Naturally sweetened 4 seed banana loaf (dairy and gluten free)

Now this is a loaf that you don't have to feel guilty about eating!  Actually you should eat this!  For breakfast?  Yup!  For morning tea?  Yup!  Afternoon tea?  Yup!  Dessert?  Yup!

Why?
When I developed this, I wanted a guilt free, nutrient rich recipe that could be eaten at any time in the day.  Of course guilt free and nutrient rich is no good if it isn't delicious, right?  So with those three requirements in mind, I set to work!



A mix of four seeds - flaxseeds/linseeds, chia seeds, buckwheat kernels (which are actually seeds!), and quinoa - give you a looooooong list of vitamins and minerals, fiber, protein and carbohydrates.

Bananas and fresh dates also provide so many nutrients, and are the sole source of sweetness in this loaf.  Apart from a sprinkle of rapadura sugar on top (which you can omit if you like) there is no added sugar in this recipe!!!

Then eggs, coconut milk and oil bring it all together - no dairy for those avoiding it!

So now can you see why you can actually eat this for breakfast??!!  Drizzle a little raw honey over a slice, dollop some good quality greek yogurt, scatter some fresh blueberries and you have yourself one healthy start to the day, keeping you going until lunch!  If you are following a dairy free diet, try Quirky Cookings cashew cream in place of the yogurt - its delicious!

If you find it isn't sweet enough for your liking, you could always add a few more dates, a couple of tablespoons of honey, pure maple syrup, or even rapadura sugar to the mix, but I found the banana and dates alone gave just enough sweetness without overpowering the other lovely flavours from the grains.

Throw in some chopped nuts if that appeals to you (or add them to the topping), add some berries or even a grated carrot would be nice.  Ground ginger would also work nicely.

Although freshly grinding the seeds is ideal, for those without a Thermomix (or coffee grinder, food processor that can mill, morter and pestle, or other grinding tools), you could use buckwheat and quinoa flour, and leave the chia seeds and flaxseeds whole. 

I recommend eating this on the day it is made, but if for some reason the loaf isn't gone by then (!), slice it up and freeze it, or warm the slices up again before eating.

Enjoy.......

Naturally sweetened 4 seed banana loaf

Ingredients

25g quinoa (quinoa flour if not using Thermomix or grinder)
25g flaxseed/linseeds
25g chia seeds
25g raw buckwheat kernels (buckwheat flour if not using Thermomix or grinder)
3 medium very ripe bananas
3 fresh dates (don't forget to pull out the pip)
2 eggs
40g oil
1/2 c coconut milk (water or any other milk could be used in place of coconut)
1 tsp cinnamon
200g gluten free self raising flour (I use Orgran brand)
Organic shredded coconut and rapadura sugar to sprinkle on top

Method - Conventional

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.  Grease a loaf tin.
2. Either grind quinoa, flaxseeds, chia seeds and buckwheat in your appliance or mix together flours in a bowl with chia, flaxseeds and cinnamon and set aside.
3. Mash bananas well in a large bowl.  Whisk in eggs, oil and milk and set aside.
4. Chop dates very finely and mix through banana mixture.
5. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture until thoroughly combined.
6. Spoon into prepared tin and sprinkle over coconut and rapadura sugar, pressing lightly to allow topping to adhere to the loaf.
7. Bake for 40-50 minutes - until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Turn out carefully onto cooling rack so as not to lose too much of the topping.
9. Serve warm with a drizzle of honey and dollop of yogurt if desired.

Method - Thermomix

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.  Grease a loaf tin.
2. Place quinoa, flaxseeds, chia and buckwheat into the TM bowl.  Grind on speed 9 for 30 seconds.  Set aside.
3. Place bananas and dates in TM bowl and pulverize on speed 7-8 for 20 seconds.  Scrape down.  Add eggs, oil and milk and continue on speed 7-8 for a further 30 seconds.
4. Add cinnamon, seed mix and SR flour and mix on speed 4 for 20 seconds, making sure the sides of the bowl have been incorporated.
5. Follow steps 6-9 above.