One of my favourite foods growing up was my mom’s banana bread. We would come home from school to find the house filled with the smell of a freshly baked loaf. It was a way of showing her love, besides the million hugs I received, and contributed to my love of food. For most of us, food is a comfort, a reminder of that unconditional love we received.
As a Nutritional Therapist & Functional Medicine Practitioner, I am always thinking about how to make delicious recipes I grew up with, and remember fondly, a little healthier.
While I encourage my clients to find other non-food comforts and reminders of unconditional love, I also think it’s okay to indulge once in a while. So let’s just make healthier versions of these foods!
Courgette Banana Bread
Course: Dessert, Snacks20
servings15
minutes40
minutes15
minutes1
hour10
minutesIngredients
710g (3 cups) wholegrain flour (plus 3 tbsp extra, for good luck)
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
600g (4 cups) courgette, grated and squeezed to drain water
3 medium or large bananas *see note below
170g (¾ cup) butter
3 eggs
125g (1 cup) pecans or walnuts, crushed
Directions
- Turn on the oven to 190C (375F).
- Butter your oven dish (27x10cm) and lightly flour it
- Grate the courgette and squeeze the excess water out
- Whisk the eggs and add all the other ingredients.
- Stir well to ensure there are no lumps
- Pour into the oven dish, leaving a few centimetres at the top for the bread to rise
- Bake for 45 minutes. You’ll know it’s finished when you put a toothpick in deep and it comes out clean.
- I baked this recipe myself in two parts as I wanted to share some of the cake with colleagues.
I baked it at 180 for 40 minutes as my oven is very hot and efficient because it’s new. Any written recipe I need to lower the temperature. So bear this in mind when you use the instructions above (how hot or old your oven is).
Notes
- TIP: The best bananas to use are very brown as they are softer and sweeter. When your bananas go a little too brown to eat, throw them in the freezer in a container and save them for a baking day. They will be perfect for this recipe!
