STRAWBERRY BANANA BREAD

I'm a HUGE fan of anything that is similar to a cake but can be called 'bread'! This is banana bread for me. As I like to make banana bread quite often, I've tried to find ways to make it as healthy as I can. Hence the recipe was below was born out of many, many experiments in the kitchen! I love adding strawberries to banana bread to give it more texture and sweetness. I barely use any sugar at all besides the naturally occurring sugar in the bananas and strawberries besides a touch of coconut sugar. I have included many ingredients you can substitute if you have a dairy and / or gluten allergy. Just a handy tip: as this banana bread has no preservatives or artificial sugar in it it will go bad within a few days if left out of the fridge. After three days we usually put the remaining slices in the fridge, if there is any left that is! 

INGREDIENTS

• Reduced-fat butter or Nutalex, to grease 
• 2 cups wholemeal spelt flour (or Gluten-free plain flour)
• 2 tablespoons organic self-raising flour (or gluten-free self raising flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (or gluten-free baking powder)
• 2 heaped tablespoons coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus extra to dust & serve 
• 2 large or 4 small overripe bananas, mashed 
• 2 eggs, beaten, preferably free-range 
• 3 tablespoons natural unsweetened yoghurt 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat milk (or unsweetened almond milk)
• 1 cup (125g) fresh strawberries, chopped into quarters, plus extra, to serve

COOKING 

1. Preheat a fan forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line a loaf tin (base measurement 19 cm x 9cm) with baking paper. 

2. Combine the two types of flour, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the mashed banana, eggs, yoghurt, vanilla and milk and stir well to combine. Gently fold in the strawberries. 

3. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until the bread is baked to your liking. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before removing from the pan onto a large plate or wire rack. Dust with extra cinnamon and strawberries, if desired. 

Serves / 12

Total Prep & Cooking time / approx. 1 hour 15 minutes 

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