Kimberly Parsons shares her recipe for a health-boosting banana bread loaf drizzled with whipped coconut yoghurt
“An interesting fact about bananas is that their nutrient profile changes as they ripen. Japanese researchers have shown that the antioxidant and anticancer properties of the banana surge as it ripens.
An overripe banana which has dark patches on its yellow skin produce a substance called TNF (Tumour Necrosis Factor), which has the ability to combat abnormal cancer cells. So, the more dark patches the banana has, the higher its immunity enhancement properties”.
Ingredients
For the banana bread:
• 450g mashed, overripe bananas
• 5 eggs
• 90g raw honey
• 90ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 300g ground almonds
• 30g chia seeds
• 1 just-ripe banana, peeled
For the whipped coconut yoghurt:
• 300g coconut yoghurt
• 85g raw honey, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 vanilla pod seeds, scraped out
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a 30 x 10cm loaf tin (pan) with baking paper (baking parchment).
2 In a large mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, honey, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder and lemon juice. (The lemon juice will activate the baking powder.) Now add the ground almonds and chia seeds and mix well.
3 Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin. For decoration, cut the extra banana in half lengthways and then place, cut sides up, on top of the batter.
4 Bake in the oven on the middle shelf for an hour.
5 This is a very moist loaf, a skewer may not come out completely clean, but if the centre feels firm then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before turning out and removing the baking paper.
6 To make the whipped coconut yoghurt, place the yoghurt into a food processor along with the honey, cinnamon and vanilla seeds and blend until thick and creamy.
7 To serve, place slices of banana bread under a hot grill (broiler).
8 Once browned, remove from the grill and place on serving plates along with a dollop of whipped coconut yoghurt and a drizzle of honey
Recipe courtesy of Kimberly Parsons, extracted from The Yoga Kitchen © Quadrille.
