Sunny Banana Bread (paleo, grain-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free)

We finally broke down and turned on the air conditioning. We lasted until the end of June, which is pretty good for living in Philadelphia where the humidity will suck the energy from you, reducing you to a pile of deflated sticky and sweaty mess. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Anyway, I missed the cool air, and am once again struck by how fortunate we are to have things like air conditioning. Really – how great is it that we can choose whether or not we want to use cool air in our house? Sometimes I think about things like that. It’s not weird.

During our A/C hiatus we also had to forego some things, like cooking in the oven. For some reason the air does not circulate well in our house, so the temperature stayed higher than the outside temperature, and any oven use increased the temp of the upper level of the house by at least a degree or two. So when we finally turned on the A/C, cooled ourselves down, and could once again function like humans, the kids requested banana bread. It’s no secret that we don’t eat much bread in our house, but when that craving strikes, I usually whip up a loaf of this paleo-friendly banana bread and it hits the spot! The kids love it. And it’s always fun to dress it up with coconut butter, honey, ice cream and or chocolate, or to make it into French toast. Mostly though, I love it just by itself, warm right out of the oven. *Just to note: because of the chemical reaction of sunflower seeds to baking soda, the bread will turn green once cooked. Do not be afraid! It is perfectly safe – and delicious – regardless.

And by the way, it’s easy too. Really easy. You’ll need a food processor, a whisk, a bowl and a bread pan.


Sunny Banana Bread (paleo, grain-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free)

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 medium, very ripe bananas
  • 1.5c sunflower seeds
  • 1/2c coconut flour
  • 1/2c tapioca flour
  • 2T avocado oil
  • 3 eggs, whisked
  • 1T raw local honey
  • 1tsp baking soda
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 1/2tsp cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2c chopped walnuts, optional
  • coconut oil, for greasing pan

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Add sunflower seeds to food processor and grind down to a fine meal.
  3. With processor running, add oil and keep processing until it turns to sunbutter.
  4. Peel bananas and throw them in food processor with sunbutter. Combine until smooth.
  5. In large bowl, whisk eggs, and combine with the sunbutter mixture. Add in flours, baking soda and powder, honey, cinnamon and salt.
  6. If adding walnuts, add them now.
  7. Grease loaf pan with coconut oil. Pour batter into pan.
  8. Bake in oven for 30-35min, or until cooked through and browned on top.

Try it! And let me know how you like. Happy clean-eating!