Flourless Banana Bread

I have a sweet tooth in this phase of my life. A few years ago I couldn’t care less about sugar, but since I moved to America I crave for it. I don’t blame America, if I’m being honest, I think that my palate has change so much in the last months and this is one thing that has changed as well.

In order to keep a health lifestyle I am always searching simple solutions about food. I try to eat ultra-processed foods as little as I can. So when I saw this Buzzfeed Tasty video I was shocked! How come we can do cake with only two ingredients? I was mesmerized.

I tried it. It works. I baked on a muffin tray and add some cherries as well. Delicious. 

As the days were passing by I wondered if I could use the same technique with banana. Today I finally took some time to try the idea and I am so happy with the result.

Of course I added a few more ingredients: cinnamon, walnuts, baking powder and agave. I think the baking powder is useless here, since we use whipped egg whites. But since I didn't test it yet, I listed on the recipe.

Another plus about this recipe: it is totally FODmap diet friendly! Not with the agave, but you can swap it for your preference sweetener, or don’t do sweetener at all since the banana is already sweet enough. Suggestions: glucose or maple syrup.

FODmap diet friendly. Low carb. Low sugar. And delicious!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 rippen smashed bananas
• 4 eggs - whites and yolks separated 
• 1 tablespoon agave (or glucose/maple syrup - for FODmap diet)
• 3 tablespoon chopped walnuts
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre heat the oven at 350F. Whip the egg whites. Mix the smashed bananas with the egg yolks, cinnamon, agave and baking powder. 

Gently, mix 1/3 of the egg whites into the banana mix. Add the other 2/3. Always very slowly to no break the bubbles of the egg whites. Pour the batter in a greased the muffin tray. Spread the walnuts on top of the muffins. Bake for 25 min or until the top is golden.

A sweet treat to my sweet tooth.

Just to be clear: I am not against carbs or sugar. Not at all. I just want to enjoy the most the foods around. I like to eat. A lot. But I like to eat healthy as well. That doesn’t mean that once in a while I’ll not eat a nice dessert. The thing is: I try to save these moments for something that really worths the calories. And I don’t blame myself later. I am always looking for balance :)

Restrictions are good - if you look at it in a different way

I have met people that has gluten and lactose intolerance, for real. They do not follow this diets because they want to lose weight or just trying to see how their bodies reacts by being without those substances.

Today I had a friend that follows this FODmap diet, that I have never heard about before. I was curious about this. She can't have things like onion and garlic. Basically my main ingredients for every dish. I was really intrigued by this and invited her to come anyway. I had to try. I was afraid, of course, that the food would be flavorless. I read blogs, saw lists, checked every ingredient, shared the menu with her... But at the end it was worth it.

I decided to do ribs and mashed potatoes. Actually for the mashed potatoes I wanted this different texture, more similar to aligot - mashed potatoes with cheese. But with no cheese. I know, I am stubborn.

I was pretty happy with the results. She seemed pretty happy with it as well. All I had to do was using the food processor and add ghee for the velvety texture. For the ribs I used the pressure cooker. Made a paste with cherry tomatoes and spring onion (just the green part), add bacon fat, turmeric, bay leaves, baby spinach, cumin, smoked salt, worcestershire sauce, dried oregano and arrowroot in the end to thicken it.

Here is the thing: I thought that the food tasted delicious. And also tasted like real food. I mean, I actually could taste the meat. Once a friend told me that he doesn't season the meat with garlic because he thinks is tastes too garlicky. And now I can see why.

Yes, it's possible to not add onion and garlic and play with other ingredients. But still onion and garlic are very convenient, and delicious!

Now I feel so blessed that I don't have any food allergies. I can have everything and also feel so bad for the past me - the peaky eater one. I am so open for the new flavors, even from things that I know that I don't like - beets I am talking to you!