml sunflower oil
100g rolled oats
100g wholemeal flour (I used spelt, but any finely milled wholemeal flour will work)
50g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1-2tbsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Mash bananas well and add to large mixing bowl.
- Add nuts, dried fruit, nuts/ seeds and oil. Mix well.
- Add remaining ingredients, making sure to sieve the flour. Fold into the banana mixture until well combined. The mixture should be thick.
- Transfer mixture into a greased and lined loaf tin, smoothing gently with a fork. At this stage, it’s nice to add a sprinkle of whatever seeds/ nuts you used in your recipe. I also added a light sprinkle of poppy seeds, but this stage is completely optional.
- Bake at 180C for 30-40mins. I would definitely recommend checking after 30 minutes with a skewer to avoid over-baking. The skewer should come out clean, but keep in mind the consistency of this cake is quiet moist and dense.
- Once completely cooked, transfer onto a cooling tray to cool completely.
Additional Notes
- *pecans and walnuts work exceptionally well, however my younger sister is allergic to these, so I stuck with chopped almonds and then added some shredded coconut and a mixture of pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
- **I didn’t have any dried fruit on hand, so increased the amount of nuts and seeds to about 30-50g each.
