Double Chocolate Paleo Banana Bread
This recipe for Double Chocolate Paleo Banana Bread tastes decadent and rich, but is completely gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free.
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About ten years back, I had a major thing for banana bread. I made a loaf every few days, and each time I tweaked the recipe to make it as “healthy” as possible. I used whole wheat flour, extra wheat germ, and swapped out the oil and butter for apple sauce. I was working as an outside sales rep back then, and I sustained myself on banana bread at least 80% of the time.
When I finally quit that job, I also quit banana bread. I ate it so much that eventually I’d lost my taste for it altogether. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I finally came around again when I found an enticing recipe for brown butter banana bread and had a pile of rotting bananas on my counter. But this recipe wasn’t fooling anybody. This wasn’t health food. This was cake.
Of course it was tasty. But if I’m going to take in those kinds of calories, I want it to actually taste like cake and not something trying to pose as a nutritious breakfast. However, the dry, wheat-filled loaves of my past weren’t exactly something I wanted to revisit, so I began experimenting with a few different techniques, and that’s how this recipe was born.
This is a new kind of healthy banana bread, or at least it is for me. It’s made up of mostly bananas - six of them to be exact - and contains no added sugar, aside from what’s in the dark chocolate (which really isn’t much). There is lots of cacao powder, which gives it a rich, deep, chocolatey flavor in addition to antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It has coconut and almond flour for added fiber and protein, but they also provide a wonderfully moist, dense, and slightly chewy texture. It also has eggs to add structure and lightness.
This double chocolate banana bread legit tastes like cake. CAKE! A dense, rich, melt-in-your mouth chocolate cake, only it’s made from wholesome, nourishing ingredients.
Ten years ago I thought that whole wheat flour, wheat germ, and apple sauce were the keys to making both healthy and tasty baked goods, but I was so wrong. Healthy? Depends who you ask. Tasty? That’s gonna be a straight up no for me, dawg. Tolerable is more like it.
This recipe has already become a staple in my repertoire. It’s the best way I’ve found to eat chocolate cake for breakfast without crashing an hour later. We can’t seem to get enough of it these days, and I have a feeling once you try it, you won’t either.
Oh, and all those egg shells and banana peels? They're two of the best things you can add to a compost pile, and gardening season is right around the corner.
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Double Chocolate Paleo Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 6 very ripe bananas peeled
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 1 ¼ cups almond meal
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup (plus 2 tablespoons( raw cacao powder or good quality cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 6 ounces dark chocolate 70% or higher, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, then spray paper with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add bananas to a large bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and coconut oil, then whisk to combine.
- Add the almond meal, coconut flour, cacao powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix until thoroughly combined, then fold in the dark chocolate.
- Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan an smooth out the top. Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool, then slice and serve. Leftovers may be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
See this recipe and many more on Eggland's Best website, HERE.
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Decadent, delicious, and healthy!!! This recipe is a must try.
So glad you love it!! 🙂
So good you would never guess it’s a healthy recipe.
made the recipe - this is will be the "it" banana bread from now on !
I am truly a nerd when it comes to how something is cooked and a recipe gets delivered: your instructions are so well put together from the content to formatting. Brevity and clarity - impeccable !
thank you Nicole
What a wonderful compliment! Thank you so much! 🙂
Saw your Fennel and Onion Gratin in Flavor insert. Tried it this week anticipating that I might make it for Thanksgiving
Wow, we loved it. It was soooooo delicious! So went to your web site and have already copied 2 of your recipes. Roasted shrimp and double paleo banana bread. Looking forward to serving both.
That's awesome!! Thank you so much. I LOVE that fennel and onion gratin!! I think you'll like these other recipes too. I appreciate the comment! 🙂