Cross-posted from The Paleo Table
I have a confession. I love baking. I love the contrast of it. On the one hand I’m making a huge mess but on the other, baking is such a precise, science-y thing. I love the actions of baking: sifting the ingredients, smelling the spices and vanilla, feeling the richness of butter or coconut oil.
I thought when I started eating primarily Paleo foods I’d have to give all that up. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. There are so many great Paleo, gluten-free, grain-free and otherwise modified recipes out there that will let you enjoy your favorite baked goods if you’re trying to stay grain-free.
I had a few bananas languishing on the countertop today, and so there was only one thing to do. Make Paleo banana bread.
I started with this recipe from CrossFit Scottsdale and changed it just a bit. The result? Totally satisfying. Got some brown bananas lying around? You know what to do.
Paleo Banana Bread
Gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2/3 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
- 4 really ripe bananas (mashed well)
- 2 tbsp local honey
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, add the mashed bananas, eggs, honey, and vanilla and mix well.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Normally with breads or muffin recipes, you don’t want to overmix, but since there’s no gluten here, mix to your heart’s content. The muffins won’t get gummy or icky.
- Fill greased muffin tins, baking cups, mini-loaf pans or big loaf pans about 3/4 full. Bake muffins for 23-25 minutes and loaves for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool slightly and enjoy with a pat of almond butter, coconut oil or grass-fed butter. Mmmm.
Want some “primal” baking cups like the ones I used? You can find leopard print baking cups or mini loaf pans at Bake It Pretty.
What have you been serving up at your Paleo table?
It’s been a while since I’ve talked to you guys! What’s been cookin’ in your kitchen? Any new favorite foods, recipes or dishes to share? Tell me in the comments.
Looks great, and those baking cups are too cute!
Delicioso!
I’m going to pick up some bananas tonight so we can try this in a few days. Thanks Robb!
Looks great. That would be really good after doing an endurance event or during a ultra-endurance event. If you could stomach that.
New fav: roasted bone marrow
New dish: grain-free pie crust (made a paleo chocolate coconut custard pie for my mom’s birthday; big hit!)
New recipe I used last night: Grain-Free ,Dairy-Free Brownies
1/4C dextrose
3/4C coconut flour
1 tsp arrowroot powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2C cocoa powder
3 eggs
3/4C coconut oil melted (or clarified butter)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2C dark chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9×13″ baking dish with parchment paper
2. Mix the eggs and melted oil in one bowl and dry ingredients in a separate bowl
3. Combine the wet and dry mixtures and stir until just combined
4. Add chocolate chips and walnuts and stir until evenly distributed
5. Bake for 28-30 or until set
(If not using chocolate chips use some honey or more dextrose if you’re having a sweet tooth)
Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome. I modified the original Kraft recipe 🙂
Quick q: does this end up sweet?
It’s not sweet to me but if you really want to cut down on the sugar, leave out the honey.
Try subsituting some Blue Agave for honey…
I’d stick with plain old sugar. Less fructose, agave should only be used for tequila.
Best comment lol
These are fantastic. And will be sweeter, the more ripe (over-ripe/brown) your bananas are… I don’t think Agave is any sweeter than honey, really, but the glycemic index is monumentally lower. That being said, I used honey when making this recipe and it was wonderful
Looks awesome! I don’t use almond flour but coconut flour instead. Would I be able to simply substitute coconut flour for the almond?
Howdy Toad! I’m not sure how much you should use, but don’t sub an equal amount of coconut flour- you will have a banana brick! I’d maybe try 1 cup coconut flour and like 8 eggs?
Yeah, coconut flour isn’t a substitute for almond flour. It’s verrrry dense.
yup they look yummy, but they are also an Omega-6 overload hell. way to pro-inflammatory and not really healthy. I am not a fan of Franken-foods even using “Plaeo” ingredients. just sayin’
Looks very delicious. Seems like it would be a little high in sugars? I guess the eggs will help balance the bananas though. thanks for sharing!
You could cut out the honey if you’re worried about the sugar. Try that!
Thank you Amber! These were delicious. I didn’t think I’d be able to have a baked good again!
I haven’t tried to bake any paleo foods yet. I am going to try this recipe first!
This was my first Paleo baking experiment.
I added a pinch of salt and used half almond flour/half coconut flour (based on a comment at Amber’s site).
Mine didn’t look quite like the picture, but they were good. The dough was more like cookie dough than a quick-bread. I have no idea if that’s normal with these different ingredients, but mine weren’t smooth on top like the ones in the picture as a result. Also, they were rather sweet to me, I’ll try less honey next time. And I forgot the cinnamon.
I look forward to making these again.
These were AMAZING! So tasty and such a treat to have on Paleo. I have really struggle to give up the carbs but this was like a little nugget of deliciousness but completely paleo! Yay. Thanks so much. Will try the brownies next. Am struggling to get the different types of flour in the UK but will keep searching!
I wouldn’t call it completely Paleo. It’s a grain free treat but it’s not completely Paleo.
Great recipe! I tried it tonight but was missing a banana so I subbed in crushed pineapple…
And instead of mixed nuts I used shredded coconut and topped with a bit of walnuts.
They were great, kinda tropical…
I have 3 kiddos that have switched to Paleo with me. If instead of saying “no, you cant eat that anymore” it really helps to find acceptable alternatives when they ask for things like banana bread. They loved them! Thank you!
This recipe was great! I added nutmeg, tho. I don’t think any banana bread should go without nutmeg.
It does look lovely, and would be a rare treat, however I am concerned about baking with almond flour due to the instabilty of the oils and their oxidation when heated.
I loved this recipe! I substituted hazelnut meal/flour for the almond flour. These were light and fluffy and very tasty!
Just made this and it’s great. Needed to cook it a little longer but what a nice treat. We’re just 2 weeks in, our Kettlebell gym (NorthEast Kettlebells in Minneapolis, MN) is almost all going Paleo so it’s a good group to make the move with. Loved the bread!
This recipe was great! I added nutmeg, tho. I don’t think any banana bread should go without nutmeg.
Said in your book you had a shopping list on web-side. Did not find it.
Here’s the link Linda! http://robbwolf.com/book-resources/
If you want to eat healthy and lose weight, you can’t go wrong with the Paleo Cookbooks!
Just made this, made a few alterations. Scrumptious!
Just made these for my first ever Paleo bake as I kick off for a Paleo 2013. Sooooo good. I substituted coconut flour and didn’t use the crushed nuts. Result: lovely bread-like muffins, delicious with some grass fed butter as a treat. Yum.
Yum^2
Just started Paleo with the whole family. Made brownies last night that were yummy but my son requested banana bread to take back to college with him so now I’m going to try this recipe too. Can’t wait to take it out of the oven.
It is REALLY good! We had a ton of this when Zoe was born.
Made this last night and it was fabulous! If we didn’t know it wasn’t made with regular flour, we wouldn’t have known. It was that good! I did have issues with baking time for a full loaf pan though. I cooked it 45 minutes and it was still not completely done in the center. Next time I’ll make it in small loafs. Thanks!
Robb, what’s your opinion on flaxmeal and its potential to turn into a free-radical when heated? Or does that only apply with flax oil or seeds?
I love this paleo banana bread recipe and really enjoy it when I’m craving a treat!! But lately I’m hearing there are negative health risks to cooking with flaxmeal, or cooking flax over temps of 300, and so on… Not sure whether the info is scientifically valid or just hearsay. I often use flaxmeal in other baking dishes as well, so would love to hear from you
I think you have some problems with that…I do not really like the tase of flax meal…we use a recipe that is just almond flour as the base…form the Paleo Comfort Foods book.
Hi Robb, Thank you so much for your response!
But have you come across any information regarding the possible problem of free radicals and baking with flax?
Secondly, regardless of taste, would you consider flax Paleo?
Can you sub bananas for mangoes
This paleo banana bread is healthy and tastes amazing with tea in the morning a true delight to enjoy!