Paleo/SCD Collagen Banana Bread

The BEST grain-free, protein-packed banana bread recipe! It’s the closest paleo/SCD-friendly version of the “real deal” that I’ve been able to whip up in my kitchen so far…

Making Banana Bread with Almond Flour

Almond flour is an absolute staple in my pantry for baking these days. Since being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in February, traditional white flour has been a huge no-go in my diet. Gluten & complex carbohydrates are readily fermented in the large intestine, which can cause inflammation in people with IBD.

SO I’m not saying that the “Grain-free/Paleo” lifestyle is for everybody, but its been a game-changer for me in managing IBD. Cheers to gut health! Cheers to banana bread!

With that said, its been my mission for the past few months to re-create all of my old favorite recipes into grain-free/ gluten-free/ refined-sugar-free versions. Some of my favorites include:

• Blueberry Lemon Thumbprint cookies
• Frozen “Peanut Butter Island” Dessert (aka my birthday cake request every year lol)
• Single-serve Blueberry Marble Mug Cake
• Almond Butter Waffles
• Paleo Salted Caramel Cookie Cake

My top tips for things to look for on the label when you’re buying almond flour to bake with:

• finely-ground (“super-fine”)
• blanched
• non-GMO

I think all of these factors make a huge difference in the texture and appearance of baked breads, cakes, and cookies. If an almond flour is blanched (brown “skins” are removed) and finely ground, I honestly think it comes pretty close to white flour in my recipes!

For this grain-free banana bread recipe, I followed this one from Food Network as a guide. Any recipe that only takes 15 minutes to prep and claims to be easy has my interest (where are my other college gals at?!).

I just substituted the regular flour for almond flour, the inflammatory vegetable oil for an extra egg, and left out the added sugar!

My Favorite Banana Bread Add-In’s

Ok this is the best part. This is where you add your personal flare to the loaf.

Personally, I don’t like to add in extra ingredients INSIDE the batter itself… I feel like they inhibit how well the bread rises. They almost take away from the simple beauty of the bread itself, you know?!

I simply sprinkle whatever I’m feeling on top of the batter in the loaf tin before baking. This adds a little flavor & crunch without stealing the classic banana bread flavor we all know and love. For this loaf, I did a combo of dairy-free chocolate chips & raw pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas). I also love:

• chopped walnuts
• a grain-free/paleo crumble (same one I use in this recipe)
• chopped pecans
• goji berries/raisins
• peanut butter
• coconut chips

Honestly, it would be hard to go wrong here! I try to stick to add-in’s that follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD, for short) to help manage my IBD symptoms, with the exception of chocolate chips of course!

I wrote this blog post about a few foods that I’ve been able to add back in since I’ve been “in remission”.

Collagen protein powder was the only unusual ingredient I added into the batter itself before baking! It’s one of my favorite ways to sneak in a fantastic healthy protein without changing the flavor or texture of the bread. There are so many benefits of supplementing your diet with collagen. Some of these include:

• Improved hair/skin/nail strength
• Gut health
• Aids in maintaining healthy joints
• May have antioxidant/immune-boosting activity

Source: Fu Y., Therkildsen M., Aluko R.E., Lametsch R. Exploration of collagen recovered from animal by-products as a precursor of bioactive peptides: Successes and challenges. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 2018;2:1–17. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2018.1436038.

Healthy Banana Bread Occasions

I baked this loaf SUPER last minute as my contribution to an untraditional charcuterie board situation for a trip to a local winery with my gal pals LOL. Turns out, banana bread and wine isn’t a bad combo!

This healthier paleo banana bread recipe would also be the perfect thing to make for a slow weekend morning treat. And OBVIOUSLY, any loaf of banana bread screams “Sunday Brunch”!

I’m also guilty of eating a slice at night for a quick & healthy snack with a spread of almond butter or protein-rich Greed yogurt!

Print