Clean Eating Chocolate Banana Bread

Last week I had a craving for chocolate products. When do I not? I was trying to be good and frankly, I was too lazy to go anywhere. All we had in the house is cocoa powder and these chocolate stevia drops, so my options were limited. By the end of this summer, I’m going to turn into a chocolate smoothie, so I was really trying to find something different. These black bean brownies sounded interesting, but I thought I already had a recipe for chocolate banana bread that was clean. Turns out all of my tried and true recipes have granulated sugar in them, so I had to create something new.

After perusing the internet for ideas, I stumbled upon this recipe for skinny chocolate banana fudge muffins from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Getting warmer, but still not technically clean.

I played around with substitutions and additions and came away with a surprise hit for my first try. I replaced the granulated sugar with maple syrup and added in cinnamon and dried cranberries which gave the bread an autumnal-like feel, perfect for this cold August. (Be sure to use plain, no sugar added dried cranberries or cherries if going clean.)

A word about whole wheat pastry flour. This might be my new favorite kitchen staple. Here is an explanation from Bob’s Red Mill discussing the difference between this and regular whole wheat flour:

The whole wheat berries are milled with the nutritious bran, germ and endosperm all intact. Many people ask how whole wheat pastry flour is different from whole wheat flour. The answer is simple. Whole wheat pastry flour is milled from low-protein soft spring wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour is milled from hard red wheat. The softer wheat has a lower protein content than hard red wheat and makes a desirable flour for pastry baking. 

So far, I’ve found this pastry flour makes a slightly drier product than it’s white flour counterpart, but still much less dense than your regular whole wheat flour. I’ll be using this for here on out.

In Sally’s post, she mentions that you need to sift your dry ingredients. The lady doesn’t lie! I skipped this step and found cocoa chunks in my loaf. Learn from my mistakes, people.

This recipe comes together quickly, so the next time a hankering catches you by surprise, go to town. Enjoy!

If the recipe doesn’t show up down below, please click this link. Trust me, it’s worth the extra step!

Clean Eating Chocolate Banana Bread

Print recipe

Serves	8
Prep time	45 minutes
Allergy	Egg
Meal type	Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly

A chocolate craving meets a health conscious snack when you make this clean eating chocolate banana bread.

Ingredients

• 2 large, very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 large egg (or 1 flax egg)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries

Note

This banana bread is perfect for breakfast or snack time or anytime in between. Pairs well with a drink and/or a smear of creamy peanut butter.

Directions

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 X 5 loaf pan with cooking spray or melted butter. Set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher. I don't mind a little lumps, but mash to your desired consistency. Stir in the syrup, egg, and applesauce.
3.	Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon into the wet ingredients. Lightly stir to combine. Fold in dried fruit.
4.	Pour the batter into the loaf pan and strike against the countertop a couple times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.