Banana, Cacao and Maca Bread

My recipe for vegan banana and date loaf is one of my all time favourite (and most popular!) recipes on here. I often re make the old classic, but for a while I've been wanting to make a new version, adding in some cacao powder to make it different, but keeping the same core ingredients that I always have at hand.

I got further inspiration from the Whole Pantry App's recipe for a Buckwheat, Pear and Maca Bread. The idea of baking the whole fruit into the bread was new to me - giving the bread a whole different flavour, texture and a beautiful over all appearance. As I said before, I wanted to add cacao into my bread so I've adapted the original recipe, making it fully vegan and free from refined sugar, dairy and wheat. I used a mix of plain gf flour and ground almonds rather then buckwheat flour but I'm sure it would work just as well either way!

The result is a gorgeous soft loaf, perfect for an afternoon pick me up or a treat for after the gym. (It's also not too sweet so would make for a delicious, indulgent breakfast!) With the addition of Maca the bread has a caramel undertone, making it taste amazing, as well as giving you all the benefits of the Superfood. I use Maca all the time when making my Green Smoothies, but it is so easy to use and versatile that I've started sneaking it into my baking too! Maca is so beneficial to the body as it can increase energy levels naturally. It has also been known to assist with stress and emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety and migraines. 

With all the goodness from the Maca and the antioxidants found in the cacao, you really can't go wrong with this bread!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup plain GF flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup cacao powder
2 tbsp Organic Burst maca powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (can also use honey or brown rice syrup)
3/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup almond milk
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax meal + 6 tbsp warm water)
2 ripe bananas

To Make:

• Pre heat oven to 180C.
• Grease and line a loaf tin and set aside.
• In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients (flour, ground almonds, cacao, macs and baking powder).
• Add in all the wet ingredients (vanilla, syrup, oil, milk and flax eggs) and stir really well to incorporate everything together.
• Chop up one of the bananas into small chunks and stir into the mixture.
• Pour the whole lot into your prepared loaf tin.
• Slice the remaining banana length ways and place on top of the mixture in the loaf tin.
• Bake in the pre heated oven for 30 mins, remove from the oven and cover with foil before baking for a further 10 minutes.
• Leave to cool in tin slightly before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.