Super Healthified Banana Bread

I told you I'd make a loaf of banana bread, didn't I? Well I didn't go back on my word...and here is the mouthwatering photographic evidence.



I've always been a sucker for my Mum's notorious banana cake. Needless to say, as with many other banana cake/bread recipes, it was misleadingly unhealthy (misleading because really, you'd expect a cake based around the humble banana to be somewhat healthy, wouldn't you?) -- packed with sugar, refined white flour, aaand... I don't remember what else. Probably a generous amount of butter/marg. But we don't want none of that!

So I guess you could say that this recipe acts as a kind of antidote or counterbalance to my Mum's banana cake recipe. Based upon this original recipe, I've adapted it very slightly to enhance its healthiness even more. You'd probably be pushed to find a healthier banana cake recipe, especially one that caters to both vegans (err...minus the honey) and those with gluten sensitivity. It sits just the right side of moist, has a gorgeous flavour and hits the sweet-tooth spot naturally (just bananas and 2 tablespoons of manuka honey to thank for that one). So yeah...delve in!



Ingredients:

200g spelt flour
2x 27g packets of quick-cook Quakers Oats
1t baking powder
1t baking soda
1t ground cinnamon
(Up to) 1t vanilla paste
4 medium sized bananas, ripe
50ml almond milk (unsweetened)
6T coconut oil
2T manuka honey
90g walnuts, 30g pumpkin seeds (add whatever nut/seed/dried fruit you prefer)

Pre-heat your oven to 350C or gas mark 4. Line a loaf tin with parchment paper (grease with a smidgen of coconut oil). That's the boring stuff out of the way. Now onto the mashing. Ahh yeah.



Get your ripened bananas and place (without skins!) in a (sizeable) bowl. Mash until they're nice n' squelchy. Meanwhile, melt your coconut oil in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. This shouldn't take too long. Remove the bowl from the heat and allow to cool slightly. When it has cooled, add it to your banana mix and combine well; add all other wet ingredients (hello vanilla, almond milk and honey), and stir vigorously. Might as well get an arm workout in there, eh?

Now that your wet stuff is all sorted, sieve the spelt flour into a separate bowl. This took me a bloody long time because spelt flour seems to have quite a lot of large grainy pieces that just got in the way whilst sieving. I orginally wanted to use all 260g of the spelt flour (as the original recipe had suggested); however, by the 200g mark my arm was aching somewhat from holding the sieve for so long - alas, I reached out for my trusty oats to save the day. Quakers did the job juuust fine.

Add the baking powder and soda into the flour mixture, plus the teaspoon of cinnamon (vital! Cinnamon can do no wrong), and stir well before gradually adding the dry mix to the wet. Keep on top of the blending and 'folding' sitch (yep, I do know some baking lingo) until you've got yourself a lovely looking batter.

All that's left to do is to measure your nuts and add them to the final mixture. Spoon into your tin, and place into the oven for up to 50 minutes. When time's finally up, remove from the oven and leave to cool. In my case, I was knife-in-hand after about 5 minutes of removing mine from the oven (naughty, I know). But hey, who am I kidding - warm/hot banana cake is simply too good to pass up on, especially when it's lathered with a dollop of peanut butter (a new discovery, and a match made in heaven).

Does anyone have any banana bread recipes to rival mine? This one seems to be calling my name... protein banana bread? Don't mind if I do!

The Manuka Factor

For those of you who haven't heard of Manuka honey before, please let me introduce you to the powers of this wondrous pot of gold syrup.

Manuka honey originates from New Zealand, and is made from the native Leptospermum Scoparium or 'Manuka' shrub. The beekeepers set up their hives in wild, uncultivated areas where the Manuka bushes grow. The bees gather nectar from the flowers of the Manuka bush, and the honey making process is enriched by the pollution free environment for New Zealand, making it the purest honey available in the supermarket.

Honey protects against damage caused by bacteria and also stimulates production of cells that repair tissue damaged by infection.

Its healing powers don't stop there; Manuka honey also has an anti-inflammatory effect that can quickly reduce pain and inflammation once applied, which is why it's so often used for treating minor wounds and burns.

This is in part down to the hydrogen peroxide component found in natural honey, which gives most honey its antibiotic quality. But Manuka honey goes that one step further in terms of its antibacterial qualities.

Its special quality is known as UMF and the higher the UMF, the more potent the honey and its powers (a UMF of 10+ is necessary for the honey to be properly effective).

The major antibacterial component in manuka honey is methylglyoxal (MG). MG is a compound found in most types of honey, but usually only in small quantities. MG comes from the conversion of another compound - dihydroxyacetone - that is found in high concentration in the nectar of manuka flowers. It gives manuka honey its antibacterial power; the higher the concentration of MG, the stronger the antibacterial effect.

For anyone else suffering from the Winter lurgy and looking for a natural remedy, I'd recommend investing in Manuka. While it's slightly pricey, it's most definitely a worthy purchase - and, like with most health foods, you get what you pay for.

Processed, sugary honeys just don't cut it in comparison, and while the unique taste of manuka can be off-putting at first, the time period between this stage and the addiction stage is extremely short (beware!).

I can't get enough of the stuff - I've been using it in my tea (camomile with lemon juice and honey is an amazing combination!) for the past few days, and it's definitely had a positive effect on what was initially a very sore throat (now almost fully healed). I've also felt some improvements in my digestive system, which could also be another effect in conjunction with the steady flow of spoonfuls I've been feeding myself (being ill isn't quite as bad as I remember).

You can find Manuka in your nearest health-food shop (Boots and Holland & Barratts stock it). Watch out for the frequent H&B deals - they're often running BOGOFs and BOGO-for a penny, all the better to wait for before stocking up on your health cupboard essentials.