Did you have a specific cookbook that you learned to cook from when you were younger? Maybe Betty Crocker or Joy Of Cooking? It was, after all, a time when there was no internet and the only way to cook was from a book or a recipe written on an index card. I used this book regularly to learn cooking skills and get basic recipes, especially the Banana Bread. I could whip a loaf up in no time, and it would be demolished in no time too. I prefered it still warm with a slab of melty butter or cooled with a slather of cream cheese. It was really good.

Recently I’ve been into Real Foods, which means making a lot of the basics, i.e. bread, crackers, soup stock, kombucha. It’s been a lot of fun to find new recipes and ideas from fellow bloggers on the internet. I’ve also gotten much more competent in the baking department.

Today I looked at my counter noticed 3 brown bananas just sitting there, much to my husbands chagrin no doubt. Having just done our budget, and trying my best to be frugal (hard) I decided I had to use those organic bananas one way or another. BING! Better Homes and Gardens to the rescue!

In looking over the recipes in my beloved cookbook, I noticed that while all the recipes are from scratch, they are pretty standard ingredients. If I’ve learned anything on my Real Food and weight loss journey, regular sugar and flour hold almost no nutritional value and aren’t metabolized in the body very well.

Since Porter was going to be eating this bread over the next week I wanted to adjust it to our Real Food needs. With the original recipe I would feel like I was serving him cake on a daily basis. No bueno in my book.

What I’ve done is taken the original recipe and made it with Real Food ingredients. I only had 2 bites, but it tasted wonderful. It had the right flavor and texture and was actually pretty good for you, if you don’t eat the whole thing in one sitting. Porter enjoyed his with a think slather of pastured butter, and ate every single bite.

REAL FOOD BANANA BREAD

8″x 8″ baking pan, or use this chart to convert to the baking pan of your choice

350* oven, farenheit

Ingredients, can all be found at your local natural foods store

1 3/4 cups sprouted organic spelt flour
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pure baking soda
1/4 teaspoon real salt (I like Redmond’s Real Salt)
3 mashed bananas, as brown and gooey as you can get ’em
1/4 cup organic pastured butter
2 tablespoons pastured or raw milk
2 eggs, from pastured non GMO hens
1/4 cup nuts (optional)
coconut oil for oiling pan and measuring cup for honey, I prefer refined.

Preheat oven to 350* and make sure your ingredients are at room temperature.

Using the coconut oil, grease your baking pan and measuring cup for honey (this will facilitate easier pouring of honey).

In a smaller bowl mash bananas.

Add wet ingredients, including honey, to the bananas and mix.

In a larger bowl mix dry ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry  and mix until it looks like pancake batter. Mix in nuts.

Pour batter into baking pan.

Cook in 350* oven for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. If you smell banana bread, go and check it.

Remove pan from oven and let cool on cooling rack ~20 minutes.

Turn loaf onto a cooling rack and try to resist it as long as possible. If you absolutely must cut into it before it’s totally cool, everyone will understand.

Bon appetite!

This post featured on: Tasty Traditions

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Thanks to Luke’s co-worker we got to enjoy the long weekend in McCall, Idaho. It was a winter wonderland, complete with log cabins and sledding. Trips like this are wonderful and exciting and I can’t wait to do it again. Here’s the photo journey.