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Grain Free Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

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Grain Free Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread ... melted chocolate adds a rich, delicious layer to this classic real food quick bread. | Recipes to Nourish

Classic banana bread … meet melted chocolate. 

These two are meant to be together! You just can’t go wrong swirling beautiful glorious chocolate into banana bread batter. Wow do they make a crazy good quick bread. 

I grew up with my parents making “Kona” banana bread. It was my favorite! I always got so excited when my dad would make some. The banana bread was always perfectly moist and had the most amazing crusty edges. We all loved the ends so much, so it wasn’t always easy deciding who got to eat them. There was just nothing like those crispy ends. 

Grain Free Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread ... melted chocolate adds a rich, delicious layer to this classic real food quick bread. | Recipes to Nourish

I remember watching my dad as he’d generously slather lots of butter on the inside of the loaf pan. I would get so excited about that part in anticipation of those crispy banana bread edges and ends. I remember my dad telling me the butter is what helped make the outside so delicious. 

And then, get this! After the bread was fully cooled {usually the next day}, we’d make the bread into toast and top it with more BUTTER! That’s right, butter. Yum! It was so good! And no, butter doesn’t scare me. It’s a super healthy, nutrient dense fat {and it’s especially important for young children}. 

My mom had the handwritten banana bread recipe in her cookbook of collected recipes. I scanned most of her recipes so I would have them as keepsakes after she passed away, but sadly I lost that recipe somehow in the process.

Grain Free Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread ... melted chocolate adds a rich, delicious layer to this classic real food quick bread. | Recipes to Nourish

But this bread has never left my head. It was something that was made so often when I was growing up that I can pretty much remember the recipe by heart. 

Of course I had to change it up a bit to real foodify it for my family. I swapped out the refined sugar for local honey, swapped the flour for cassava flour and added a CHOCOLATE layer!

If you have been following me lately, you know that my favorite flour is Otto’s cassava flour. I can’t get enough of this flour. It’s so awesome and can be swapped 1:1 for flour in most recipes! Plus you don’t need several flours or any other binders like most gluten free flours. How cool is that?! I also love that cassava flour is a resistant starch when eaten cool {resistant starch = prebiotics that feed probiotics + supports digestion and the gut}. 

Grain Free Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread ... melted chocolate adds a rich, delicious layer to this classic real food quick bread. | Recipes to Nourish

But back to this amazing Chocolate Banana Bread …

My husband says it’s the best banana bread he’s ever had and my Little Love agrees {and that’s huge coming from her because she doesn’t eat much of what I make these days}. 

Make sure to use super ripe bananas. This is key – it helps make a perfectly moist texture. It’s important for flavor too. If you use yellow bananas, the flavor will NOT be as good {ask me how I know}. 

This banana bread is really easy to make. My Tiny Love even helps me make it. So go get yourself some quality ingredients and make some! 

Don’t skimp on that divine chocolate either. Get your favorite organic chocolate bar and melt that baby up. It’s so worth it! 

From my family to yours, enjoy! 

Grain Free Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread ... melted chocolate adds a rich, delicious layer to this classic real food quick bread. | Recipes to Nourish

Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

{affiliate links included, prices are the same for you} 

YOU WILL NEED: Mixing Bowls, 9×5 Loaf Pan, Hand Mixer 

Print

Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread (Grain Free)

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with butter or healthy fat of choice and set aside. Don't skimp on the this, I generously spread butter all over the inside and edges of the loaf pan. This helps create a delicious "crust" around the edges when the banana bread bakes.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, add cassava flour, collagen, baking soda and salt. Give it a quick stir to combine. Set aside.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, cream softened butter and honey with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
  5. Place bananas on a large plate and mash them up using the tines of a fork. Add mashed bananas to the creamed butter-honey mixture. Mix well using the mixer, just until combined.
  6. Add room temperature eggs and vanilla extract to the banana mixture. Mix well with mixer, just until combined. Do not over mix.
  7. Add flour mixture to banana mixture in two additions. Stir BY HAND {not with the mixer} just until batter comes together and everything is combined. Do not over mix. Set aside.
  8. In a small saucepan, melt chopped chocolate over medium-low heat, stirring until fully melted. Remove from heat.
  9. Add 3/4 cup of the batter to the melted chocolate - add a little bit at a time if the chocolate is very hot. Stir just until completely combined.
  10. Spoon the plain banana batter and chocolate batter into the greased pan - alternating between the two. [Note: I like to spread a thin a layer of plain banana batter on the bottom, then drop large spoonfuls of the two batters into the pan over the first layer {reserving some plain banana batter}. Then I use a knife to gently swirl the two batters together - don't overdo it, just a few times back and forth works fine otherwise you'll end up mixing the two too much. I like to finish off with the rest of the plain banana batter layered on top.]
  11. After this, I give the loaf pan a good tap on the counter {not hard enough to break the pan} - this helps the batters settle a bit and come together.
  12. Place loaf pan in the oven and bake for about 45-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean with no more than a few moist crumbs.
  13. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before gently removing and transferring to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before cutting.
  14. Once banana bread is thoroughly cooled, cut into thick slices. Enjoy!

Notes

I highly recommend using hydrolyzed collagen although is it optional, and still tastes great without it. It's helps add a really lovely "soft" texture to the banana bread. Collagen is gut-healing and protein-packed, so it adds a health benefit and extra protein as well. It cannot be swapped with grass-fed gelatin - while both gelatin and collagen provide the same health benefits, they are not interchangeable in this recipe. I've linked to my favorite collagen brand in the ingredients - I love the company, the quality and the price point is the best I have found. It's also the brand that my family uses daily for health purposes.It's super important to use very ripe bananas. Ripe bananas play a huge role in the texture {moisture content} and flavor of banana bread. It's okay if the peels are very brown. I like to let mine ripen until they have tons of brown spots and just a little bit of yellow left on the ends.

The batter comes together best if all ingredients are room temperature. A great way to bring the eggs to room temperature fast is to place them in a bowl with warm {not hot} water for about 10 minutes.

Serving Suggestions: This banana bread is delicious the next day toasted. I place slices under the broiler just until a nice golden crust forms on the top {do not walk away and burn the bread!}. My family loves it toasted with a nice pat of grass-fed butter on each slice {yes, extra butter - it's a healthy, nutrient dense fat}.

Storage: Keeps well at room temperature for 1 day wrapped up in unbleached parchment paper or an airtight container. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. If not using the whole loaf within 2 days, slice and store in an airtight container in the freezer. This banana bread freezes well.

 

Are you on Pinterest? I pin lots of yummy real food recipes + more there. I have a board just for Baked Goodies and Gluten Free Treats too. Come follow along. 

Perfect Supplements Affiliate

Hydrolyzed Collagen, Desiccated Liver, Coconut Oil, Liver Detox Support, Ancient Minerals + more!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. This is so decadent and perfect and I can’t wait to make it! Although comments aren’t always the best place to mention substitutions, because your recipe is perfect, I can’t eat bananas and I’m going to make it with pumpkin. I think it will sub really well. I love your childhood memories and agree that the crispy edges are the best part, and the butter.

    Reply

  4. I love how nutritious this recipe is. The addition of collagen is brilliant. And butter. Of course, the butter. So lovely. I especially love how some recipes are so dear to our hearts because of the memories – that’s the best part!!

    Reply

  8. I have bananas all ready for a recipe and this one looks delicious.
    I don’t have the cassava flour though so I may have to substitute. Can’t wait to try this!

    Reply

  11. Yum!! I make banana bread almost every week as an easy on the go breakfast for my fiance. I’ll have to give this variation a try! Looks delicious!

    Reply

  12. I love that this includes collagen. I just ordered my first container off of amazon a few weeks ago and other than smoothies, it’s been hard to come up with ways to incorporate it into my diet. Thanks for sharing

    Reply

  15. Yum! You’re so lucky you grew up in a family of butter lovers. 😉 Banana bread is one of my favorite things to bake because it makes my home smell divine. I love adding chocolate to mine, too! I need to try the cassava flour soon. I’m really intrigued by the reistant starch aspect. 🙂

    Reply

  16. My hubby is gluten-free. i haven’t tried cassave flour yet. haven’t actually seen it anywhere. he isn’t a fan of the rice flour for sure!

    Reply

    • Hi Crystal, it’s not sold in stores that I know of at this point – just online. Rice flour can be tricky, not everyone loves it or does well with it. Otto’s is by far my favorite for GF now. 🙂

      Reply

  20. I was intrigued by grain free. We grow and grind our own grains so I know they are GMO free and organic. Thinking I will give this a try.

    Reply

  25. Fresh banana bread with a nice slab of butter is my idea of perfection – that along with a cup of coffee! I’ve worked with gelatin, but I haven’t tried collagen yet so I’m excited to look that up!

    Reply

    • Such a fun combo 🙂 I think you’ll love collagen Sarah. I love gelatin too, even though they are similar, the collagen works very differently in recipes. It’s fun to play around with, I love using it in baked goods.

      Reply

  28. Does this Collagen contribute to the elasticity of the cake in any way – I noticed you have not used any binding agent like Xantham Gum?

    Reply

    • Hi Natalie, cassava flour doesn’t need binding agents like other gluten free flour need. That’s one of the reasons why I love Otto’s cassava flour so much. There is never a need for any gums, fillers or binders. Collagen can be left out, I just prefer it because it helps create a softer texture.

      Reply

  29. This grain free banana bread looks so good and something I know my kids would love! Thank you for sharing a healthy treat with chocolate in it!

    Reply

  31. Wow!! This looks amazing. Such a great recipe. Is there really anything better than bananas and chocolate?? such a yummy combo. thanks for sharing and I hope that you have a great weekend!
    xoxo Cailee!

    Reply

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