Oatmeal Spelt Banana Bread, 2 ways [Vegan or Dairy-Free]


The first day of school will be here in a flash.

Oatmeal Spelt Banana Bread [Vegan] | EmmaEats

Truth be told, I’m not ready for the first day of school quite yet. And, I’m pretty certain Emma isn’t either. How about you? Are you and the kids ready to call it quits on summer vacation already?

Since the first few days of school will be rather bittersweet, I’m hoping to ease the bitterness with a few treats including these ever popular spelt crust pizza buns and this banana bread.

I never met a person who doesn’t enjoy a good banana bread. Even friends who aren’t usually dessert people are easily swayed at the appearance of banana bread. It certainly explains why there are so many variations out there. In our family, we have our favourites. We often enjoy this banana bread and this Whole Wheat and Spelt Banana Coconut Crumble Cake. The version below isn’t quite like the others though. It is vegan (or can be prepared dairy-free) and uses coconut sugar as its sweetener.

Coconut sugar is not considered to be a refined sugar. It requires no additives or bleaching agents to make it.  In fact, it seems to follow a similar process to the making of maple syrup — the coconut sap is heated to evaporate its water content. According to Time Magazine, coconut sugar doesn’t cause blood sugar to spike as quickly due to its low glycemic index value. There are also small amounts of a number of vitamins and minerals including vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6, potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron.  I find it’s not as sweet as granulated sugar and tend to use a little more to sweeten recipes. Either way, it’s a delicious and flavourful alternative to using white sugar — but it’s still sugar so we’ll still enjoy our banana bread in moderation.

A sweet treat with a little extra nutrition to ease ourselves back to school. Sounds pretty good to me. And whether we’re ready or not, the end of summer is near and school is here!

Oatmeal Spelt Banana Bread, 2 ways

adapted from this Whole Wheat and Spelt Banana Coconut Crumble Cake
(1 4″x9″ loaf)

  • 3 tbsp water + 1 tbsp ground flaxseed (or 1 large egg)
  • 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 tbsp melted unrefined coconut oil
  • 2/3 cup granulated organic coconut sugar
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups spelt flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats (quick oats will work fine)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • pinch of ground kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp chopped dark chocolate chunks (dairy & nut-free)

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350F.

In small bowl, beat the water and ground flaxseed until it has thickened.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together the bananas and coconut oil. Add the coconut sugar, flaxseed mixture (or egg, if using) and vanilla extract. Combine well. Sprinkle the flour, oats, baking soda and salt over the banana mixture. Mix until the flour is just wet. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the chocolate overtop. Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then lift out of the pan and cool on a rack until ready to serve. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Note: I received a free package of Grace Coconut Sugar to sample. This post is not sponsored by Grace Foods and all opinions and the writings above are my own. 

5 comments

  2. L

    Over the last three days, I have made this more times than I care to admit… Everyone loves it! I used the flax egg, omitted the sugar completely, and used applesauce in place of oil. I had another to-go healthy banana bread recipe using spelt, but it has now been replaced!

    Reply

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