Teff Sourdough Banana Bread
Moves to the country, puts sourdough in everything …
Banana bread has always been my go-to when I want something sweet and comforting but most recipes are loaded with gluten and sugar (which, let’s be honest, is why we love them). I’ve healthified this loaf by eliminating refined sugars, replacing wheat with teff flour and by adding in a little sourdough starter for added gut benefits.
Teff is, in my opinion, a sadly under-utilized baking flour. It’s a great source of dietary fibers including resistant starch, which helps us manage blood sugar, weight and gut health. Resistant starch found in teff is a type of fiber not digested in stomach or small intestine. This means that it can travel all the way through your digestive system to the large intestine where it provides fuel for the healthy bacteria of the colon. These beneficial bacteria use resistant starch from teff flour to create short chain fatty acids (SCFA) which are an important marker of gut health.
I also threw in a little bit of teff sourdough starter for even more gut support but you can omit this step if you don’t happen to have some teff starter kicking around .. (the best way to acquire a starter is to buy one or get one from a friend. If you’re a current patient of mine and you’re looking to try your hand at sourdough bread making just shoot me an email before our next visit and I’ll happily bring you your own tangy little friend to get you started.) Happy baking from this doctor’s homestead kitchen.
Teff Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe
This gluten-free banana bread recipe is loaded with gut-friendly resistant starches from teff flour and sourdough starter. It's our favourite healthy treat to munch on while working on the homestead and goes perfectly with a cup of coffee as a mid-morning snack.
Ingredients
2 cups organic teff flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup teff sourdough starter (optional, but highly recommended), replace yoghurt if you are without starter
2 eggs
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tsp vanilla
3 very ripe bananas
1/3 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup almond milk
Preheat oven to 350F. Meanwhile, mash the bananas in a large bowl along with the sour dough starter or yoghurt, maple syrup, melted coconut oil or butter, almond milk and vanilla (I use this fancy vanilla bean paste and it definitely makes a difference with the end results, highly recommend). Add the ground flax, teff flour, baking soda and salt to a separate bowl and mix. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until well mixed then stir in the chocolate chips. Place the dough into a well-oiled pan and bake for 60 minutes in a loaf pan, 40 minutes in a round pie dish, or 30 minutes as muffins. Serve warm topped with a little extra coconut oil and maple syrup.