The Make-It-Your-Own Banana Blueberry Bread

Whew, it's been awhile!!  Before I get into some deeper topics this month, I'd love to share an amazing recipe I made with my son this morning.  While bread and the starchy stuff aren't huge staples in our household (click here for why!), who can resist a rainy day treat like a loaf of bread filled with lots of goodness?!  Plus, making food like this from scratch saves you all of the preservatives and fillers you'd find in store-bought products.

A few years ago, my sweet cousins gifted us with the BabyCakes healthy baking cookbook.  Little did I know that BabyCakes is a Manhattan bakery with a huge celebrity following-how fun!  What makes this bakery unique is its "vegan, (mostly) gluten-free, and (mostly) sugar-free recipes".  They take the guesswork out of making healthy substitutions in traditional recipes for those of us with food allergies, certain lifestyles, or general health concerns.  I utilized a recipe in this cookbook and made it my own-you can too in varying ways!  My recipe is loosely adapted from their vegan, GF, SF, Blueberry Muffin recipe.  I ended up adding gluten to mine with some whole wheat flour, but the sky's the limit-Enjoy!

MIYO Banana Blueberry Bread, 1 Loaf or 12 Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (sub whole spelt flour for GF)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2/3 cup agave nectar (choose raw "blue" agave for the least processed)
• 2/3 cup coconut milk (or rice milk)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract (optional, I omitted) 
• 2/3 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 ripe banana, mashed or sliced

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Spray a baking loaf pan (or line muffin tins if you wish)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients
4. Add the oil, nectar, milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients until batter is smooth
5. Fold in the blueberries and banana (or fruit of your choice)
6. Fill the loaf pan or muffin tins 
7. Bake the loaf for 25-30 minutes, rotating half-way through cooking, or bake the muffins for 22-25 minutes, rotating after 15 minutes of baking (toothpick should come out clean)
8. Let the bread cool or the muffins stand for 15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack or plate to cool completely
9. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

What I love about this recipe is its simplicity.  I whipped these up in mere minutes, even with a 21-month-old "helper"!  I always warn against buying sugar-free items, as they may have harmful chemicals as sugar substitutions in them, but using raw agave is a nice way to keep it sweet and wholesome at the same time.  Like honey, and unlike sugar, it sweetens without skyrocketing your blood sugar at a rapid pace.   Coconut oil is always a healthy option, and not having to use any dairy was a nice treat (and better on our tummies).  Any fruit is an option as well.  My son keeps coming back for more-better hide the loaf!

Thanks for reading!  Stay Chic, Stay Healthy;)