It’s Easter, and that means a lovely long weekend. I’m in holiday mode, and just want to spend the whole weekend sleeping in the autumn sunshine. And when I wake up, I want thick slices of banana pecan spice bread, toasted and slathered with butter, and a cup of tea. Who’s with me?
(Or without butter, if you can’t have it… I’m just a bit excited about the fact that I can now eat butter, after doing GAPS!!)
This recipe is based on my Grain Free Bread Formula, but we (my trusty recipe development assistant, Apphia, and I), decided it needed a slightly different ratio to make it softer, so we thought we should share what we came up with. It’s soooooo good.
Note: You can find fine sea salt for this recipe in my online store here!
Banana Pecan Spice Bread for breakfast, with scrambled eggs. Mmm…
Anyway, enough chit chat – you’re probably in holiday mode like me, and just want to get this bread in the oven, then in your mouth, and get back out into the sunshine.
Enjoy, and Happy Easter!
Banana Pecan Spice Bread (grain free)
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- Author: QuirkyJo
Ingredients
100g activated* (or raw) pecans, plus extra for decorating
230g activated* almonds (or 250g raw)
4 medium eggs, separated
200g bananas, peeled and cut into 3cm slices (fresh or frozen and thawed)
1/2 tsp salt
60g ghee or coconut oil
3tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
2 Tbsp honey (opt)
100g sultanas
*(activated means soaked then dehydrated so they’re really dry and crisp – makes them easier to digest)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line loaf tin (28x12cm) with baking paper, and set aside.
2. Place pecans into TM bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5. Set aside.
3. Place almonds into TM bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 8. Remove to a bowl, and set aside. Thoroughly clean and dry the mixing bowl.
4. Place egg whites into TM bowl and insert butterfly. Whisk 3 mins/speed 4. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
5. Return almond meal to a bowl, with bananas, egg yolks, salt, ghee/coconut oil, cinnamon, mixed spice and honey, and mix 10 sec/speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Mix another 5 sec/speed 5.
6. Turn the batter out into a large bowl, and mix through sultanas and pecans.
7. Gently (but thoroughly) fold through the egg whites.
8. Place batter into a lined loaf tin (28x12cm). Decorate with some chopped pecans and thin slices of banana, if desired.
9. Place into a preheated oven and cook for 1 hour at 170C. Turn oven down to 150C, cover with foil, and continue cooking for 20 mins. Bread is done when a sharp knife inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean.
10. Take out of the oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes (covered) before slicing.
11. Serve fresh or toasted, and spread with ghee or butter if tolerated.
Non-Thermomix Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line a loaf tin (28x12cm) with baking paper, and set aside.
2. Roughly chop pecans by hand, and set aside.
3. Use almond meal instead of almonds – skip the step of milling almonds.
4. Whip egg whites in a clean bowl with an electric mixer, until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
5. Mix almond meal, bananas, egg yolks, salt, ghee, cinnamon, mixed spice and honey in a food processor until well combined. (If mixing by hand, mash bananas well first.)
6. Turn the batter out into a large bowl, and mix through sultanas and pecans.
7. Gently (but thoroughly) fold through the whipped egg whites.
8. Place batter into a lined loaf tin (28x12cm). Decorate with some chopped pecans and thin slices of banana, if desired.
9. Place into a preheated oven and cook for 1 hour at 170C. Turn oven down to 150C, cover with foil, and continue cooking for 20 mins. Bread is done when a sharp knife is inserted into the centre of the bread and comes out clean.
10. Take out of the oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes (covered) before slicing.
11. Serve fresh or toasted, and spread with ghee or butter if tolerated.
Notes
Storage
1. Wrap well and store in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to 4 months. Don’t leave out at room temp in hot weather.
Variations
Nut Free: Swap almonds for pepitas, and mix through sunflower seeds instead of pecans.
Banana Choc Chip: Swap the sultanas for dark chocolate chips.
Nuts: Swap pecans for walnuts; swap almonds for raw cashews/ macadamias.
Sultanas: Swap for chopped dates, or leave them out if preferred.
Fats/Oils: ghee or coconut oil could be swapped for butter, macadamia oil or avocado oil if preferred.
Muffins: Spoon batter into muffin cups (If You Care non-toxic baking cups work best), and bake for about 20 mins, or until done.
Egg Free: I haven’t tried an egg-free version yet, but let me know if you do!
this looks seriously divine – am so going to make this soon. Just wondering Jo, my hubby hates bananas, so if i was wanting to make it for him sometime as well is there anything i can use in place of bananas that would work or will he just need to miss out (teach him not to like bananas lol) ? 🙂 thanks
Lol! I would try the Apple Spice Bread version of my Grain Free Bread Formula for him… but make the banana one for you. It’s so yummy. 😀
This is a really really nice recipe. Thanks so much. I love how easy it is to adapt to the ingredients available to hand and preference. Now how many slices should I have before dinner ??!!!
Hey Jo!
Am super stoked to say I have FINALLY ordered your cookbook after being a long time fan girl of yours xxx
Can I just ask, re: activating the nuts, would you know if when you are using in a wet recipe that they require to be dried out again after soaking? or even in this kind of a recipe? Have been reading up on reducing the effects of phytic acid but the more I read the more I feel i need to become trained as a nutritionist, it’s so complex!
Many thanks 🙂
Jo,
You are such a delight. I love your passion, generosity and diligence.
Looking forward to trying this one an adding it to the catalogue of favourite recipes–most of which are yours.
God bless you
Thank you, Felicity 🙂 God bless you too! xxx
I just had a hot slice of this bread with a coffee and it was delicious. Very easy to make and basic ingredients I had in the cupboard!
Q: How do you recommend storing this? Air tight container on the bench or in the fridge? Various banana bread recipes that I make often go sour within a day or two. Thankyou in advance!
I store in the fridge – it will last a lot longer!
This is totally delicious. I swapped the sultanas with gooey chopped dates and it was delicious toasted. Thanks Jo. X
Hi Jo,
It’s been a while since looking at your great site 🙂 life is busy. Have you tried this without activating the nuts? My step-daughter has my dehydrator – really need to get another one!
Tam x
Hi Tam, it should be fine not to activate them, you may need to add 20g more as raw nuts are heavier for the same cup size.
Hi Jo. I’ve just whipped this recipe up and popped it in the fridge, but I’m not sure how well it worked as when I went to add the egg whites they had gone quite watery. Had I over whipped, under whipped or had them at the wrong temperature? Thanks
Just wondering if you weigh your bananas with the skin on? I have your Thermo book and I love it.
No just peeled 🙂
Hi Jo,
I want to make the nut free version. Ive got no pepitas and my sunflower seed stash comes up 60g short. Can I use arrowroot(tapioca flour) or rice flour as the 60g? Which would you think would work better? If I use them, will I have to add baking powder? Or another suggestion please?
Thanks Janice
I think arrowroot! Sorry for late answer!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I replaced the eggs with the chia method and made both the banana version for my husband and the apple version for myself (as I am allergic to bananas) and they both turned out great!! Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Hi Chlo,
Sorry this is a long time after your post but how did you do the egg free chia method??
What was the chia method you used? Wondering if you could share it? Many thanks
Hi Chlo. I usually use eggs in this recipe and have not tried it with chia seeds! You could try by soaking few tablespoons in water and using chia gel instead of the eggs. Good luck:-).
Thank you Jo i love the haloumi cheese its very tasty i cut the salt in the brine
Do you by chance have a translated version of this recipe using Cups and Tablespoons instead of grams? It looks delicious, but I’ve no idea how to cook using grams.
You can search for a recipe conversion table online which should help, although, I would recommend getting a set of digital scales if you can.
Hi Jo, could I just use almond meal instead of the raw almonds?
Can you use a bread machine to make your breads? Thanks
I made this egg free for my Dad using the chia seed method and he loved it! Just thought I’d let you know.
So delicious! This has become a regular in our house! Thanks so much! xx
I just made this and OMG it is my new favourite grain free bread!
Thank you for your recipe, others Ive made have tasted so bland and have been a disappointment, but not this one.
Hello! What’s the carb count for this recipe? I have gestational diabetes so am curious if I can eat this. It looks yummy! Also, how long will it last and should I store in the fridge?
Hi Rebecca! 🙂 We don’t do macro counts on our recipes but you should be able to google and find a counter online. The bread will keep for up to a week in the fridge and up to 4 months in the freezer (wrapped well). Hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly! xx
This is such a great recipe. Having recently changed to a paleo diet, I really needed something ‘cakey’. This loaf is not too sweet and has such a great flavour. Works well as muffins. I make this quite regularly and sometimes change the sultanas to other dried fruits.
Glad you’re enjoying it Helen – yay! 🙂
Hi Jo…are your recipes for a fan forced oven ? I just made this and it was well and truly done after an hour ?? Thanks…Pat
Hi Pat! 🙂 Yes, we use fan-forced ovens to test our recipes. We would recommend always starting with less time than the recipe says if you do not have a fan-forced oven, checking, then adding more time if needed. Ovens can really vary in temp as well whether or not they are fan-forced. 🙂 Hope you enjoyed the pecan spice bread…it’s one of our faves! xx
Hi how do I dehydrate the almonds? I have always made with raw almonds but now my 1 year old finds it hard ti digest so I am curious. Thanks
Hi Harshi, you would need to soak your almonds and then dry in your dehydrator or in your oven on a very low heat for about 24 to 48 hours.
Hi Jo, we just made this today – we used dried apricots instead of sultanas. It was awesome. My kids who apparently “ don’t like nuts” all smashed it!!
Yay sounds delicious! Glad the family loves it!