Healthier "Banana Bread"

I'm constantly looking for "healthy" and quick breakfast ideas for my kids. I feel like I'm always giving them eggs and a fruit. I'm tired of making it I can't imagine them not being tired of eating it!

One of my favorite go-to breakfasts for the kids is my "Banana bread". I put it in quotes because it's so much more than a banana bread. It tastes like bananas but is filled with protein and fiber and they still think they are eating cake for breakfast because I add chocolate chips!

This doubles (I have quadrupled it and it still works, just make sure you have bowls that fit your ingredients together!), and freezes beautifully. I wrap it in saran wrap, and then put it in a big ziplock and freeze it for up to 6 months! Set it on the counter the night before and they can serve themselves in the morning! (Zombie mom with no guilt!)

I made 5 recipes variants of this maximizing the nutritional value of it, all while trying not to compromise flavor. I did one with teff flour, made my own quinoa flour in another, added avocados, but this recipe I'm sharing is my favorite and was voted by 12 other people as the best recipe hands down! 

The final product is a moist dense cake that is sweet enough for it to be called cake, filled with texture from the added nuts. My family loves it.  Hope you enjoy it too! 

FUNDABBLER FACT:

I use chia seeds as a replacement for oil. The gelatinous bloom causes the baked good to be a bit more dense and moist but I will take that exchange for the health benefits of omegas 3's, fiber, protein and antioxidants any day!

INGREDIENTS

DRY:
1 cup flour
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar

OPTIONAL (But I always add)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (ideally mini)
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup slithered or sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened no sulfide cranberries and/or raisins 

WET:
1/2 cup oil
1/4 water with 1 tbs chia
3 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1 tsp vanilla extract

Bake at 350F for about an hour (depending on your oven)

The recipe fits a 10 inch cake pan or 24 muffins 

PROCESS

Whisk you dry ingredients in one bowl.

Add and mash (I use a potato masher) your wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Make sure this bowl is big enough for the volume of both of your bowls. 

Greese your pan generously with butter. Place a parchment paper at the bottom of it. I always add about a teaspoon of flour to my greased pan and shake it to coat the butter for easier release once out of the oven, then place my parchment paper at the bottom. 

Incorporate all of your ingredients. (I add my dry to my wet bowl just for one less bowl to scrub clean). 

Pour into your mold of choice and bake until the point where when you put a knife in the middle it comes out clean. 

ENJOY!