RECIPE: Breakfast Banana Bread
Banana bread with coffee is one of my favourite breakfasts. Unfortunately, many of the banana bread recipes call for sugar which, on top of the bananas and white flour, can mean a potentially high GI breakfast.
GI refers to Glycaemic Index which measures how quickly the carbohydrates (sugars) from a food or meal release into the bloodstream. The higher the GI, the quicker the sugars absorb into the blood. This puts a strain on our pancreas which has to pump out insulin to reduce the levels of sugar in our bloodstream.
Protein, fat and fibre take longer to digest and when paired with carbohydrate, they slow down the rate at which the sugars are released into the bloodstream, making this more manageable for the pancreas.
The sweetness in the recipe below comes from the bananas and the honey and these sugars are paired with eggs, olive oil, almonds and oats to provide the protein, fat and fibre content.
Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 45 mins | Serves: makes 8-10 slices
Ingredients:
110g plain flour
60g ground almonds
100g rolled oats
2 eggs
130ml olive oil
3 large very ripe bananas
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Caster sugar to sprinkle over the top
Preheat oven to 180° oven / 160° degrees fan and use butter to grease a loaf tin
Mash the bananas with the honey and leave to the side.
In a large bowl sift the flour and ground almonds. Add the oats, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and mix together.
In a separate bowl whisk the oil and eggs together.
Add the dry ingredients to the oil and eggs and mix together. Finally add the banana and honey and combine.
Pour into your loaf tin and add any toppings (slices of banana / flaked almonds) for decoration. Bake for around 45 mins and check to see if it is done.
When ready, leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins and then tip out onto cooling rack.
This banana bread is best eaten once it has fully cooled – freshly baked the oil has quite a strong flavour. However once cooled, you can toast the banana bread and it tastes great!