- Continue Shopping
- Your Cart is Empty
Delicious Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Bread
Our household tends to have a few extra brown bananas this time of year thanks to those warm summer afternoons. I used to keep those bananas in the freezer to make my mum's banana bread recipe but unfortunately my stomach can no longer tolerate her yum bread. Over the past few months I've been working with a great local nutritionist to get down to the root of my health issues. Turns out that my body just cannot process most gluten and dairy products.
Queue Slim Palates (found via Pinterest) amazing gluten and dairy free banana bread recipe. I've always been a bit skeptical of gluten and dairy free baking recipes as they can tend to be quite dense and flavourless - not this one!
This banana bread recipe tastes just like the real deal and best of all - doesn't cause me any discomfort - win win. Below is my version of Slim Palate's recipe but you can see his original version here.
INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup almond meal
- 1 cup very ripe banana mashed well with a fork (3 defrosted medium bananas)
- ½ cup coconut oil (melted)
- ¼ cup cacao nibs
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cake spice mix
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup honey
- 4 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 175C degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl combine the coconut flour, almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cacao nibs, and pinch of salt and mix with a fork to reduce any clumps until thoroughly combined.
- In a small bowl add eggs, vanilla extract, honey and whisk then add mashed banana to the egg mixture and whisk more until well combined.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir with a spoon until thoroughly combined then add melted butter and continue stirring until well incorporated.
- Spoon all of the bater in your greased loaf pan and spread it out evenly with a scraper and shape it in any way you want (specifically in the shape of a loaf so that it rises like that)
- Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until the center is pierced with a toothpick and the toothpick comes out clean.
- Pull out of the oven and let it cool slightly (only for a minute or so) then carefully run a knife along the edges to make sure nothing is sticking and cautiously invert it onto your hand or a wire rack and flip it so the bottom is laying flat on the wire rack and let it cool for 20-30 minutes. (if you can wait that long)
2-Ingredient Healthy Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies
Image from Ambitious Kitchen
I have a confession to make - I haven't baked in close to a year. With cutting most sugar out of our lives and being sensitive to dairy and gluten it just makes life way easier. But! We had some bananas that needed using and with the weather changing my heart couldn't help but want to turn them into delicious baked goodness vs frozen smoothie healthiness. Usually I would make my mom's banana bread but with no butter or milk in the house I decided on oatmeal breakfast cookies. These cookies are super easy to make and relatively healthy! Plus they only take around 15 minutes to make and are about 60 calories per cookie (depending add ons), win win!The recipe (if you want to even call it a recipe) is simple 2 mashed bananas plus 2 cups oats. Then for fun flavour you can add in basically anything you want!
- vanilla extract
- peanut butter chips
- peanut butter
- nutella
- dried cranberries
- sultanas
- chopped walnuts, almond or pecans
- coconut flakes
- cocoa nibs / chocolate chips
- baking spices
- salt
- milk (almond, coconut, soy - helps blend it all together and lighten the cookies)
I personally made 2 batches as we had 4 bananas.
Batch 1 had: banans, oats, peanut butter, pumpkin pie spice mix, cinnamon, salt.
Batch 2 had: bananas, oats, almond milk, sultanas, chocolate chips, nutmeg, spiced cake mix, salt.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 170C
- Mix all ingredients together in mixer until smooth
- Let sit for about 10 minutes before putting in oven (especially if you add milk to help set mixture)
- Cook for approximately 10 minutes
Coconut, almond and tahini cookies
Yesterday I decided to do some baking so I could have some treats with me at the Trade Show (eating at those things can be tricky and there's nothing like a good sugar boost!). I saw that Lauren from Needle & I had posted what appeared to be a 'healthy' cookie recipe that sounded delicious! So yesterday I headed to the supermarket in the morning and purchased a few missing ingredients. I will warn you now, these cookies are aaaaamazing! I made a couple alterations to Lauren's recipe to be just a wee bit healthier / it's what I had at home. This recipe is dairy free, gluten free, and only contains natural sugar and still takes good. If you're looking for some new items to cook or bake make sure to check out her In the Kitchen section of the blog, there are some real gems in there! Enjoy! INGREDIENTS (makes approx. 30 cookies) 150g coconut oil – at room temperature (original recipe used butter) 1/3 cup liquid honey (I used Clove Honey) 85g hulled tahini 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 1.5 cups desiccated coconut 1 cup ground almonds (I used both almond meal and LSA, again it's what I had on hand) 1.5 cups gluten-free flour (I used barley rice flour as it's what I had on hand) METHOD 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two oven trays with baking paper. 2. Put the oil, honey, tahini and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed until thick, creamy and pale. 3. Add the coconut, almonds and gluten-free flour and mix on a low speed until everything is just incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky. 
4. Roll tablespoons of the dough between your hands into walnut-sized balls. 5. Place the balls onto the lined oven trays allowing about 5cm between each cookie. Flatten each one slightly with the back of a fork. 
6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes – set a timer as they will burn quickly if left any longer. They should be a lovely golden brown. 7. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. 8. Store in an airtight container. These cookies will keep well for up to a week - if they last that long...
(All photographs taken by Needle & I)
Note: My cookies didn't come out quite as thick as pictured here due to using a hand electric blender and using butter but they still taste fantastic!
Green Juice
This year for my birthday I bought myself a juicer! Sure, not your typical birthday gift but with 2013 being so busy, my health took a bit of a backseat priority. So I've decided to put my health a bit forward on the priority list this year and with us now having our own veggie patch, a juicer seemed like a perfect pressie! I do have to admit, I have taken it out of the box, assembled it, displayed it nicely on the kitchen bench, but have yet to use it! I've been spending some time looking up delicious and healthy recipes to try and this beautiful print by Verysarie, based in LA, has inspired me to get my grocery list together and start juicing! Green juice is something that sounds super scary but tastes delicious! Here are some recipes I've found online for a mean green smoothie: The Juice Box Ingredients: 1/2 a box of arugala an apple a cucumber half a lemon about 1.5 cube inches of ginger Directions: 1. throw all those ingredients in your juicer 2. adjust for your personal preference 3. sip up! Joe Cross Ingredients: Apples - 2 medium (3" dia) 364g Celery - 4 salk, large (11"-12" long) 256g Cucumber - 1 cucumber (8-1/4") 301g Ginger - 1 thumb (1" dia) 24g Kale - 6 leaf (8-12") 210g Lemon - 1/2 fruit (2-3/8" dia) 42g Directions: Process all ingredients in a juicer, shake or stir and serve.
Ingredients: 6 kale leaves 1 cucumber 4 celery stalks 2 apples 1/4 lemon, peeled sliver of ginger root Have a favourite juice recipe? We'd love to know!
Wilder and Hunt
After my market last Saturday, I couldn't think of anything more refreshing on a hot summer's day that a good smoothie! I was quite excited to realise that I was near Wilder and Hunt, a cafe I've been dying to try for months. Well, it didn't disappoint! This super cute cafe is nestled in St Heliers and is easy to spot from the road. The staff was super friendly and welcoming and the atmosphere was just as inviting. 
I was able to try the Forever Young smoothie (I'm a sucker for green juice), the Koka Mocha, and The Royal. Even though the Koka-Mocha was unbelievably good, after a day of markets and multiple coffees I thought it was best to steer clear of more caffein. I decided on The Royal - and did it hit the spot! The smoothie was extremely delicious and filling - positively perfect! The little shop is full of great local and healthy products that can be hard to find in other stores around the city. Not to mention they make their own goodies as well that were very hard to resist. If you're over by the bays or are looking for a little excursion, I highly recommend popping in and enjoying a delicious treat! 
All photos are taken by Liora of Toodles Noodles.
Healthy Zucchini Muffins Post:
These muffins were my go-to Paleo treat. The best part is they’re simple to make (no tricky ingredients) and you can freeze them and eat whenever needed. Oh and they taste great too, which is an added bonus for healthy muffins! They may look savoury, but don’t be fooled they’re actually sweet! I loved eating them warm with almond butter, delicious!
Healthy Zucchini Muffins Recipe by Running to the Kitchen Ingredients 1½ C Ground Almonds 1½ t Baking Soda ½ t Salt 1 t Cinnamon 3 Eggs 3 T Natural Maple Syrup 1 Banana, mashed 1 T Coconut Oil, melted 1 C Grated Zucchini, water squeezed out Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a muffin tin with a little coconut oil. Combine ground almonds, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, maple syrup and coconut oil for approx. 2 minutes. Add zucchini and mix until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Pour mixture evenly into muffin holes and bake for 12-17 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes then remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Healthy Zucchini Muffins Recipe by Running to the Kitchen Ingredients 1½ C Ground Almonds 1½ t Baking Soda ½ t Salt 1 t Cinnamon 3 Eggs 3 T Natural Maple Syrup 1 Banana, mashed 1 T Coconut Oil, melted 1 C Grated Zucchini, water squeezed out Instructions
Homemade Muesli
This weekend I decided to raid our pantry and make muesli for the first time! My partner has a fantastic recipe that he used to make a couple years ago - but being from California - muesli was a bit foreign to me before moving to New Zealand. Over the past few years I've learned to love and crave this filling morning treat! So an effort to do a little Spring Clean of our pantry I decided to make my own! This recipe is low in sugar and high in fibre and will keep you full all morning long (and is particularly good with natural yogurt). Enjoy! 1 1/4 C Oats 1/4 C Pumpkin Seeds 1/4 C Sunflower Seeds 1/4 C Sesame Seeds 1/4 C Chia Seeds (I found mine at the local Farro) 1/4 C Raisins 1/4 C Dried Cranberries 1/3 C chopped Dates 1/4 C Coconut Shavings 1/4 C Bee's Blessings Mulled Honey 1 T Coconut Oil Dash of Salt Mix ingredients together and toast in 150C oven until brown.
Berrylicious Sorbet
Have that sweet tooth craving at night but don't want to load up on sugar and carbs? Yup, same here!
My Mr. has come up with a super delicious, easy, and healthy alternative.
Ingredients: (yields 2 servings)
1 banana 2 cups of frozen berries 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder (can be substituted for Complan or alternatives) a dash of probiotic yogurt Simply combine all items in your hand mixer (I'm sure a blender will work just as well) until berries are blended and all ingredients have a smooth consistency. For presentation and a bit of texture, sprinkle frozen black currents (full of antioxidants, Vit C, and fiber!) Enjoy!
© 2016 Toodles Noodles. Powered by Shopify
X