Totally Bananas Healthier Banana Bread

Totally Bananas Healthier Banana Bread is Moist, flavorful, and so easy to bake! Perfect for breakfast or dessert, this bread takes it up a notch with Almond Flour and Rolled Oats, without sacrificing any of that classic banana bread flavor.

Why I love this recipe

I love the comfort of banana bread (and zucchini bread, or pumpkin loaf, definitely blueberry lemon loaf, and on-and-on). My mom baked treats like this regularly when I was growing up, and these dessert like breads are reminiscent of my childhood. Sweet smells from the kitchen. Um, please! A warm cake-like treat – definitely!

Fast forward to today and adulting – I wanted to reinvent Banana Bread into something that was delicious but took the nutrition factor up a notch. Enter Totally Bananas Healthier Banana Bread. Why is it totally bananas? Because it’s baked with Almond Flour and Rolled Oats – taking the nutrition factor up a notch, without sacrificing flavor.

Unlike traditional flour from wheat, almond flour isn’t flour but rather almonds that have been ground into a flour-like texture. Higher in fat than wheat flour (albeit mostly monounsaturated fat which has heart-healthy benefits), almond flour gives breads and baked goods, like Totally Bananas Healthier Banana Bread, a moist and tender texture. It’s also a good source of protein (6 grams in an ounce of almonds) and it is lower in carbohydrates (about 6 g Carbohydrates in a serving of almonds). Did I mention almond flour is gluten free for those with gluten sensitivities?

Cooking with Almond Flour

When you cook with almond flour you can replace wheat flour using a 1:1 ratio. However, and this is a BIG however, you will need to adjust your binding agent(s). Almond Flour does not contain gluten, so while it creates a very moist baked good, the final baked product will be delicate and even crumbly without enough binder in the batter. Liquids and eggs are typically binding agents in baked goods. Experimentation might be necessary if you go off the cuff and try and substitute almond flour for wheat flour in your favorite recipes. It took some trial and error for me to find the right amount of eggs, and liquid for this “Banana Bread Makeover.”

Ingredients

• Super Fine Almond Flour
• Rolled Oats
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Cinnamon
• Fine Sea Salt
• 2-3 Mashed Bananas (1 Cup)
• 3 eggs, beaten
• Pure Maple Syrup
• Vanilla Extract
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Chocolate Chips (optional)

*Measurements and instructions are included in the recipe card below.

This recipe is truly very simple. Combine the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon. Then prepare your wet ingredients separately in a bowl and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. The batter is done! My kind of baking!