free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugar

I LOVE finding new recipes that are simple, delicious, and can be adapted for dietary needs or preferences.  To be honest, I'm not a great baker (and evidently not a great food photographer), but lucky for us, my talented friend taught me a few tricks and we experimented to create this loaf free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugar and it turned out AMAZING.  It's more gooey and cake-like than a fluffy traditional bread, so if that's your jam, then give it a go!

Before we hop into the recipe, I want to make a note about “substitutes” in recipes.  Sometimes they can make people feel like it's a "healthier" choice, or like you "should" be eating that way, or some people just feel annoyed at the concept of substitutes because they've never felt negatively impacted by certain ingredients.  All of these reactions are totally understandable, but completely unnecessary.  Because here's the deal.....food is meant to nourish our body and our heart, and that's going to look different for every person. 

Eating intuitively means using head knowledge (ingredients that don't personally cause you pain, fatigue, headaches, etc) and using heart knowledge (ingredients that are prepared in a way that you enjoy, that bring back or create good memories, etc.). 

Our job isn't to compare, to feel guilty, to be annoyed, or to convince someone of a right or wrong way.  Our job is to take the BEST care of our body that we know how, and to let the person next to us do the same!  

In this recipe we made substitutes to replace dairy, gluten, and refined sugar, because those things don't make my body feel great, and they commonly cause agitation to individuals who are working to restore their gut and digestion. 

Gut-Happy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugar

• 3 very ripe bananas
• 2 eggs (if you try substituting an egg alternative let me know how it works in the comments below!)
• 1 Cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 Cup Earth Balance dairy-free butter
• 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Gluten-Free Flour, plus 1 Tablespoon to coat the chocolate - I use Bob Redmill’s 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 Cup dairy-free dark chocolate chunks (optional)

-If your bananas aren’t ripe enough, put them in a dish (with the peel still on) in the oven at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes until the peel is black.  Then flip the bananas and cook for another 10ish minutes until the peel is black on the other side as well.  This will get them nice and mushy and ripe!

-In a blender or with a hand-mixer, blend the bananas and the eggs until smooth.

-In a bowl, combine 1C + 2T flour, coconut sugar, butter, salt, and baking soda.

-Pour the banana egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine.

-Put the chocolate chunks into a separate bowl and mix them with 1 Tablespoon gluten-free flour until they’re coated.  This will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the batter (who knew!?).  Then stir them into the bread batter.

-Pour the batter into an oiled, standard sized bread pan and cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

-Eat it plain or top it with almond butter, peanut butter, or ghee! 

-I like it best eaten cold because I love the texture that way, so I store it in the fridge (but I'm not sure that's a normal preference?) 

Let me know in the comments below how it turns out, or any other modifications you made to adapt to your body's needs!