Thursday is trash day in our neighborhood and if you drive by the previous night, you will find roll-out trash containers and recycling bins arranged neatly in the front of each driveway. Early the next morning, once the trucks come by and haul away the trash, the scene is quite different with garbage and recycling containers all askew; some on the street and some halfway into the lawn! Which lasts for about ten minutes.
So saying thanks with a box of chocolate would not be quite so appropriate. For a while now, I have had this thought at the back of my mind that I would try to bake him a treat with no refined sugars. Maybe a banana bread that I had made a while back that was sweetened only with dates. Not too fond of overly sweet things to go with my tea, this bread had really scored with me. I went a step further this time by using oatmeal and almond flour to replace most of the white flour and love the result!
The best bananas for this recipe are ones that are very ripe and dotted with sugar spots. Their soft texture and peak sweetness is perfect for this bread which is moist with a light crumb and just sweet enough. I know the internet is bursting with recipes like “Mom’s Banana Bread” and “The Best Banana Bread Ever”. While I make no such claims about this bread, I can tell you that once you have had a slice, chances are you will be going back for a second!
If you want to pretty up the bread, you can vertically slice another banana into two and press lightly on top of batter and sprinkle with a tsp of coconut or palm sugar (or some raw sugar).
Date-Sweetened Banana Bread
Printable Recipe
1 cup rolled or quick oats
1/2 cup raw almonds or walnuts (or a mix of both)
1/ 2 cup unbleached bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 medium bananas
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup dates, chopped
2 tsp lemon or lime juice
1/3 to 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil (I used 1/3 cup)
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Butter a standard 8×4 loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper too.
Powder the oats in a blender or food processor. A blender works better to make a powder with a grainy texture.
Powder the nuts finely or use ready-made nut meal.
Mix the oat flour, cornstarch, nut meal and bread/all-purpose flour in a bowl. Add the baking powder and salt and mix well. Mix in the chopped dates.
In a larger bowl, peel and mash the bananas with a fork or a potato masher. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla. Next add the baking soda and mix well.
Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and mix until it just comes together. Do not overmix because it will lead to a tough and heavy bread.
Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and smoothen top with a spatula.
Bake at 325 degrees for apprx. 50-60 mins or until a skewer (I use a long piece of spaghetti) inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool pan on wire rack for 5 mins and then remove loaf along with parchment paper and cool completely on wire rack.
*Eggless Option – If you want to make this eggless, take 1 tbsp of flaxseed powder and add 3 tbsp of hot water. Wait till the mixture becomes a bit gelatinous and add to batter. Also increase cornstarch to 2 tbsp
