Food / 02.02.2015

#FeelgoodFebruary: Healthy banana bread

By Roisin Dervish-O'Kane
Eat yourself happy with a mood-boosting bake: refined sugar, gluten and grain free

healthybananabreadforweb

Our #FeelgoodFebruary campaign is all about keeping our spirits up in winter – and frosty mornings require proper fuel. Mix up your muesli for a slice of this healthy banana bread.

 

Sure, it may resemble the sugary-sweet teatime treat we’re all so fond of but it’s actually super virtuous. It’s grain-free (so all good for any gluten-free people or those of us keeping an eye on our carb intake), low GI (see ya later sugar highs and lows) and full of sustaining protein.

Read more: Why you really, really should eat your breakfast

Packed with good fats, starting your day with a couple of slices of this could help keep any negative feelings from creeping in to your day.

‘The link between omega 3 fatty acids and brain health has been known for a very long time. Your brain is 60 per cent fat and the fats of which it is composed play a vital role in its normal healthy functioning,’ explains nutritional chef Dale Pinnock, author of Anxiety & Depression: Eat Your Way to Better Health (£14.99, Quadrille).

Give it a go!

Makes one (smallish) loaf

4 eggs
1 cup of ground flaxseed (we used this Linwoods variety, mixed with pumpkin and sunflower seeds)
3 tbsp water
140g ground almonds
1tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp low-GI coconut sugar
2 very ripe bananas (mashed)
1 tbsp cinnamon
Dried banana chips (to decorate)
Agave syrup (to decorate)

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200C/400F. Crack your eggs into a bowl and add the water

2. Put your flax into a separate, dry bowl, add almond, baking powder and salt then toss together by hand

3. Combine wet and dry bowl, add in the mashed banana, mix and pour into a small, lined loaf tin. Bake for 20 -25 minutes then leave to cool.

4. Top with a few squeezes of agave syrup, broken banana chips and a few tablespoons of extra milled mixed seeds

5. Store in a plastic sandwich bag or a sealed Tupperware box in the fridge.

To serve: toast two small slices, add your favourite topping (it was unsweetened almond butter for us) and savour with your cuppa. Happy eating!

Summary
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Healthy Banana Bread
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