Adaptogenic Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Swirled Banana Bread

Well, hello there.

Who doesn’t love a quick and easy, freshly baked banana bread? Nourishing, totally indulgent, nutrient dense, gluten-free, primal, refined sugar-free, fudgey, delicious banana bread... need I say more? 

Most breads (store-bought and pre-made in particular) can absolutely drag you down if they’re made with poor quality, dead ingredients like modern conventional flour, canola oil, factory farmed butter, white sugar, and artificial flavours, colours and preservatives. Not this banana bread!

This recipe is easily customised to adapt to your bio-individual needs (or whoever you’re making it for). The Ceylon cinnamon can help regulate blood sugar. Grass-fed organic butter holds it all together and its vitamin D3 + K2 content can help remineralise and strengthen your teeth, but you can substitute it with coconut oil if dairy isn’t your thing. I used pasture raised eggs, but you can always substitute them with flax seed or chia eggs. And if you’re not into banana, feel free to substitute an equal amount of steamed or roasted sweet potato, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, or even shredded beetroot, blended to a purée in a food processor first. The end result will be equally as delicious. 

Totally optional, but this recipe incorporates the heart-opening reishi mushroom, a powerful adaptogen. Adaptogens (tonic herbs) work to help the body better react to stress by balancing cortisol levels in the body. They work bi-directionally, so not only do they help promote relaxation and restful sleep, but also give us more energy and stamina overall. Adaptogens work to bring the body into better balance, giving our bodies the power to better respond as we move through our daily environments.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup grass fed butter or organic coconut oil, melted

• 1/4 cup pure organic maple syrup

• 3 overripe organic bananas (or 1/2 cup pumpkin, etc.)

• 2 organic, pasture raised eggs

• 1/4 cup organic, natural peanut butter + 1 large spoonful to swirl the top

• 2 cups organic activated almond meal (OR any organic nut flour, organic coconut flour, or organic ancient grain flour of your preference such as spelt, rye, or einkorn)

• 1/2 cup organic raw cacao powder

• 1/4 tsp organic Ceylon cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp organic nutmeg

• 1/8 tsp organic ground clove

• 1 tsp organic vanilla bean tincture

• 1 tsp aluminum-free baking soda

• optional: 1 scoop grass fed collagen

• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

• 1/4 cup chopped organic walnuts (or other nuts)

• optional: 1/2 cup organic chocolate chips (I like Hu brand chocolate if I’m not making my own from scratch!)

• optional: 1/2 tsp organic/wildcrafted, dual-extracted wood-grown reishi mushroom powder, or a few drops of a tincture (reishi is the adaptogen here! Use code ROOTTOSKY10 for 10% off any order at SuperFeast)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Line an 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper or grease the inner surface with butter or coconut oil, and set aside. 

2. In a small saucepan on the stove, gently melt the butter with the maple syrup. In a blender or food processor fitted with the “S” blade, blitz to reduce the rest of the ingredients except for the walnuts and chocolate chips into a smooth mixture, or mash and stir it all thoroughly in a bowl with a fork. Add in the melted butter and maple syrup and blitz again to combine with the rest of the ingredients. Once well combined, fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips if using, and briefly blend or stir to evenly distribute them throughout the batter. 

3. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan. With a spoon or a knife, swirl about a tablespoon of extra peanut butter over the surface. 

4. Place the loaf pan into the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Remove, cool to room temperature, slice, and devour! Store in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for 3 months... if it even lasts that long. The texture is arguably even better after cooled in the refrigerator or freezer!

Tips

1. For those of you who have trouble digesting bananas: soak/ferment them in coconut water kefir, goat kefir or kombucha overnight, or use cooked, puréed sweet potato or beets instead. 

2. If you can’t do eggs, substitute the eggs with chia or flax seed eggs by soaking 1 tbsp chia/flax in 3 tbsp filtered water per egg for 5 minutes until it gels. Simply blend with the rest of the ingredients. 

3. Use any nut or seed butter that works for you. 

This banana bread recipe can be found in my upcoming book, The Vital Life Cookbook.