Some how, we always end up with a few leftover brown bananas just sitting on
the counter. Bananas that are a bit too mushy to eat – but don’t throw them out!
These are perfect for baking. And you know what they say, when life gives you
ripe bananas, make banana bread. Healthy banana bread, at that.
Bananas and peanut butter are a pretty classic combination, and I like any
excuse to add peanut butter to things, so I decided to make a recipe for a
peanut butter swirl banana bread. The ‘swirl’ part comes from drizzling some
peanut butter over the top of the loaf before placing it in the oven, so that it
seeps into the loaf gradually as it bakes. You can use any peanut butter you
like, but for the perfect creamy and drizzly texture, I always use Pip &
Nut.
This is a gluten-free recipe, as I replace regular flour
with ground almonds. I usually use ground almonds in baking because it’s high in
good fats and really low in carbs – so apart from helping with the macros, it
actually makes for much more moist bakes. Important – banana bread should be
moist and fluffy, never dry.
It also contains much more protein than flour, so by adding just 1 scoop of
protein powder to the whole recipe, you end up with 9g of protein per banana
bread slice.
Ingredients:
- 2 large overripe bananas (don’t be afraid to let them get really brown first – the browner, the better)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 scoop protein powder (*see note)
- 120g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 60g natural greek yoghurt
- 40g natural peanut butter (my favourite is Pip & Nut)
- 60g maple syrup (or honey)
- 2 Tbsps truvia (or preferred sweetener)
- 2 tsps cinnamon
Note:
I use Quest peanut butter flavour protein, but you can substitute for a
vanilla flavour or of course a banana flavour. The reason I choose Quest for
baking is because it’s a whey and casein blend, unlike pure whey protein which
can often make things far more dry when baked. If you want to use whey, you may
just want to add a bit more liquid to the recipe (e.g. a splash of milk or
almond milk) to counter-act this.
Step 1 – Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and line a rectangular or loaf-shaped baking tin
with brown baking paper.
Start by whisking eggs together in a large mixing bowl until light and
fluffy.
Mix in the vanilla extract, maple syrup and sweeteners.
Add the ground almonds, protein powder, baking powder and 2 tsps of
cinnamon.
Finally add greek yoghurt and just 20g of the peanut butter. Save the rest
for a minute.
Mix all the ingredients together until combined into a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into the baking tin. Drizzle the remaining peanut butter over
the top of the loaf.
Step 2 – Baking
Bake for approximately 25 – 30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the centre
of the loaf comes out more-or-less clean. Try not to over-bake it though, as you
don’t want to end up with dry banana bread.
Leave aside to cool down completely.
Final step – Enjoy!
Carefully remove from the baking tin by lifting up the parchment paper.
Slice it up.
Optional: drizzle some more peanut butter over the top.
Enjoy!
Macros
per slice (of 10)
172 cals
11g carbs
9g
fat
9g protein
1.5g fibre
