Lauren over at Healthy Indulgences is a wizard when it comes to low carb substitutions, especially the sweet ones! If you haven't checked out her site and sampled some of her recipes, get your buns over there! I adapted her Healthy Banana Nut Muffins recipe to make keto banana bread recently and it was wonderful. Tasted just like the real thing! I used almonds instead of the walnuts she suggests and only for the topping to give it a little crunch. The bread was so moist and squishy, I'm sold on coconut flour!
I actually made a second batch using a bunch of frozen mixed berries instead of bananas and it was just as delicious. I'm gonna play with that recipe a little bit and share it with you when it's perfect.
Keto Banana Bread Toppings
I like to top the keto banana bread with a non-dairy butter substitute (obviously use real butter if you can tolerate dairy). My favorite is the soy-free version of Earth Balance. I get it at Sprouts. Warm it up slightly and spread a bunch on a slice of this keto banana bread. YUM!
If you can tolerate dairy you could also ice this loaf with my keto cream cheese frosting recipe. Depending on how sweet you like your banana bread, I would cut the sweetener in half in the frosting. I'm sure it would be awesome though!
Baking With Coconut Flour
Coconut flour is a great alternative to other grain-based flours. It is so versatile and gives you the perfect texture for baked goods. You can even use it to batter some of your favorite fried foods like onion rings, fried zucchini, cheese sticks if you can have dairy, and chicken nuggets. It can also be used as a filler where you would normally use cracker or bread crumbs in meatballs and meatloaf.
You have to do a little playing around with a recipe if you want to substitute coconut flour for regular all-purpose wheat flour. The rule of thumb is to substitute only 20 percent of coconut for wheat flour. It's not a straight substitution because coconut flour becomes dense and soaks up a lot of moisture when it bakes. You can combat this by adding 2 tablespoons of extra liquid for every 2 tablespoons of coconut flour you substitute for regular flour. Coconut flour can tend to clump up, so be sure to fluff it with a fork before measuring and mixing.
Some say that you can taste the coconut flavor, but I have never been able to. I use coconut flour in both sweet and savory dishes and I don't have any issues. Occasionally my husband, who has a super sensitive nose, says he can taste the coconut. He likes coconut though, so it works out ok.
My favorite brand of coconut flour is Anthony's. I get it on Amazon in a 4 lb. bag. No funny ingredients and works great every time!
Recipe
Keto Banana Bread (GFDF, Paleo)
Ingredients
- ½ cup sifted coconut flour
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil softened
- 6 large eggs
- 3 medium mashed bananas overripe to the point of being black
- ½ cup erythritol
- ¼ teaspoon liquid stevia
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup roasted salted almonds chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Beat melted coconut oil with erythritol until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in vanilla.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.
- Combine coconut flour with baking powder, cinnamon, stevia, and salt, and beat into batter until there are no lumps.
- Beat in mashed banana.
- Pour batter into a loaf pan and top with nuts.
- Bake 35 minutes.
- Let cool in pan.
- When completely cooled, run a butter knife around the edges and flip onto a cutting board.
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