Teff Sourdough Banana Bread

Over the past few years I’ve been working on looking for the silver linings – the bright side of the dark parts of life. The current social, economical and political situation obviously isn’t great but I’m still trying my best to look for the positives and find gratitude for the little things. This week I’ve been going a little stir crazy in our mini house and my income has taken a major hit with the clinic closed, but it’s also given me the time to work on my online content, finish up my book and spend an insane amount of time in my little kitchen whipping up healthy recipes to share with you all.

The latest creation to come out of this doctor’s quarantine kitchen is this incredible sourdough banana bread recipe. A happy accident, really. 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 health 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 covid-free quarantine kitchen:

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Teff Sourdough Banana Bread

This gluten-free banana bread recipe is loaded with gut-friendly resistant starches from teff flour and sourdough starter. It's the best healthy treat to munch on while working from home and goes perfectly with a cup of coffee as a mid-morning snack. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups organic teff flour (this can be hard to find in stores so we buy ours from amazon) 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds 
• 1/4 cup teff sourdough starter (optional, but highly recommended) 
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted 
• 1/3 cup maple syrup 
• 1/2 cup almond milk (add additional 2 tbs if omitting sourdough starter) 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Meanwhile, mash the bananas in a large bowl along with the vanilla (I use this fancy vanilla bean paste and it definitely makes a difference with the end results, highly recommend.), sour dough starter, maple syrup, melted coconut oil and almond milk. 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 loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes. Serve warm topped with a little extra coconut oil and maple syrup.

tip: bake 22 minutes for muffins, or 30 minutes in mini cocottes