by Cooking ala Mel
There is nothing quite like blueberries to kick off the summer season. Combine them with ripe bananas to make this gluten free blueberry banana bread using almond and coconut flours to keep it high in fiber and protein. A hint of liquid stevia adds just the right amount of sweetness to the naturally sweet bananas.
A bit of lemon zest and lots of bursting blueberries really make this into the perfect summer bread. The banana flavor takes the backseat – it’s very subtle here. Because coconut flour gives a different texture than your standard flours, this bread almost resembles a sponge cake – extremely light and moist.
You really need to wait to slice this bread until it is cool, to avoid it falling apart. If you put it in the fridge, it will be perfect. This bread is great on its own, but also wonderful crumbled over some Greek yogurt, or ice cream!
Ingredients (Yields 1 loaf, Serves 12)
- 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed (about 3 medium bananas)
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp liquid stevia (optional for more sweetness – or 1/4 cup honey also works)
- 1 cup almond meal/flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
- 1 1/2 tsp raw cane sugar for topping
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF, and line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Add the eggs, yogurt, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia, if using. Stir until smooth.
In a medium bowl, stir the almond meal, coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together. Slowly add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, stirring until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, smoothing evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle with the sugar evenly over top.
Bake at 350ºF for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean, and the top is golden brown. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cool completely before cutting (Put it into the refrigerator to ensure nice slices). You can freeze this loaf, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 months.
For more great recipes see www.cookingalamel.com.
