Banana Bread with Nuts and Dates

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while! I went quite a while doing the minimum cooking and baking because I wasn’t feeling well. And the reason? I’m pregnant! I’m now 15 weeks and feeling much better but still tired all the time.

This weekend we went to Ikea to have a look at furniture and came home with a new coffee table and some bits and bobs. We also went to Babies R Us but didn’t buy anything because we are waiting to find out the gender of our baby.

Not long ago we had some damp work done on our house and it is looking like a real mess. We were told we can’t decorate until the end of January, by which point I will be 8 months pregnant, so the house is a little depressing at the moment. The new coffee table hasn’t done much to cheer the place up but it’s always nice to have something new. Even if my cat Lola does not approve of change.

This Banana Bread is the first baking I have done in months. I went off baking for quite a while when I was very conscious about my sugar intake, but using overripe bananas gives sweetness without adding too much extra sugar.

Recipe

2 overripe Bananas
2 eggs (or vegan alternative)
1/4 cup melted Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Brown Sugar (or coconut sugar)
1 cup Self Raising Gluten Free Flour (or plain with a tsp baking powder)
1/2 tsp Bicarb/ Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (or 1 tsp if you love it)
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup chopped Almonds
1/4 cup chopped Dates

Mash up the bananas in a large bowl and mix in the eggs, coconut oil and vanilla until well combined. Throw in the nuts and dates and mix. Combined all the dry ingredients in another bowl and then mix everything together. Line or grease a loaf tin and pour the mixture in. Bake at 180c/160c fan for 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Lining the tin works best as you can use the paper to lift the loaf out of the tin. Leave it in the paper until it has completely cooled and then peel it away and cut yourself a slice. I kept mine in an airtight container for 2-3 days in the cupboard.

Do you ever spread anything on your banana bread or do you like it plain? I’ve tried it with dairy free nutella and vegan marg but I do love it plain in my lunchbox for work. Or for breakfast!

Tagged: baking, banana, banana bread, breakfast, coconut oil, coeliac, dairy free, dairyfree, dates, easy recipe, gluten free, gluten free baking, glutenfree, healthy, healthy baking, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, healthy snack, lactose free, nuts, pregnancy, pregnant, vegetarian