When I first started baking gluten free, grain free treats, I was amazed at how delicious baked goods could be without all the ingredients I’d been baking with for years – butter, sugar and flour.
Almond flour and honey were my two best friends. That was back in 2002, long before the Paleo craze.
It was the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that led me to start baking this way. My daughter Kelly and I were partners on the journey to heal our guts.
At first though, it wasn’t so easy to follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet because not only did Kelly have celiac disease, she also had an egg intolerance. Eggs of any kind (whites, yolks, baked, scrambled, boiled) made her throw up!
So for an egg replacer, I used flax meal or applesauce in my muffin and cookie recipes. They didn’t have the fluffy cake like texture, but thankfully still tasted good enough to keep us going……
Fast forward to fifteen years later, Kelly can now tolerate eggs, fortunately for her and me as her baker. So I’ve been readjusting my recipes with the addition of eggs and having fun with some new creations. I also started using coconut sugar as an alternative to honey, which Kelly seems to like better.
This banana bread is a big hit in my house. It is the perfect treat if you are trying to avoid dessert (wink wink 😉) because it tastes almost as good as cake. I use Lily’s chocolate chips which are stevia sweetened and just as tasty as Enjoy Life chocolate chips.
This bread is best warm out of the oven, but tastes delicious for a week when stored in the fridge. Though in my house it doesn’t last more than a few days between my hubby, me and Kelly!
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
3 ripe bananas
4 organic eggs
1/3 cup cashew or other unsweetened nut butter
1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 – 3/4 cups stevia sweetened or other chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Grease a 9” loaf pan.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine bananas with almond butter, mashing until combined. Add vanilla, eggs and coconut sugar. Stir until eggs are incorporated and mixture is relatively smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Stir until combined then add to the wet ingredients. Mix until incorporated, don’t over mix. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour into pan and place in preheated oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.