The Food Medic’s Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

Banana bread is the perfect (and tastiest) solution for using up over-ripe bananas. Unlike traditional banana bread recipes that call for refined white flour and white sugar, this recipe is made with coconut flour and naturally sweetened with honey. I’ve also swapped the margarine for coconut oil, which is full of healthy fats.

You could make the banana bread recipe even healthier by omitting the chocolate – but this I wouldn’t recommend, because a little bit of chocolate is good for the soul.

Makes 10-12 Slices

Ingredients:

120g coconut flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
6 free-range eggs
80g honey
75g coconut oil, melted and
cooled
120ml almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
75g 85 per cent dark chocolate,
chopped
½ banana to top

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Prepare a large loaf pan by greasing the sides with a little coconut oil.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the coconut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. In another large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the honey, coconut oil, almond milk and vanilla extract, and whisk very well to combine.

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients, and whisk very well until combined. Mix in the mashed banana.

Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave for 60–90 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds. Fold the dark chocolate into the banana bread mixture very gently without over-mixing so the two mixtures form a marbled effect.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, then cover with a sheet of tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. The cake will be quite moist in texture but should not be wet.

Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack for about an hour, before slicing.

P S . . . You can store the bread in the fridge for 3–5 days, or in the freezer in a freezer zip-lock bag for up to 3 months.

Recipe extracted from The Food Medic by Hazel Wallace, published by Yellow Kite, £20
Photo credit: Susan Bell