Banana Walnut Bread

Everyone needs a go-to banana bread recipe, but most of the recipes out there are laden with so much sugar and oil that the bread may as well be called banana cake.

Meanwhile, “healthy” banana bread tends to end up gummy. This can occur for a variety of reasons (including trying to bake without any fat or carbs, which just doesn’t work), but typically I find that gummy banana bread happens when you incorporate mashed banana into the wet ingredients. The sugar and starch in the banana throw off the molecular structure of the bread itself, leaving you with something more like a sponge and less like bread.

In order to avoid this fate, I add the mashed banana to the dry ingredients but wait until I’ve added my wet ingredients to stir it all together. This keeps the banana’s sugar and starch from interfering with the bread, while also swirling gooey bits of sweet banana throughout.

Note that this recipe also calls for a little almond flour, which helps keep the bread tender. If you don’t have almond flour or are trying to ration fat grams, replace it with an equal amount of dry oats (and don’t forget to adjust the macros!).

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray a bread pan with nonstick spray and line it with parchment, just to be safe.
2. Set aside 1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts.
3. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine and aerate, then set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mash the banana with a fork until goopy. Pour the mashed banana on top of the flour mixture along with all but 1 tablespoon of the chopped walnuts. DO NOT MIX. Just let the mashed banana sit on top of the flour while you prep the wet ingredients.
5. In a bowl (use the same bowl you mashed the banana in), whisk the eggs, vanilla, oil, brown sugar and Greek yogurt until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour and bananas, then use a spatula to gently fold the mixture together. Stop stirring as soon as you can’t see any more flour. The batter will be thick and chunky.
6. Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and smooth it out. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of walnuts over the top. Bake for 40 minutes, uncovered, then cover the bread tightly with foil and bake for another 30 minutes.
7. When the bread is done, let the bread rest in the bread pan for a few minutes. Then, turn it onto the counter or a cooling rack, remove the parchment and let it cool for at least 20 minutes, right side up, before slicing.

While you can use any kind of oil (or melted butter) in this recipe, keep in mind that olive oil will give the bread an olive oil flavor and coconut oil will give the bread a coconut flavor.