Spelt Oat Date Banana Bread with Cocoa Nibs and Millet Seeds
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Jan 19, 2016, Updated Jan 27, 2019
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How was your long weekend? I ended up staying in the apt all weekend long with the oven cranking, testing Valentine’s Day recipes. Yeah, that holiday is flying towards us quickly, have you seen the drug stores?! They’re like Valentine’s Day vom-ed everywhere.
I’ve also continued my diet situation and I’m feeling really good…except for those moments when a chocolate cake is on the counter and I have to stay N-O. DA STRUGGLE.
One thing that I feel super chill about eating is this banana bread. The coziest of cozy foods will always and forever be banana bread. This is a bit of a healthier iteration utilizing spelt flour (my favorite) and oat flour. The butter was replaced with olive oil. There’s only a lil’ bit of brown sugar to make it taste delicious but it could easily replaced with coconut nectar or brown rice syrup, if needed. And I love the additions of cocoa nibs, millet seeds and dates. It’s a banana bread that’s yes, moist (shudder), but filled with great texture and flavor.
It’s a good breakfast situation. I say make it at night and eat it slice by slice, one day after next. This banana bread was adapted from the one in The Year of Cozy. I’d say it’s its healthier cousin that can make you feel badly about yourself for loving pizza as much as you…but nicer and way more chill.
Spelt Oat Date Banana Bread with Cocoa Nibs and Millet Seeds
Ingredients
Dry Mix:
- 1 cup spelt flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour, plus a handful of old-fashioned oats for topping (*see below in "notes" on how to make oat flour)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Wet Mix:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 ripe yet firm bananas, mashed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons coconut nectar or brown rice syrup, if you don’t have either of these, you could skip them entirely
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Mix-ins:
- 4 dates,, seeds removed and diced
- 3 tablespoons cocoa nibs
- 2 tablespoons millet seeds, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8 x 4-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, oat flour, brown sugar and salt.
- In another medium bowl, combine the mashed bananas and baking soda; mix. Then add the coconut nectar or brown rice syrup, egg and vanilla extract. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until speckles of flour disappear. Fold in the diced dates, cocoa nibs and millet seeds.
- Transfer the batter to the loaf pan and smooth out the top. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with oats and millet seeds. Transfer to the oven to bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
I feel you with the eating healthy struggle. There’s currently banana nutella muffins sitting on my counter. I will have to try your healthy banana bread soon for sure. 🙂
The struggle against eating ALL the sweets is so hard. :/
This looks so good for breakfast! Love banana bread and this looks like a great version of the classic!
Ohh this looks great! I grew up eating banana bread (my grandma would send us a loaf or two every year around Christmas time). So excited to see a healthier version! 🙂 I’ll have to try it out!
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like banana bread- it was my favourite growing up and it’s still my favourite! Plus it makes your entire home and kitchen smell warm, cozy, and delicious <3
This banana bread looks fabulous! I’ve been trying to find a new recipe that uses spelt flour, so I’m really looking forward to trying this one.
This bread look SO good!! Love the spelt flour in there 🙂
Same, it’s my obsession!
3/4 cup of salt?! That’s gotta be a misprint, right? Otherwise, this sounds like an awesome recipe!
AHH! Yes, that would’ve been awful. Just changed it, thanks for the heads up.
You read my mind! I was thinking of making banana bread today, but wanted a recipe not loaded down with sugar and other crap. Can’t wait to try this.
Healthy vibes for sure…for now. 😉
Girrrrlll how did you know I got a big ol’ bag of cocoa nibs and was looking to use them? This is happening and I’m going to eat the whole loaf this week, no apologies.
p.s. I’m going to be in LA in March and kind of want to hug Amelia. xo
YASS! I had a bunch too and it added some nice texture and chocolate vibe to this. And let me know if you wanna get coffeez! xoxo
I adore banana bread, so it’s great to have this healthier version. It looks fantastic and the perfect treat for a cold January day! Looking forward to your V-Day inspired recipes 🙂 xxx
Thanks girlfriend 🙂