Banana Berry Bread

Gluten-free | Dairy-free | Refined-sugar-free 

Makes: 1 loaf
Cuisine: Bridget's Healthy Treats
Course: Dessert
Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 70 - 80 minutes
Cool time: 1 hour

What do you do when you have a lot of leftover bananas? You make banana berry bread, of course. My Healthier Banana Berry bread is the perfect treat if you want to put your pinny on and create something deliciously comforting and homemade without all the nasties.

My recipe is free from gluten, sugar and uses the goodness of bananas and blueberries for energy. It's also dairy-free and super simple to make.

This moist sponge-like banana bread is so wonderfully flavoured despite being very low in added sugar. It relies on the sweetness of super ripe bananas, applesauce and ground almonds to give it its signature taste and texture. 

Hints, Tips & Tricks

This recipe requires the use of very ripe bananas. I usually buy overripe bananas by the box load at my local greengrocer. I then peel and freeze them in small reusable plastic bags, so I've always got ripe bananas ready for baking and smoothies.

To help maintain a sweet taste without adding refined sugar, I use my Zero as Sugar Pure Erythritol. You’ll find this ingredient in many reduced-calorie and sugar-free foods and drinks. If you would like to purchase my Zero as Sugar Pure Erythritol which’s 100% natural, has zero calories, and registers zero on the glycemic index, you can find out more here.  

RECIPE

Ingredients

• 200 g (7 oz) gluten-free self-raising flour
• 50 g (1.7 oz) ground almonds ( almond meal)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch Himalayan salt
• 100 g (3.5 oz) Zero as Sugar Pure Erythritol 
• 4 medium-size very ripe bananas, very well mashed
• 60 ml (2 fl oz) avocado oil
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 100 ml (3.5 oz) unsweetened apple sauce
• 120 g (4.2 oz) frozen or fresh blueberries or raspberries
• 1 banana ( just ripe) for the top of the bread 

Method

1. Preheat your oven on bake at 170C ( 340F) and line a loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
2. Into a large mixing bowl stir together the gluten free flour, ground almonds, cinnamon, mixed spice, baking powder, baking soda  salt and erythritol. Measure out and set aside a ¼ cup of the dry ingredients. 
3. Into a jug whisk together the bananas, avocado oil, eggs and apple sauce until well blended and then pour into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. 
4. Sprinkle the reserved ¼ cup of dry ingredients over the berries and toss to coat them before stirring them through the batter. This will help to stop your berries from sinking to the bottom of your bread as it cooks. 
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and slice the last banana and lay on top of the bread. 
6. Bake the bread for 70-80 minutes until golden brown on top and when a skewer inserted into the bread comes out with a few crumbs attached. 
7. Allow the bread to sit in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve lightly toasted or as is in thick slices!