If there's one thing I've learned from cooking, it's that mistakes will happen. It's not a maybe thing. It's a when and how bad will it be thing. Luckily, sometimes the mistakes turn out to be something completely new and better than you could have hoped! Such is the case with this recipe. I was making a batch of my Apple Cinnamon Banana Bread for our new neighbors when I realized that I'd completely forgotten to get the apples and maple syrup at the store 20 minutes before. Well, since I was already mixing things together, I didn't want to waste supplies. So instead, I found what I did have in the kitchen and this bread was the result!

It is a dense, homestyle banana bread that is very good at seeming like it is made with traditional wheat flour. I am very happy with this recipe and knew it was a keeper when it was easily replicated the next day. My roommates, who have quickly become my newly-elected, non-paleo taste testers, chowed down on it with me and we all agreed that it is delicious!

Baking has always been a joy for me, and now I hope this recipe brings some smiles to you and those you love... without the bloating and allergies afterward! :)

Banana Nut Bread

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 35-40 minutes Total time: 50 minutes

Yield: One 9"x5" bread loaf (one standard-sized large bread pan)

Directions

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease your bread pan with baking oil of choice (I just use a little coconut oil straight from the jar and it works fine!)
Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl until they are more of a cream than banana-looking.
In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, except for the coconut sugar and pecans (almond flour, arrowroot starch, coconut flour, baking soda, salt) until they are well-incorporated with one another.
Add the dry mixture to the mixing bowl with the bananas and mix as well as possible. The banana should separate into smaller pieces and begin to clump with the dry mix.
Add the wet ingredients one at a time, stirring to mix each one in thoroughly.
Once all ingredients, except for the pecans and coconut sugar, have been mixed together into a smooth batter, pour it into the greased bread pan.
Sprinkle coconut sugar and pecan pieces on top of the batter, adjusting amounts of each to taste and appearance preferences.
Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden-brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the middle. MAKE SURE to do the toothpick (or butter knife, fork, etc.) test, because the top of the bread gets golden-brown before the middle is completely done cooking.
Enjoy... and try your best not to eat it all at once! If not serving right away, store in the fridge for up to a week.