Friday, 2 May 2014

Gluten Free Banana and Carrot [or Courgette / Zucchini] Bread


 

Its Allergy Week in the UK so I thought I would make this gluten free banana bread which makes a really delicious breakfast. This is really simple and you can make it with either carrot or courgette. They give slightly different textures, the courgette version is a bit more moist but they are both yummy and perfect for breakfast or mid morning snack. I have used coconut flour but you could use any gluten free flour you have to hand (or simply use a cup of ground almonds instead). The coconut flour is good for absorbing moisture, which is why it works very well with the courgette but it also adds a slight sweet taste which along with he bananas and vegetables means that you don't have to add any extra sugar. I have served it above with the Cashew and Coconut Cream that I made the other week to ice my parsnip cake, but you could try any nut butter, coconut oil or cream cheese.




3 eggs
2 1/2 medium over ripe bananas
1 TBS coconut oil
150g grated carrot (approx. 2 medium carrots or 1 large courgette)
1/2 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut flour, brown rice flour or spelt flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
2 TBS baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 TBS cinnamon
1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts
Extra walnuts and the other 1/2 of banana sliced for decoration

Line a loaf tin with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 180c.

In a blender whizz the eggs, carrot (or courgette), bananas, vanilla extract and oil until smooth (if you are using the carrot it should turn a pretty apricot colour!)

In a large bowl place the remaining ingredients; coconut flour, ground almonds, baking powder, salt and chopped walnuts.

Then simply add the wet ingredients to the dry, folding until well combined. Pour the mixture into a loaf tin and decorate with the banana slices and walnuts then bake for around 50mins (or until a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean).



Little Note:

This is also delicious with ground walnuts instead of ground almonds. Just whiz them up in the blender before you start on the rest of the recipe.

I quite often make this on a Sunday and then when its cool slice it up and individually wrap each slice in greaseproof paper and string then freeze. In the morning I just grab one of the little parcels from the freezer and take it into work. By the time I am in need of a mid morning snack or late breakfast the bread is defrosted and ready to eat. Or you could just pop them straight in the toaster or under the grill from frozen for a speedy mid week breakfast.

Have a slice of this toasted banana bread with a little coconut oil spread on top in the morning and your sugar cravings will disappear!

For a post work out protein snack add a little plant protein to the mixture (2 TBS) I use pea protein.



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