Banana bread has got to be one of the most versatile quick breads on the go (a bread leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda vs. yeast is considered a “quick” bread). Countless recipes and variations proliferate on Pinterest and elsewhere on the internet. And rightfully so! Banana bread is healthy, nutritious and downright delicious! The natural sweetness of bananas means that often no other sweetener is needed (as in this recipe) and bananas’ binding properties make them great in gluten-free baking as well. Plus, there’s something so comforting and appealing about the smell of banana bread baking in the oven. I figured it couldn’t hurt to add yet another easy, healthy recipe to the mix. High in protein (as always), this recipe is also gluten-free, low fat (no added oils or butter) and features super-trendy, delicious, high-fiber coconut flour!

“Aw, coconuts!” is actually an expression I hear around my house a lot lately.  The Golden Graham Boy (GGB) is a big fan of “Jake and the Neverland Pirates” (for those of you over the age of 7 and/or without children in the house, it’s a Disney Junior spin-off from the original “Peter Pan” – Jake and his pirate friends Cubby and Izzy fend of that “sneaky snook, Captain Hook” and his Number Two, Mr. Smee, while Peter Pan is away from Neverland, across the Never Sea.  I can even sing the theme song by heart – you’ll have to trust me on that one because I won’t subject you to a video or audio clip).  At any rate, GGB has adopted this saying as one of his favourite personal expressions when something doesn’t quite work out as expected.  I’ll admit that I uttered a few “aw, coconuts” myself while testing out this recipe!

Bear with me folks, I’m new to this trendy coconut flour thing (and honestly, it’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to “trendy” in any regard).  Coconut flour has such a high fiber content (11g of fiber per ounce of coconut flour!) that it’s very, very absorbent of the wet ingredients in a recipe.  This means it isn’t used as a 1:1 swap for wheat flours or even other gluten-free flours (learn more about coconut flour and baking with it here).  And, because it’s gluten-free, it doesn’t help the dough to stick together.  And hey, gluten-free is all the rage these days – I know it’s very important to people diagnosed with Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that can be very damaging to the intestines due to the body’s inability to properly digest gluten – plus many others find that they just feel better when they don’t eat gluten.  In case you didn’t know, “gluten” is the combination of two different forms of protein that are found in wheat “endosperm” – I’m not making this up! – that help to give dough made with wheat flour its elasticity.  So, I had to make sure that there were enough eggs and bananas in the recipe (the proteins in egg whites and the pectin in bananas are binding agents, i.e. they help foods to stick together) for this bread to actually hold together and not fall apart!  Does anyone else have experience baking with coconut flour?  I’d love to hear about your successes (and failures) in the comments!

The good news is, I’ve done all of the testing for you so you can just sit back, throw a few things in the blender and then let your oven do the rest.

*Please note that I am currently NOT sponsored by or affiliated with any particular brand, company or product. Any ideas, comments or opinions are my own, as mentioned in my Product Review page.  However, if you choose to purchase new-to-you products I recommend using the link(s) I provide, I can earn a small credit.  More information on that is available here.

Some process shots:

You may also like:

Oatmeal Chocolate Cake (Dairy-free)