Essential Banana Bread – Recipe ReDux

It’s Recipe ReDux time again, and the theme for November is ‘Quick and Easy Bread’. I know a lot of people love banana bread, but it’s often nothing more than banana cake in disguise. Not any more, my super delicious low FODMAP and gluten free Banana bread has no added sugar, is high in fibre and packed with healthy fats. Plus, it has the essential element of being super easy to make.

Why is My Banana Bread Healthy?

Fibre: Many gluten free grains, breads and cereals are particularly low in fibre, not this one. My banana bread contains 4g or fibre per 100g, that’s 10-15% of your recommended daily intake of fibre. This means that by the time you through in some oats at breakfast and a few serves of veggies you are sure to reach this target.
Fibre is one of those nutrients that keeps getting better the more we learn about it.

• Its awesome for gut health its adds bulk is a pre-biotic and helps keep things regular. Let’s face it no one is happy when the poo department isn’t working properly.
• Fibre is proven to be beneficial for lowering cholesterol and reducing risk of heart disease.
• On top of all this health and shall we say *comfort* benefits it great for filling the tummy and helping you feel satisfied after a meal.

Omega 3: It contains walnuts and flaxseed oil making it a great source of Omega 3. Omega 3 is one of those healthy fats that lowers your risk of heart disease and is also important for brain function and eyesight.

Iodine: Iodine is a forgotten nutrient, yet in Australia we have a history of high rates of Iodine deficiency. This was thought to be so much of a public health problem that since 2009 it has been mandatory to fortify all commercial bread with Iodine. Like all commercial breads in Australia I have also used Iodised salt. Iodine is important for thyroid function, growth and development, particularly in pregnancy to support the developing baby. I recently wrote a blog on the importance of Iodine which you can view here.

Sugar: Sugar is a bit of a topic at the moment. Just to be clear, sugar itself isn’t toxic and isn’t a problem when it is part of a “whole food” such as fruit, milk or unrefined grains. However, most of us eat too much added sugar from processed, convenience and snack foods, and would benefit form eating less of these types of foods. My banana bread gets its sweetness from sugars that are present naturally in bananas, milk and flours, if you look at the recipe you will see there is no added sugar.

Taste: The texture, the taste, the flavour is perfect! It. Just. Tastes. Awesome.

Gluten free: This recipe is gluten free and low FODMAP meaning everyone can enjoy it

My “Essential” Banana Bread

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

• 4 firm bananas (yellow, with no brown spots)
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup Flaxseed oil (or olive oil if you prefer)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill “1:1 baking flour”)
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• ½ tsp Xanthan gum
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• pinch of iodised salt

Method:

1. Combine bananas, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla essence in a blender and blend until smooth.
   Sift flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon into a bowl, add Iodised salt and walnuts and stir to combine.
2. Add wet ingredients and to dry ingredients and mix until combined.
   Place in a lined oven tin and bake at 150° for about 60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted in the centre.

Everyday Nutrition is pleased to be part of Storehouse – a blog directory that showcases qualified nutrition bloggers and The Recipe Redux a monthly blog challenge by qualified dietitians who believe that healthier eating should always taste delicious.

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