Recipes for Weighloss - Banana Bread Vegan, Oil Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Low Fat, Low Calorie

Hello Foodies Today we are going to prepare one of my favorite and more importantly, easy recipes….Banana Bread!  Most Banana Bread recipes are loaded with fat, refined sugar and refined grains which makes them a very unhealthy choice.  But the general feeling is that it is a healthy choice when reaching for a snack or a quick breakfast option.  I have revamped this recipe to make it very low in fat and almost refined sugar free and it is 100% oil free, but it is still super moist and delicious.  I am offering you 2 options, one with only Oat Flour which is the lowest in fat and the other version has Almond Flour.  The Almond flour makes the Bread a bit more moist but also adds more fat and calories.  They are both excellent options and I will give the calorie breakdowns for both below. One ingredient that I use as a binder in this recipe instead of Eggs or ground Flax Seed is Psyllium Husk. It is very high in fiber, very low calorie and is tasteless in the final recipe. When blended with water and allowed to sit it turns into a thick tasteless gel that binds your recipe together.  It can be purchased online, at your natural health food store or in the natural food isle in your local grocer. One tip I have discovered is using frozen bananas.  I buy a few bunches and let them really ripen and freeze them 5 to a bag as per this recipe.  When I’m ready to bake I let them defrost in a bowl on the counter which doesn’t take long.  This renders the bananas extra sweet and almost liquid, making the bread super moist and perfectly sweet without sugar.  If you do not use this step though do not worry your bread will still be wonderful. As always adding sweet and tasty treats to your diet should be done with reservation, just because they are healthier versions doesn’t mean they can be eaten with abandon.  When you are craving sweet go for fresh fruit first!  This Bread freezes well also so slice and use as a treat a few times a week.  My kids love this Bread also and enjoy having it after a meal or as an after school snack with fresh fruit and tea (one of daily rituals).  If you’d like to add chocolate chips for them please do, nuts are also a delicious option but for weightloss we leave these out.   Banana Bread – yields 9 – 10 slices 1 cup Oat Flour (2 cups if making the Oat Flour only version) 1 cup Almond Flour ( if making the version with Oat Flour only omit this) 3 tsp Baking Powder ¼ cup Organic Cane Sugar (optional) ½ cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut 1 tsp Pysllium Husk   ¼ cup water 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 5 very ripe bananas mashed – approx. 505 grams Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Blend the Psyllium Husk and water together in a small bowl and set aside. Combine all your dry ingredients including the coconut in a medium sized bowl. Add in your mashed bananas, vanilla extract and Psyllium Gel mixture.  Combine well. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cook spray.  Pour in the batter and bake on the middle rack for approximately 50 minutes.  The top will get quite brown because of the sugars in the banana so this is ok.  To test use a toothpick in the center to make sure the center is cooked.  The toothpick should come out clean. Once removed from the oven let cool for 15 minutes in the tin.  You can then remove the loaf and let cool completely on a wire rack.  Gluten Free baked goods slice best when at room temperature, but I do have to say it does taste delicious warm out of the oven. The Bread stores best in a sealed container refrigerated.  It will last 1 week.  You can also slice it and freeze for a longer shelf life. Caloric Breakdown per 1 slice with Oat Flour  VS      with Almond Flour Calories - 199 Cal     224 Cal Fat  - 2.38grams     4.9 grams Carbs - 35 grams     23.31 grams Protein  - 4.26 grams     5.26 grams Fiber      - 4.17grams     4.9 grams Caloric Breakdown for a Starbucks Banana Bread Loaf is 360 Cal, 17 grams Fat, 49 grams Carbs, 2 grams Fiber and 5 grams Protein.  These numbers will be pretty standard for any recipe containing oil and refined sugar unfortunately.  As you can see there is a huge difference in overall numbers, it may not seem like a big deal but once you start swapping out these high calorie foods over time and on a daily basis the scale will start to shift.  Oil is so concentrated in calories and they add up fast!  It takes 40 olives to make 1 tbsp of Olive Oil….you would rarely eat that many Olives but we regularly pour that much oil over our salad or on roasted veggies.  My goal is to always eliminate as much oil as possible and use whole food fats instead like avocado, nut/seed butters as they come with fiber and water.  Again this helps you to EAT MORE and WEIGH LESS! Thanks for watching and let me know how your recipe goes!! I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Be Well, Jennifer