Allergy Friendly Banana Bread | Dairy + Gluten Free

It's funny that as soon as you can't have something anymore it becomes THE ONLY THING that you want--and such was my relationship with banana bread until recently. I originally just wrote it off as one of the delicious, wheat-filled delicacies that I'd never eat again, but then I remembered that I'm not a quitter, so I set out to keep trying until I created something that tastes great and is also allergy friendly!

I won't say that this is THE BEST allergy friendly banana bread on planet earth, but it's pretty darn close if it's not. 😉 I wasted a LOT of ripe bananas on some really gross early attempts. I tried some recipes that boasted that they only needed 3, 4, or 5 ingredients (hey, I'm all about simplicity if it works!) but let's just say that the extra ingredients are important if you have taste buds. 😉 Ultimately, the best recipe that I found prior to my own was this one. I wanted to love it--I really did--but the flavor and texture just weren't quite right, so I changed things around until it was exactly what I was looking for. 

This recipe has everything that a great banana bread should have: lots of flavor, perfect texture, and walnuts. Because great banana bread needs walnuts. It is also wheat, gluten, refined sugar, and dairy free! 😀

Other than being delicious and allergy-friendly, this recipe is beyond easy to make and actually pretty healthy for a dessert-type food. Score! 

Now for THE RECIPE!

Ingredients: 

5 ripe medium-sized bananas 

3 eggs

1/3 cup honey

1 cup of maple syrup 

1/2 tsp. of salt

2 tsp. of baking soda 

1 tsp. of cinnamon 

1 tbsp. of vanilla extract 

3 tbsp. of hemp seeds (optional, but they add some super-healthy nutrients, protein, and Omega-3's without affecting the taste or texture of the bread)

4 cups of rolled oats (make sure to use gluten free if that is a concern!)

1/4-1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, or as much as you like to sprinkle on top of your bread

Directions: 

Add all of the ingredients (other than rolled oats and walnuts) into a blender and blend until smooth. Then add the oats and blend again until most of the oats are chopped. (Trust me when I say that it works better this way--I added all of the ingredients at the same time on one of my first tries and it didn't didn't mix well.) 

Add the batter to a greased bundt pan (coconut oil works great for greasing) and top with chopped walnuts (those are obviously optional, but it tastes SO much better with them!) Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until the center isn't gooey. 

I bake this bread in a bundt pan because 1.) it is big enough to hold a large amount of batter, and 2.) it looks beautiful. So beautiful that you might not want to eat it--but you should eat it. 😍 You can also use two loaf pans and it would work just as well, but you will want to start checking it after 35 minutes or so to make sure that it doesn't get over cooked. 

That's it! This stuff is delicious right out of the oven or cold the next day. I top mine with MELT Organic spread because it is a near-perfect (soy and dairy-free) butter substitute. Enjoy!