Banana bread is a bit of an all time favourite for me and this healthier banana bread with coconut flour is a winner.  Freshly sliced from the oven, it’s delicious as is, or even better topped with some almond butter and extra sliced banana with a drizzle of honey.  The past few weeks of my pregnancy I’ve been feeling more like sweet foods and so I’ve been doing a bit of experimenting with some more nourishing baking recipes.  This healthy banana bread with coconut flour fits that bill.  It uses higher fibre ingredients and avoids refined carbohydrates.  It’s naturally sweetened with banana and just a little honey. For a while now I’ve been wanting to experiment with coconut flour so I used it in this recipe, along with some wholemeal flour.

Coconut flour is high in fibre and helps make this healthy banana bread nice and moist.    I worked out that per slice, it has less than a teaspoon of added sugars (from the honey), yet it still has a subtle hint of sweetness that makes it delicious.  A good test of if something is really good or not is to run it past the husband.  He enthusiastically said it was ‘nice’ which is a complement coming from him, especially as he has quite the sweet tooth and he’s not afraid to say if he doesn’t like my baking!

This is really easy to make too. I just put all the ingredients into my Vitamix, blended for about 30 seconds and it was mixed and ready to pour into the loaf tin.  You’ve got to love recipes like that!

Healthy Banana Bread with Coconut Flour

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup wholegrain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2-3 tablespoons honey (3 if you like it sweeter)
3 ripe bananas + 1 extra for the top
1/2 cup unsweetened yoghurt
3 eggs
1/3 cup melted coconut oil or macadamia nut oil
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Place all ingredients minus one banana and the cinnamon into either a high powered blender (I used my vitamix) or a bowl and mix until fully combined.

Cut the remaining banana into three thin strips and lay on top of the loaf.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon

Pour into a lined loaf tin and bake for 40 -50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

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Each weekend the past month, I’ve been making big batches of vegetable soups to enjoy during the week for lunch.  This recipe for turmeric spiced vegetable soup is the perfect way to boost your vegetable intake during winter.  It makes the most of the winter vegetables leek and pumpkin, plus carrots and is flavoured with turmeric, smoked paprika and Morrocan spices. The result?  A nourishing, delicious warming soup that’s great for boosting your nutrient intake.

It’s so easy to grab from the fridge or freezer on the way to work and add a side of toast with toppings for a filling and nourishing lunch.

Turmeric Spiced Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed.
1 leek, sliced
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Moroccan spice mix (ras-el-hanout) I got mine at the supermarket, but you can make it yourself from common spices. Here’s a recipe  If you don’t have it, just leave it out
1/2 crown pumpkin
3 carrots
1L vegetable stock
2 tablespoons pesto
1/4 cup cream (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a fry pan over a medium heat.  Add the the onion and garlic, and fry for 2 minutes.  Add the leek and spices and cook for another 3 minutes.  Set the pan aside while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Peel and chop the pumpkin and carrots into similar sized pieces.  Place in a large pot along with the vegetable stock.  Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer.  Add the onion and spice mix from the fry pan.    Cook for around 15-20 minutes (will depend on the size of your vegetable pieces) or until soft.  Add the pesto and cream.  Blend together until smooth.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, top with natural yoghurt, fresh coriander and a sprinkle of turmeric.

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