Healthy Banana Bread Oil Free

I love banana bread. And banana cookies. And banana pancakes. Well I just love bananas in general, I usually have at least one a day without fail. But that becomes a bit of a problem, as I never give them chance to become over ripe, meaning I rarely get the chance to bake with them. Luckily, my mum accidentally ordered too many bananas and we had a few that got to the over ripe stage - it was a joyful moment.

Many of the recipes I have come across call for oil, and personally I dont like baking with it, so I used apple sauce in place. Also because the bananas where already very sweet from being ripe, I didnt want to add in loads of additional sugar, and this created a really natural taste to the bread and wasnt sickly sweet - which I have found other recipes to be. 

It is lightly spiced, perfect for the season. And the smell! Mmmmm. When it was baking away the whole house smelt delicious. The sweet smell of banana makes your stomach rumble. The hint of cinnamon and nutmeg gives the house that warm and inviting feeling when its all cold outside. My mum actually came in from work and asked for a slice straight away, but it was still in the oven.     

I decided to only make a small loaf as I guessed it would only be me and my mum eating it, and as it is better the fresher it is, didnt want to be left with a large amount. Personally, I love banana bread when it is slightly chewy on the outer crust, but moist and gooey on the inside. So I made the mixture a little wetter and baked it on a lower heat for 1 hour.

As you can see I left a few chunks of banana, which I really like along with the chunks of walnuts and dates.

I prefer it when it has cooled down with a nice amount of peanut butter spread across (my stomach is rumbling, I think I may have to go an get myself a slice). If youre more of the eat warm kind of person, a dollop of ice cream would go perfectly. Or equally as good, and more seasonally appropriate - custard.

Ingredients
Yields 1 small loaf

• 1 1/2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/3 cup apple sauce
• 2 tbsp light muscovado sugar
• 1/3 cup full fat Greek yoghurt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
• 1/4 cup walnuts, crushed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a bowl combine your mashed banana, apple sauce, egg and sugar and mix well until the sugar has dissolve.
3. To the mixture, add in your vanilla extract and Greek yoghurt.
4. In a separate bowl, combine your wholemeal flour, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. Next, fold your dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix well.
6. Fold in your dates and walnuts.
7. Pour your mixture into the prepared tin and place in the oven for an hour. However, check on the loaf after 30-40 minutes and if the top is browned, cover with foil and return to the oven. After an hour check the bread with a skewer. For a gooey bread it should be mostly clean but still have some mixture on. If it still feels too unbaked return the oven, however please remember that it is a moist recipe.
8. Once it has been removed from the oven, allow to cool for around 5 minutes before removing from the tin.

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