Lower Gluten/Lower Sugar Banana Bread

I haven’t made banana bread in years, although I love it, because of the perception I held that my family recipe was unhealthy. Past substitutions of whole wheat flour and a simple reduction in the amount of sugar have not always resulted in a “new and improved” recipe! After recently trying a number of excellent grain-free recipes that used interesting nut flours and honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, I decided to make-over the famous banana bread recipe…but didn’t have the confidence to make it entirely grain free.

Photos of banana bread in the making are singularly uninteresting, so I’m showing unrelated photos of a marvelous recipe  I didn't change at all, except to substitute blackberries and nectarines.

Here is the new banana bread recipe:

Blend ¼ butter, ¼ cup oil or applesauce, 2 eggs, and 3-4 mashed bananas. Add 1 cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup flax meal, ½ cup almond flour or hazelnut flour, ¼ cup coconut flour, ¼ cup white sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup maple sugar, and ¼ cup honey or maple syrup. Add 2 and ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and a pinch of salt.

I got this idea from Kitchen Concoctions

Bake in a loaf pan at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until browned on top and not jiggly in the middle. I really liked this version, finding it to be almost too sweet for me, even though I reduced the amount of sugar from the original recipe! Next time I would leave out the ¼ cup of white sugar.