I'm a big fan of Pacific Island foods and Banana Bread is right up there as one of my all time favourites. A good Banana Bread is quite simple in it's make up so I figure a few of the ingredients could be swapped out from the original to end up with a version that tastes almost as good but way better for you and could potentially be used as a good pre and/or post workout food source.

Here is the original recipe:

Ingredients

1-1/4 cup of flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 small very ripe bananas
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Trex)
2 eggs

I also had a few tablespoons of sugar with cinnamon in it which I swirled into the greased pan prior to pouring the batter, and then poured the rest on top of the batter before baking.

Method

Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

Blend together bananas, shortening, and eggs.

Fold flour mix into blended ingredients ... don't over mix.

Spoon into 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Thump once to remove air holes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool and cut into squares.

Nutrition

Each loaf is around 2700 Kcals.

The plan is to gradually swap out ingredients one at a time to see what works and what doesn't rather than throw in a load of alternatives at the first go. There are some very obvious changes that can be made but for me what would make or break the whole thing was to find a healthy alternative fat source as without this the whole process is a waste of time.

So my first batch this afternoon was to use Coconut Oil instead of the vegetable shortening which worked out very well and didn't really effect the taste or consistancy in a negative way. The first evolution is therefore complete and I now have to eat my way through this batch before looking for the next change of ingredient.

1-1/4 cup of flour (blended oats)
1 cup sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar )
1/2 teaspoon salt (him salts?)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 small very ripe bananas
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Trex) (Butter?)
2 eggs

I'll give this a go tomorrow. Probably work out a mess, but i'll eat it any way

I used 1 cup of Light Brown Sugar in this one but thinking long term 1/2 and 1/2 sugar/sweetener.

Ultra Fine Oats had crossed my mind as well as Rice Flour as initial alternatives.

Butter will make it too stodgey so Lard or Trex for fat if Coconut Oil isn't available.

even if melted?

I prefer just a subtle hint of sweetness, rather than blatant in-your-face sweetness, so half cup sugar plus bananas might be enough maybe?

Yeah as you need a drier fat source if that makes sense.

You'd be surprised how subtle the flavour is with that amount of sugar used. If anything I'd edge slightly under 1 cup for flour or have a little more banana.

Next version completed this time with 1/2 sugar, 1/2 sweetener and 1 extra banana added. Taste is still very good and not compromised.

I've used this recipe a number of times: http://www.joyoushealth.ca/2009/04/20/gluten-free-banana-bread/

The flours I've used are: buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa.
I replace sugar with stevia and a little raw honey.
Coconut oil instead of butter.
Egg replacement instead of eggs.

It's lovely. Even the wife likes it which is the real test.

Do you think there's anything wrong with eggs and butter? especially grass fed butter.

I avoid as much animal produce as possible. My choice now. I think it's easy to swap all butter uses with coconut oil. Eggs never have agreed with me and since stopping them and other stuff my digestive health (after a good year or so! - for me it's taken a long time to detox and rebuild internally) has been the best I can remember.

I can understand swapping out a lot of the ingredients but at the same point by doing so you will lose taste and more importantly texture. This is why I'd always keep in eggs and will be quite particular about a plain flour replacement so as to retain as much as the original as possible. If you defer too much then you lose the the point of a treat being a treat in the first place. I want to retain 90% of the qualities that make it a treat while using smart substitutes for more processed or bad ones.

Out of interest where do you get your Stevia from?

http://www.naturallygreen.co.uk/

The texture I've found to be fine with the substitutes I've made. There's always a better "bad" choice for a treat

health4ni wrote:http://www.naturallygreen.co.uk/

The texture I've found to be fine with the substitutes I've made. There's always a better "bad" choice for a treat

Hence my experiment but then I don't class eggs as a bad choice

Swapped out plain flour for rice flour and all good - happy days.