Monday, October 7, 2013

Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I am not usually a fan of banana bread, but this banana bread I really like! Charlie even liked it, and he typically doesn't like chocolate.  I had a couple of mushy bananas laying around yesterday, so decided to make a slightly healthier variation of a simple banana bread recipe I had found.  I substituted whole wheat flour for half of the all purpose flour that the recipe called for. To not compromise the consistency of the bread completely, I still used half all purpose flour (to keep it from getting too dense). I also substituted canola oil for the butter - greatly reducing the saturated fat and instead providing healthy unsaturated fats. I also added chocolate chips, which the recipe did not call for. The overall product had a really nice consistency, holding together very well when sliced. Using half whole wheat flour added just enough grainy/nutty flavor, which tastes great with the banana.  And the chocolate chips, of course, gave the bread the perfect top-off of flavor.  I used really good quality chocolate chips, which are dairy free due to being made with cocoa butter instead of regular butter. 



Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients 

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large organic free range eggs
2 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup dairy free chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan with canola oil and all purpose flour.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together canola oil, brown sugar, eggs, and mashed bananas. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture and mix until evenly combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared loaf pan.

3. Bake for 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen sides from pan using a spatula and then turn out of pan. Let cool on wire rack.



(Recipe adapted from all recipes.com)

What are the nutritional benefits of this bread? Whole wheat flour is less refined than all purpose flour so provides more fiber and nutrients, particularly B vitamins, vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorous, zinc, copper, and iron. Canola oil is a more heart healthy option, compared to butter or other oils, as it is the lowest in saturated fat of any oil, and is rich in healthy unsaturated fats. Bananas are an excellent source of potassium and vitamin C, and contain a prebiotic substance called fructooligosaccharide which ferments in the digestive tract, encouraging the growth of probiotics, and enhancing the absorption of calcium in the body. Cocoa, found in the chocolate chips, contains flavonoids, a type of antioxidant, so eating a modest amount of good chocolate is beneficial!

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