Introduction
Banana bread — hell, bananas in general — is a weakness of mine, so you can only imagine how quickly I jumped on this recipe when I first stumbled across it some months ago. I’m very happy to report that the resulting loafs are delicious, with just the right amount of sweetness and a lovely crumbly texture to boot.
Note the pluralization, though. Unless you pour this into a big bread pan, you’ll probably want two loaf pans to accommodate the volume of mixture it creates. Said volume is dependent in part of the size of the bananas you use, so feel free to use four of them (or the jumbo ones that look a little silly) if you want to up the ante.
And if I may make a recommendation? Butter the slices with pastured butter. You will never be the same.
Ingredients
3 eggs, separated (keep the yolks and whites separate!)
4 or 5 tbsp honey (up to you!)
4 tbsp olive oil
3 mashed bananas (3 small, or 2-3 big)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups almond flour
1 cup pecans or walnuts (optional, and likely broken into smaller pieces if you use them)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream the egg yolks and honey in a large bowl until light and fluffy. I use a hand-held mixer for this. It takes about five minutes.
3. Add the olive oil, vanilla, and mashed banana to the bowl, mixing well.
4. In a smaller separate bowl, mix the cinnamon, baking powder and almond flour and sift well. You don’t have to do this, honestly, before you add it to the big bowl, but an even distribution of the spices and powder never hurts.
5. Add that mixture of spices and powder to the bowl and stir well.
6. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. A hand mixer is champion at this. Stiff peaks are vital.
7. Fold the egg whites into the banana mixture to pull it away from the sides before gradually folding the rest of the egg whites into the mixture.
8. If you’re the nutty type, go ahead and add your cup of pecans or walnuts to the mixture and stir well.
9. Lightly butter 2 foil bread loaf pans and pour the banana mixture in.
10. Place in oven for 40-45 minutes, though I always end up keeping them in for the latter.
The tops of the loaves should be a nice toasty brown by the 45-minute mark. Stick them with a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean. If so, you’re golden — set the loaves out to cool and enjoy!
One thing to consider: the loaf will harden and become more bread-like overnight, so don’t be surprised if it comes out pretty soft in the end. Banana bread always tastes better the next day, and these loaves are definitely no exception.
Misc Tips
Let the three eggs sit out and come to room temperature before separating them. This’ll make the egg whites form stiff peaks much faster than if the eggs were well-chilled in the fridge.
The Final Product
This is the worst possible time to be in the middle of a fast. Take a look:
Yes. Enjoy!
8 Comments »
I'm a writer, minimalist, and health dork with three goals in mind: to teach you how to lose weight, move more, and be happier by living a simple, natural life. It works. Like what you read here? Get 3NL delivered straight to your inbox!
I was about to break down and bake normal banana bread, thinking there would be no paleo alternative, but then before getting my hands dirty, I googled for paleo recipes. Obviously was super extatic to find more than one option, but went for yours after some comparing. It turned out absolutely amazing, and I didn’t have to break paleo guidelines to enjoy it! Althogh I think my guy still doesn’t believe it’s completely paleo, since it’s a delicious baked desert!
Thanks a lot & greetings from Switzerland
Glad you enjoyed it, Magda!
Thanks so much!
Just making this now and the ingredients say baking powder and the directions say baking soda! I was knee-deep in it already so went with soda and I hope that’s right. I will let you know the results.
Correction:
The “ingredients’ calls for baking powder, which I used but the cake is pretty much flat as a pancake, i assume it was supposed to be baking soda? Oh well, back to the drawing board (cave wall)
Hey Craig!
That’s a tough one, man — I’ve used baking powder myself in the past and I’ve never had a flat bread, so I’m not sure what went wrong. I’m going to make the recipe again in a few days and try to verify, so I’ll let you know.
One thing that might prove a stumbling point is the egg whites. They definitely need to be beaten until you get stiff, somewhat foamy peaks, and then you have to fold them in a scoop at a time so that the egg whites get plenty of air as they are added to the batter.
Thanks, you are exactly right, my egg whites weren’t whipped enough, i made a second batch and the bread was fluffy and perfect. Thanks-
Second to that, great job on the blog. I’m just a week 1/2 into paleo and am astonished at the wealth of information that people like yourself are putting out there for those of us new to the idea and lifestyle. Much obliged.
Craig in Cleveland
I made this yesterday after craving banana bread for about a week now! We had it with breakfast this morning and it was amazing! It tastes just like real banana bread which was so surprising and exciting. I must have messed up the eggs just like Craig, though. Ours didn’t rise either, but it didn’t matter! I have a feeling I’ll be making it every week! Thanks Matt for sharing it, you saved us!!
Hi Matt, have made this a couple times a week for the last month – its amazing! Added an extra banana, some dates and walnuts and pretty much found the version I will settle on. Have enjoyed your other blog posts as well. Many thanks, Micah